Senior Specialist - Footwear Tooling Engineer

The Senior Specialist – Footwear Tooling Engineer role at On focuses on inventing high‑performance footwear concepts while supporting the company’s sustainability agenda. Working within a collaborative setting, you will help steer the direction of On’s top‑tier performance products and the technologies that underpin them. In this position you will own the development of the shoe’s bottom unit, partnering closely with designers and developers at On Labs in Zurich and the tooling team in Vietnam. Your daily work involves guiding material choices, geometry and construction decisions, always weighing manufacturing feasibility, biomechanical performance and durability. You will lead efforts to solve design and build constraints, assess 2D and 3D CAD models, prototypes and test feedback, and ensure that designs match product specifications and production capabilities. Your expertise in plastics injection molding will inform cost, design and molding options, while you support mold‑shop teams, address tooling queries from product and design groups, and drive workflow improvements to boost efficiency. The role requires a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, industrial design or a related discipline and at least five years of footwear engineering experience, preferably in tooling development. You must possess deep knowledge of materials, mold construction and manufacturing processes, especially plastics injection molding, and be comfortable reviewing CAD data for manufacturability and durability. Proficiency with 2D/3D CAD (Rhino is a plus), 3D modelling and rapid‑prototype tools is essential, as are strong project‑management, costing and problem‑solving abilities. Experience with biomechanical performance of shoe bottoms, cross‑functional collaboration, international manufacturing partners, clear communication, rigorous time management and willingness to travel to Asia twice yearly are also required. On’s team is dedicated to shaping the future of sportswear by merging material science, sport science and engineering with a focus on performance, sustainability and distinctive design. Based in Zurich with close