Senior Lead - Procurement Special Projects

Location: Zurich

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Supply Chain

In short

On's success comes down to two reasons: incredible products - and incredible people. It has one simple mission: Ignite the Human Spirit Through Movement. Available today in over 50 countries and cited as “the fastest growing sports company in the world,” On shoes and Performance Running Gear have won design and technology distinctions the world over.

As our lead supporting procurement and category management, you will be tasked with supporting multiple cross-functional strategic projects across the Distribution & Logistics portfolio. Your primary focus will be providing flexible category management support for key areas such as warehousing, outbound freight, and consumables.

Your Mission

Responsibilities:

Category Strategy: Provide flexible category management support for distribution and logistics categories, including warehousing, outbound freight, and consumables.
Sourcing & RFP Management: Execute end-to-end sourcing activities, ensuring all decisions are supported by rigorous analysis and business case creation.
Vendor Management: Establish and maintain strong relationships with 3PLs and external partners to ensure operational visibility and accountability.
Contract & Task Management: Manage project lifecycles for procurement initiatives, ensuring close collaboration and task management between global and regional teams.
Stakeholder Alignment: Facilitate regular meetings with stakeholders from supply chain, finance, IT, and legal to ensure alignment on procurement goals and timelines.
Operational Reporting: Create and standardize internal reports to drive continuous visibility into spend, multi-channel operations, and vendor performance.
Continuous Improvement: Proactively identify and execute value engineering and total cost of ownership (TCO) reduction opportunities within the logistics category.
Decision Support: Provide ad-hoc reporting and analysis to surface key issues and support timely decision-making across cross-functional teams.

The Successful Candidate Will Demonstrate:

Strategic Sourcing Mindset: Ability to understand and articulate operational root cause analysis as it relates to cost drivers and supply chain efficiencies.
Commercial Credibility: Skill to quickly build credibility and trust with external vendors and internal stakeholders during complex negotiations.
Value Creation: A self-starter who proactively seeks business optimization and cost savings through data-driven business cases.
Procurement Best Practices: Strong knowledge of end-to-end procurement processes, category management, and project management methodologies.
Single Source of Truth: Ability to maintain and track critical procurement action items and contract milestones to support cross-functional collaboration.
Resilience & Diplomacy: Capacity to be a change agent, demonstrating persistence and resiliencies when navigating market volatility or challenging supplier discussions.

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Your story

Basic Qualifications:

A Bachelor’s degree (a combination of college education and related work experience may be used as a substitute).
Minimum 5 years of experience in a procurement, category management, or analytics reporting role in a fast-paced environment.
Expert knowledge and proficiency with MS Office applications and experience with sourcing tools (e.g., Ariba, Coupa, etc).

Additional Skills:

Strong demonstrated ability to work independently, manage data-intensive projects, and engage remote teams.
Excellent discretion, judgment, tact, and diplomacy when dealing with sensitive commercial information.
Solid business judgment, including the ability to anticipate the impact of procurement decisions on the global supply chain.
Must demonstrate an energetic, positive, helpful demeanor and a passion for On Running.

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About the Team

You are part of the Global Supply Chain team, reporting into the Head of Distribution & Logistics Procurement. In this role, you will work and collaborate with various functions, including Inbound/Outbound Logistics, Operations, Finance, IT, and Legal. You will be actively collaborating with team members across both regional and global teams, as well as our 3rd party logistic partners (3PLs).

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Hannes

Head of Integrated Business Planning

The great thing about our Supply Chain at On is our adaptable, agile structure. We’re a passionate team constantly looking for originality, pushing the status quo to keep up with On's growth and strong focus on sustainability.

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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.