Senior Specialist - LightSpray Commercialization Engineer

Location: Zurich

Apply for this role

Footwear Product Creation

In short

As a Senior Specialist - LightSpray Commercialization Engineer, you will play a key role in bringing On's innovative footwear concepts to life. Working closely with senior team members, you will support the commercialization of new products and technologies, helping to translate visionary ideas into high-performance, manufacturable products. This role is a great opportunity to apply your technical knowledge, collaborate with various teams, and learn the end-to-end process of footwear creation.

Your Mission

You will play a crucial role in the lifecycle of multiple footwear projects, providing essential support from the initial product confirmation phase all the way through to final production. Operating under the direct guidance of a Lead Engineer, you will contribute significantly to bringing innovative footwear designs to market.
Your expertise will be vital in assisting with the comprehensive end-to-end commercialization process. This involves applying your in-depth knowledge of various manufacturing processes, understanding the intricacies of material properties, and possessing a solid grasp of tooling principles.
A key aspect of your role will be developing a strong root-cause analysis mindset. This analytical approach will enable you to effectively troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues that may arise during tooling, molding, assembly, and fit evaluation, ensuring the highest product quality.
Working in close collaboration with diverse internal teams, you will act as a key coordinator. Your responsibilities will include facilitating seamless communication and synchronization between internal development and production teams, as well as with our strategic external vendors. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the original product intent and design integrity are meticulously maintained throughout the manufacturing process, while simultaneously meeting stringent commercial and operational requirements and timelines.
A core responsibility will be to engineer products with a strong focus on efficient manufacturability. This involves optimizing designs and processes to ensure high-quality output and superior performance, streamlining production to enhance overall efficiency and reduce potential bottlenecks.
You will be instrumental in fostering clear and consistent communication across all stakeholders. This includes meticulously documenting technical issues, providing detailed reports, and actively supporting the creation of comprehensive manufacturing guidelines. These guidelines will serve as essential references for all teams involved in the product development and production chain.
Collaborating with computational designers, you will work with upper patterns and tooling construction adjustments to enhance fit, durability, and ensure scalable manufacturing. You will be responsible for full size run grading, technical manufacturing operation manuals, initial production trial, ERP system update, scalability sign off, among others.
You will own the documentation of complex tooling and upper-related issues, defining and communicating clear correction actions to all stakeholders for manufacturing guidelines.

Your story

4-6 years of experience in the footwear industry, with a focus on advanced product development, innovation, engineering or manufacturing
Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Engineering, Material Science, or a related technical field
Familiarity with 2D and 3D design software is a plus
Proven ability to not only lead the scaling of new technologies but also to assess their commercial viability and factory readiness
Knowledge of advanced footwear manufacturing processes, including robotics, automation, tooling, molding, injecting, welding, lasting, and assembly; You understand factory capabilities, tolerances, and limitations and know how to engineer for scalable replication
A natural technical curiosity and a proactive, problem-solving approach
Good communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with internal and external teams
A desire to learn and grow in a fast-paced, innovative environment
Ability to travel up to 15-20% of the time

two women sitting at a table talking with laptops

About the Team

On's Innovation team is an agile, interdisciplinary group of footwear creation, advanced manufacturing, and future of sport experts, driving On's future innovations and athlete-informed technologies that set On footwear apart. Additionally, we partner with strategic manufacturing businesses across the globe to bring footwear to the masses.

We challenge the status quo and push boundaries to pioneer footwear innovation. As a member of the On Innovation Team, you will think outside the box and bring new, innovative ideas to life.

Groups of people sit and chat around wooden tables in a brick-walled communal space with hanging paper lanterns and a wall of microwaves in the background.

A man in a black t-shirt with his hair tied up is standing and smiling

Ernest

Footwear Development, Ho Chi Minh City

Unlike other brands, we aren't just executioners out here in Vietnam, we give ideas as well. Sometimes they have a new idea in Zurich and we might find a process to make it more efficient and we share that.

Happy women smiling and chatting in the office

What we offer

On is a place that is centered around growth and progress. We offer an environment designed to give people the tools to develop holistically – to stay active, to learn, explore and innovate. Our distinctive approach combines a supportive, team-oriented atmosphere, with access to personal self-care for both physical and mental well-being, so each person is led by purpose.

On is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating a work environment that is fair and inclusive, where all decisions related to recruitment, advancement, and retention are free of discrimination.

Build the better you

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.