Director - Footwear Sourcing Operations

In short

As On’s Head of Footwear Sourcing Operations, based in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, you are responsible for leading On’s footwear sourcing operations teams across multiple regions. Your role carries a long-term strategic vision to drive the implementation of innovation and operational excellence, ensuring On remains at the forefront of the industry.
You are a people leader who elevates the team and inspires them to perform through bringing your strategic and sustainable vision to life. You care about your team’s well being and growth, and actively develop your team by providing opportunities to grow through projects and evolving responsibilities. You create a collaborative and high performing team culture.
You are excited for On’s products, technology and innovation, and continuously strive to bring the next innovation fast into inline.
You are passionate about digital creation and automation, you inspire our partners to think beyond the status quo, and to invest sustainably for the future.
You care about our manufacturing partners, you nurture relationships with a high level of trust. You inspire our partners to build capabilities, autonomy, and to prioritise for On. You don’t settle for ‘Industrial Standard’, you strive to build On’s footwear sourcing performance to the highest level.
You are a connector who builds and fosters strong relationships across functions: In your role, you will partner closely with our Innovation, Product Strategy, Product Creation, Sustainability, Supply Chain and Finance teams.

Your mission

- Lead and empower Footwear Sourcing Operations teams across multiple regions to achieve excellence.
- Overseeing the Heads of Footwear Operations in various regions as well as the Head of Footwear Quality, ensuring alignment and collaboration toward shared goals.
- Develop and execute a sourcing strategy through actionable and impactful initiatives.
- Act as a core pillar of production by identifying, building, and nurturing long-lasting, loyal, and forward-thinking partner relationships.
- Continuously improve, innovate, and elevate the sourcing business to ensure long-term scalability and sustainability.
- Capitalise on local business opportunities while maintaining seamless alignment and strong partnerships with the senior leadership team.
- Serve as a world-class leader who provides clear guidance, vision, and strategic direction to the team.
- Maximize team potential by effectively utilizing individual talents, building capabilities, and ensuring the right people are in the right roles.
- Spearhead efforts to elevate On’s footwear manufacturing and automation to unprecedented levels.
- Build and nurture high-performing footwear sourcing operations teams by driving meaningful projects and responsibilities.
- Foster a collaborative, high-performance team culture that inspires innovation and growth.
- Cultivate trust-based, meaningful relationships with key business partners to drive mutual success.
- Accelerate the transition of new innovation projects from concept to inline production.
- Lead automation initiatives in collaboration with our manufacturing partners.
- Champion and embody On’s commitment to sustainability in every aspect of your work.

Your story

- An entrepreneurial and open mindset, an eagerness for differentiation and a natural push for excellence.
- 15+ years of experience in sourcing or manufacturing (across in-house and/or OEM environments) of high performance products.
- Experience in footwear is highly valued.
- You have ‘deep’ experience implementing automation in production.
- You are a visionary leader, you have comprehensive experience in leading, coaching and developing a high performance team.
- You are native to a complex reporting organization, you are highly collaborative.
- This position is based in Vietnam, with frequent travel to Zurich, Indonesia and China; our working language is English.

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.