Senior Lead - Footwear Materials

In short

Join Our Dynamic Sportswear Brand and Shape the Future of Performance Footwear

Are you looking to be part of a team that's redefining footwear materials in an industry ripe for innovation? We’re seeking a passionate Materials Leader to lead an Inline Materials Team.

As our Materials Lead PAD (Lifestyle) Footwear, you're turning footwear dreams into reality. You'll be pushing the boundaries of materials to new heights. Setting and accomplishing short-to-medium-term goals while aligning your work to our long-term vision. You'll be at the forefront, executing our global materials strategy across various verticals like Performance All Day,Special Projects and Collaborations. In this pivotal role, you'll spearhead groundbreaking developments and lead a team of Specialists in building the future of footwear materials. You’ll collaborate closely with the Head of Materials and maintain synergy with the Design, Development, and Product Management teams.

Your Mission

• Material Mastery: Source phenomenal materials that inspire product creation. Ensuring materials are created in alignment with our timelines, sourcing policies, and our sustainability goals. Specifically focused on performance and elevating our products to a new realm of technology and innovation.
• Team Leadership and Collaboration: Guide and nurture the Footwear Material Specialists through collaboration, trust, and mentorship to foster growth and excellence while building our people pipeline for the future.
• Sustainability and Performance Goals: Align material-specific targets with our sustainability roadmap. Identify and seize opportunities to enhance material performance, sustainability, and efficiency in all product categories.
• Data Analytics and Process Optimization: Leverage data analytics to enhance material selection and supply chain processes. Continuously evaluate and optimize our workflows to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve material quality and sustainability.
• Innovation and Research: Stay ahead by researching business trends, attending trade shows, and scouting new technologies. Seamlessly integrating these new ideas into product innovations.
• Material Library Management: Develop and enhance our material library and tools, ensuring strategic partnerships with key suppliers. Focus on both inline and special project toolboxes with agility in handling short lead times. Focus not just on short term management but with a sharp view on the digital future of material libraries and management.
• Quality Assurance and Improvement: Ensure all materials pass our stringent QA tests. Use your deep understanding of yarns, material structures, and polymers to advise on and implement material improvements. Consistently share feedback between T2 suppliers and our Quality team to continue to refine and improve our testing protocol.
• Relationship Building: Cultivate strong, communicative relationships with material suppliers and external vendors. Work collaboratively with various teams, including Design, Product Development, Innovation, and Sustainability, navigating material goals with overall product goals.

Your story

• Educational Foundations: A Bachelor’s Degree (minimum) in Footwear Textile Sciences, Textile Engineering/Technology, or a related field from a globally recognized university.
• Professional/Industry Experience: At least 7 years of global experience in Performance Footwear material development, including essential Asia supplier/factory involvement.
• Team Leadership: A proven track record of at least 3 years in leading and mentoring teams.
• Driving Innovation: A proven ability to lead innovation through performance materials, coupled with strategic thinking and execution capabilities. A comprehensive understanding of the industry's capabilities, best practices and processes, with the ability to work and collaborate across cultures.
• Global Perspective: Extensive global travel experience to T1s, material suppliers and external partners for sourcing and development.
• Project Management Excellence: A robust background in managing projects from creative inception to production, showcasing your ability to turn visions into reality.
• Design and Technology Affinity: A deep appreciation and understanding of footwear design and technology, especially within the technical performance category. Your keen eye for aesthetics and trend awareness, both within and outside the industry, will be key.
• Detail Orientation and Presentation Skills: Exceptional attention to detail and the talent to build, organize, and present effective strategies and presentations.
• Communication and Collaboration: Your superior communication skills (in both verbal and written English) will enhance your collaborative efforts with diverse stakeholders.
• Creativity and Discipline Balance: The unique ability to blend creativity with organization and discipline, thriving in our fast-paced environment.
• Adaptability and Entrepreneurial Spirit: The ability to navigate change effectively and bring an entrepreneurial mindset when facing unexpected challenges.

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. We ask that you allow around 14 days for us to come back to you with a response. If you are a good fit to the role, someone will follow up with you within that window. 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. We ask that you allow around 14 days for us to come back to you with a response. If you are a good fit to the role, someone will follow up with you within that window. If you didn't receive a reply, or were unsuccessful this time around, we encourage you to look for other possible matches at On.