Senior Lead - Colour Design

In short

At On, we believe color and material are not just design elements—they’re emotional connectors and powerful storytellers. As the Senior Lead – Colour Designer for Footwear, you’ll shape the future of On’s footwear aesthetics by merging artistry, science, and innovation. You’ll lead the strategic direction for color design across our footwear collections for Lifestyle or Performance, ensuring each product embodies On’s unique blend of performance, design, and sustainability.

You will guide a team of designers through the entire creation process—from trend research and conceptualization to production and merchandising—crafting color and material narratives that captivate consumers and express the essence of our brand.

Join us and play a key role in redefining the visual language of performance footwear.

Your Mission

• Lead Colour Strategy: Define and execute the seasonal color vision for footwear Lifestyle or Performance in alignment with brand identity, market trends, and consumer insights.
• Consumer-Centered Design: Strategize the use of color to evoke emotion, strengthen brand storytelling, and drive commercial success.
• Cross-Category Collaboration: Partner closely with Apparel Color Design, Product Strategy, Design, Development, and Merchandising to ensure a unified aesthetic across all categories.
• Trend Forecasting & Research: Stay ahead of cultural, artistic, and technological shifts influencing color design and translate these into actionable seasonal palettes.
• Color Storytelling: Create cohesive narratives that integrate color to enhance performance and emotional resonance.
• Tool & Library Management: Curate and maintain a dynamic digital and physical color library to inspire and guide design teams.
• Leadership & Mentorship: Guide and inspire a team of color designers, fostering an inclusive environment of creativity, innovation, and growth.
• Global Collaboration: Work closely with Zurich and Vietnam teams to ensure clear briefs, efficient handovers, and process excellence from concept to production.
• Sustainability Leadership: Continuously challenge current dyeing and finishing standards to improve environmental impact and durability.

Your story

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Color Science, Material Design, Industrial Design, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in footwear or apparel color design, with at least 3 years in a leadership or mentoring role.
• Proven expertise in color strategy and storytelling within a performance or lifestyle brand.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes and color application limitations.
• Deep understanding of merchandising methodologies, consumer insights, and data-driven color assortment planning.
• Familiar with Coloro and Pantone and other color systems, Adobe Creative Suite, and PLM tools; familiarity with data tools (e.g., Looker) is a plus.
• Passionate about sustainability and color innovation.
• Highly collaborative, solutions-driven, and able to thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to present concepts compellingly to cross-functional teams and leadership.
• Fluent in English (spoken and written); other languages are a plus.

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.