In short
We are establishing a Global Technology Center in China to serve as a strategic R&D and innovation center for next-generation retail and commercial platforms. As Head of Engineering, you will be responsible for building, leading, and scaling this hub, owning the end-to-end engineering strategy, execution, and talent agenda. This role combines deep technical leadership, organizational building, and global stakeholder management. You will operate at the intersection of China’s highly advanced retail ecosystem and our global technology platform, delivering software products that power markets across the globe. You will report into global technology leadership and act as a key member of the Global Engineering Leadership Team. Your entrepreneurial and result-driven mindset, combined with strong hands-on technical oversight and execution skills, will make you a key member of the core team on which On’s future is built.
Your Mission
Your mission is to build a world-class engineering organization in Shanghai, China that delivers globally scalable, locally excellent retail technology platforms. You will:
Establish China as a center of excellence for retail innovation Lead the development of proprietary, self-owned global platforms Ensure China-based teams operate as first-class global product teams Balance China-specific depth with global platform standardization Build an engineering culture rooted in technical excellence, ownership, and global impact
Lead with Vision — and with Code Lead and scale multiple engineering teams responsible for building globally critical retail and commercial platforms from China. Shape the technical direction, platform roadmap, and execution focus in close partnership with Product, Architecture, Security, and Global Tech Leadership. Stay deeply hands-on: participate in architectural design, challenge system boundaries, review complex trade-offs, and guide critical technical decisions with clarity and conviction. Ensure all platforms align with the global architecture north star, long-term platform strategy, and regulatory requirements across regions. Act as a visible technical leader who sets the bar for engineering excellence, ownership, and quality.
Build Global Platforms with China-First Innovation Own the delivery, quality, and technical excellence of globally deployed platforms built and operated from the China Tech Hub. Lead the development of self-owned, modular, and scalable architectures that combine: Deep local innovation leveraging China’s advanced retail and technology ecosystem. A unified global core enabling rapid localization across APAC, EMEA, and AMER. Drive predictable execution by breaking down complex initiatives, managing uncertainty, and unblocking teams to deliver consistently at scale. Maintain high operational resilience by enforcing SLOs, incident response standards, security practices, and platform reliability expectations. Continuously raise the bar for how teams design, test, deploy, observe, and evolve production systems.
Shape Culture and Grow World-Class Talent Build and nurture a high-performing engineering culture rooted in technical rigor, ownership, openness, and continuous learning. Champion global engineering values and principles through visible role modeling and decision-making. Coach and mentor Engineering Managers and senior engineers, developing strong technical leadership and succession pipelines. Own hiring strategy and decisions for the China hub, consistently raising the talent bar in a highly competitive market. Establish clear career paths, expectations, and feedback loops that enable engineers to grow and thrive.
Collaborate and Communicate with Influence Tell clear, compelling technical stories—translating complex systems and trade-offs into clarity for senior stakeholders. Drive alignment across global engineering, product, and business teams, ensuring shared understanding and coordinated execution. Build trusted partnerships across regions, functions, and cultures, operating effectively in a highly distributed global environment. Represent the China Tech Hub in global engineering leadership forums, architectural reviews, and cross-functional initiatives.
Connect Engineering Work to Business Impact Understand the end-to-end commercial and retail journey, and connect engineering investments directly to scalability, speed, cost efficiency, and business outcomes. Operate with a platform-first mindset, ensuring solutions simplify the ecosystem, reduce duplication, and unlock future velocity. Balance short-term delivery needs with long-term technical health, ensuring sustainable growth of global platforms.
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Your story
Proven experience leading multiple engineering teams (ICs and Engineering Managers) within complex, fast-moving, product-driven organizations operating at global scale. A strong technical foundation with hands-on experience designing and evolving large-scale e-commerce platforms, including customer-facing, transactional, and backend commerce systems. Demonstrated experience architecting and delivering Point of Sale (POS) platforms and solutions, including system design for in-store operations, payments, and omnichannel integration. Deep understanding of distributed systems, platform architecture, and integration patterns, with systems operating across regions and regulatory environments. Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills—you translate technical complexity into clarity, influence decision-making, and create alignment across engineering, product, and business leadership. A consistent track record of delivering high-impact platforms and products with predictability, quality, and measurable outcomes. Experience shaping system architecture, influencing engineering principles and technical standards, and driving strong governance without slowing teams down. A genuine passion for coaching, mentoring, and growing engineering leaders, and for building a healthy, high-performing engineering culture. Comfort navigating ambiguity, making high-judgment calls, and aligning distributed, cross-regional teams around a shared mission and technical vision. A builder’s mindset—resourceful, pragmatic, and execution-oriented, with a bias toward learning fast and iterating intelligently. An entrepreneurial spirit—you think in terms of platform leverage, long-term value, and ownership, and you act like a true steward of the technology and the organization. Collaborative, grounded, and energized by building platforms and teams that deliver real global business impact. Fluent in English and Mandarin and able to operate confidently in cross-cultural environments.
About the Team
We are establishing a Global Technology Center in China to serve as a strategic R&D and innovation center for next-generation retail and commercial platforms.
About the Team video
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.
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.