Lead - Footwear Testing

In short

Product Testing is the voice of the athlete and the consumer at On. We ensure every product delivers a premium, high-performance experience by combining scientific rigor with real-world insight.

As Footwear Testing Lead, you will be responsible for validating footwear products from development through to market. You’ll work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and act as a key partner across Design, Development, Materials, and Sports Science to ensure excellence in fit, comfort, durability, and performance.

Your Mission

• Lead qualitative and quantitative footwear testing, perception studies, and real-world validation to ensure products reflect authentic athlete and consumer needs.
• Identify testing requirements based on product briefs and target consumers, owning the end-to-end testing process.
• Define and execute testing strategies across durability, fit, comfort, and performance, including high-complexity testing programs.
• Integrate consumer insights, scientific expertise, and performance analysis into standardised, evidence-based product evaluations.
• Translate testing results into insights that enable confident decision-making and elevate product excellence across the organisation.
• Analyse fit, durability, and performance data, developing clear reports and insights for project stakeholders.
• Conduct performance analyses independently or in close collaboration with Sports Science, presenting findings and improvement recommendations to key stakeholders.
• Deliver benchmarking and competitor insights to identify opportunities for innovation and product differentiation.
• Establish efficient testing processes, timelines, and feedback loops aligned with Product Creation calendars.
• Build and maintain a tester network that supports testing needs and project timelines.
• Work with testing systems and databases to ensure accurate, high-quality data and optimised reporting flows.
• Set up testing events and initiatives to drive engagement within the testing community.
• Contribute to team goals, process improvements, and the continuous evolution of testing methodologies.

Your story

• 7+ years of experience in footwear testing or a closely related role within the footwear industry.
• Strong passion for performance footwear.
• Excellent communication skills and confidence working with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Detail-oriented, creative, and solutions-focused, with a proactive mindset.
• Comfortable working with flexibility and outside standard hours when needed.
• Proficient in Excel and PowerPoint; fluent in English (written and spoken).

What to expect

We want to set everyone up for success, so here’s the lowdown on how we hire. Our process is a two-way street – bringing you into our culture, while helping us learn how you think.

Our full process can last about eight weeks from application to offer, because we care about getting it right. These steps explain how we usually do things.

Before you get started, feel free to consider if you want to work with us. Strange question? Well, we give people a lot of space to navigate their day-to-day and that style isn't for everyone. We want you to be passionate about what you do and be sure this is the right fit. Because when skills and passion combine – it creates that 'Wow' moment.

• Step One

  It starts with you...

  You'll start by submitting your application to a specific role. We try to keep this step as simple as possible. We do get a lot of applications, but we review them all. If you're a good fit to the role, a recruiter will follow up with you directly. If you didn't receive a reply, or were unsuccessful this time around, we encourage you to look for other possible matches at On.

• Step Two

  Interview with a recruiter

  What ignites your spirit? This is where we’ll start getting to know all about you and what makes you tick – and it’s your first chance to get a feel for our culture. Chatting with a member of our talent team, you’ll learn more about On and how we work. We’ll learn about what motivates you and what you could bring to the team.

• Step Three

  Interview with a hiring manager

  Ready to dig into the details? This second interview will be held with your future manager and will focus on the specifics of the job. Together you’ll delve into your unique skills and experiences and how they could be relevant at On. It's also a time to assess how you might feel working side-by-side. Bring any questions you have about the job, the team or anything else you might like to know – this is an open forum.

• Step Four

  The Case Study

  What's your style? This task will help us understand how you think, face a challenge and give insight into your novel ideas. Designed to give everyone their best shot, your case study is based on something you might typically experience on the job. This is your chance to show us what you’ve got. So express yourself. Be you.

• Step Five

  The Experience Day

  Your first taste of the Oniverse. This is a time to meet some of the people you'll be working closest with. In person or virtually, you'll get a feel for the day-to-day at On and the people who make it happen. You'll chat with a few potential teammates - the conversations will be as equally driven by the role and your experience as by our values. We believe how you do things is just as important as what you do.

• Step Six

  The Result

  Are we a good fit? We’ll get together internally to share our feedback and decide if we’re a match. We know that job searching is a big time investment, so it’s not a decision we take lightly. It’s also time for you to reflect on the experience – are we the right place for you? No matter the outcome, we’ll give you meaningful feedback.

Step One:

It starts with you...

You'll start by submitting your application to a specific role.

We try to keep this step as simple as possible. We do get a lot of applications, but we review them all. If you're a good fit to the role, a recruiter will follow up with you directly. If you didn't receive a reply, or were unsuccessful this time around, we encourage you to look for other possible matches at On.