As the Senior Lead Footwear Developer for Performance Running, you serve as the strategic technical consultant for our most critical product category. Based in our Zurich HQ, your role is to ensure high-level alignment between design intent and manufacturing feasibility. You provide the technical governance and cross-functional support necessary to maintain performance integrity as the category scales.
Tasks
- Act as the primary technical advisor during the briefing and design phases to ensure performance running concepts are aligned with global manufacturing capabilities.
- Facilitate technical alignment between Zurich-based Design/Product Management and Asia-based execution teams, ensuring the performance soul of the category is preserved across all franchises.
- Support the evolution of development standards by identifying technical bottlenecks and advising on best practices that improve category-wide efficiency.
- Serve as the senior technical point of contact for Asia-based development partners, providing guidance on complex technical hurdles and supporting the resolution of high-level production escalations.
- Support the validation of fit, feel, and durability standards, ensuring that category-wide technical benchmarks are consistently met across different factory partners.
- Foster a culture of technical excellence by mentoring the broader development team and translating complex innovation breakthroughs into actionable development frameworks.
Requirements
- 8–12 years in footwear development, with a background rooted in high-performance running and technical complexity.
- Proven ability to influence product direction and technical outcomes through partnership and advisory, rather than direct line management or project ownership.
- A deep understanding of how performance tooling, materials, and construction impact the global supply chain and product lifecycle.
- Exceptional at navigating HQ and regional dynamics, acting as a technical translator between creative vision and factory execution.
- Highly skilled at evaluating technical trade-offs and providing recommendations that balance innovation with commercial scalability.
- A trusted voice capable of guiding stakeholders toward technically sound decisions while maintaining strong cross-functional relationships.
- You are the person everyone consults when a design pushes the boundaries of physics.
- You focus on the how and why, ensuring the category’s technical roadmap is robust and scalable.
- You thrive in the space between teams, ensuring that no technical detail is lost in translation between Zurich and global manufacturing partners.
Benefits
On offers an environment designed to give people the tools to develop holistically – to stay active, to learn, explore and innovate. The approach combines a supportive, team-oriented atmosphere with access to personal self-care for both physical and mental well-being.
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Über uns
Das Team
You will join the Zurich-based Footwear Development team, serving as a senior pillar of expertise for the Performance Running category. The team is a high-performance collective of engineers, developers, and makers who serve as the technical heart of the brand, acting as the primary link between Biomechanical Research, Material Science, Design, and Sourcing. The mission is to relentlessly elevate the performance and technical attributes of running footwear, engineering the ride and ensuring technical standards and the performance soul of run footwear remain uncompromised as the category expands.