Senior Lead - Footwear Developer

Position Overview

In this pivotal role, you will act as a strategic technical consultant within a critical product category, ensuring alignment between design intent and manufacturing feasibility. Based at our Zurich headquarters, your focus will be on technical governance and cross-functional support as the category scales, rather than managing every granular aspect of product execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Stewardship: Serve as the primary technical advisor during design phases, maintaining alignment with global manufacturing capabilities.
• Strategic Synchronization: Facilitate alignment between design teams in Zurich and execution teams in Asia, preserving the core performance attributes of the product category.
• Process Enablement: Enhance development standards by identifying bottlenecks and recommending best practices to improve efficiency.
• Advisory & Escalation Support: Act as the senior technical contact for Asia-based development partners, helping to navigate complex technical challenges.
• Performance Quality Assurance: Ensure fit, feel, and durability standards are consistently met across various manufacturing partners.
• Knowledge Facilitation: Mentor the development team and translate complex innovations into actionable frameworks.

Experience & Skills

• Extensive Experience: 8–12+ years in footwear development, particularly in high-performance running and dealing with technical complexities.
• Influential Leadership: Ability to guide product direction and technical outcomes through collaboration and advisory roles.
• Systemic Thinking: Strong understanding of how performance tooling, materials, and construction affect the global supply chain.
• Collaborative Bridge: Exceptional skills in navigating dynamics between headquarters and regional teams, acting as a translator of technical needs.
• Strategic Judgment: Expertise in evaluating technical trade-offs and balancing innovation with scalability.
• Consultative Communication: A trusted advisor capable of fostering relationships and guiding stakeholders toward sound technical decisions.

Attributes of a Suitable Candidate

• The Technical Advisor: The go-to person for consultation when design challenges the boundaries of physics.
• The Strategic Partner: Focuses on ensuring a robust and scalable technical roadmap.
• The Alignment Specialist: Ensures technical details are effectively communicated between teams, minimizing any loss of information.

About the Team

You will be joining a dedicated team at our Zurich-based Footwear Development department, known for its expertise in the Performance Running category. This high-performance collective consists of engineers, developers, and makers who are the technical heart of the brand.

Our team collaborates closely with experts in Biomechanical Research, Material Science, Design, and Sourcing, making sure that innovations are technically grounded. Our collective mission is to continuously enhance the performance and quality of our running footwear, focusing not only on product creation but on engineering the ultimate "ride." Surrounded by specialists committed to crafting the best fitting and performing products, your role is to ensure that our technical standards remain uncompromised as we expand our category.

Embracing a culture of rigorous technical standards and "Swiss Engineering," we strive to challenge the status quo and tackle the most complex biomechanical challenges in the industry.