- Apparel Material Lead - Zürich

Team for Career Site

Apparel & Accessories Product Creation

In short

The Apparel Material Development Lead is the face and driver of material excellence of On’s Apparel prestigious and high performing product range. Achieving a leading market position requires innovative thinking and the ability to inspire all product creation shareholders, in our case through materiality. You will directly influence the premium product quality, know to read and translate the On design identity, implement an agile materials development calendar and drives ambitious innovative and sustainable solutions. You embrace challenges and take initiative to solve them by striving for even better. You will report into the Head of Apparel Material but be in constant collaboration with the Apparel Design Leads, Apparel Development Leads and our Apparel Product Manager Leads.

Your mission

– Ensure heightened materiality per product need, enhancing the garment fit, elaborate trims and finishings in relation to design and material.

– Oversee the full collection from initial design hand-over to sales team samples, and monitor material calendar, material choices and ensure detailed explanations to suppliers, with the support of the Apparel Material Developers.

– Create a material library that inspires Design teams, from which they can select new materials.

– Work in collaboration with Innovation and sustainability teams to incorporate new products and strategies to inline.

– Prepare and hold presentations to support internal cross functional teams (Global Sales Meeting, Seasonal Range Brief, Product launch).

– Drive and lead Material development team and processes from initial brief through to handover to production (Wovens/Warp/Weft/Circular Knits etc) in both synthetic and natural fibers.

– Assess, evaluate the feedback channels and coordinate the improvements.

– Draft, verify and control more agile Material development structures, to achieve shorter processes whilst increasing product quality.

– Control price calculation and lead time negotiation with suppliers.

– Identify potential new material partners and build on the growing material sourcing strategy, in collaboration with Head of Sourcing.

– On board new suppliers and work with them to align with our processes and sustainability guidelines.

– Identify category growth opportunities and new market product potential, in relation to both technologies and new categories of business.

– Build, lead and train a material team, which features solid understanding of the company’s design identity and technical excellence.

– Cultivate a proactive and entrepreneurial team culture.

– Initiate and foster strong relationships with Apparel Design, Product Management, Development, collaborate with Testing, Sustainability, Supply Chain (weekly meeting, QA), and partner with Marketing and Sales.

Your story

– Bachelor’s Degree in Textile Sciences, Textile Engineering/Technology from a global leading university or related field.

– 10+ years of global experience (Asia travel as a fundamental) in developing apparel & soft accessories material within the Performance Sportswear industry, with 5+ years of experience in leading a big team.

– Extensive experience and knowledge of developing technical materials, working with suppliers/mills to create, develop, and source On materials, in line with strategy and vision.

– Strong eye for product aesthetics and track record of innovation though performance materials with ability to think and act strategically.

– Affinity for Sportswear Apparel materials design and technology, with an eye for aesthetics and a key awareness of trends both within the industry and analogous industries.

– Excellent understanding of the industry’s processes with ability to lead cross-functional projects toward a vision collaboratively.

– Heightened experience in project management from creative direction through to production.

– High level of verbal and written English to be able to collaborate with diverse stakeholders.

– Highly attentive to detail and has the ability to build, organise, and create effective presentations and strategy documents.

– Able to balance creativity with organisation and discipline in a fast-paced environment.

– Very strong interpersonal skills to maximise the productivity of the application team.

Meet the team

We’re responsible for creating innovative products for On. We have a lot of responsibility to try and meet the needs and demands of runners. So we research, design, develop and test lots of ideas scientifically. Only products that pass our rigorous tests ever go to market.