Head of Business Process Excellence

Location: Zurich

Product Operations

In short

The global Operational Excellence team is looking for a Head of Business Process Excellence to lead our Idea-to-Product domain and Business Architecture team. We are seeking a visionary, data-driven leader to revolutionize our Creation processes. In this role, you will define next-generation digital capabilities- including advanced AI integration- while continuously optimizing our current workflows. You will lead a newly formed team of 5-7, acting as the primary business owner and strategic sparring partner for the Senior Leadership Team to drive operational excellence and chart our digital future. The Head of Business Process Excellence will report to the Senior Director for Operational Excellence, supporting Product Strategy, Innovation, Design, Development and Sourcing teams across Apparel & Accessories (A&A), and Footwear (FTW).

You bring deep industry knowledge and experience from a sportswear, footwear, apparel or accessories brand and have partnered closely with Product Development, Product Design, Product Strategy, or Sourcing teams.

Your Mission

• Vision & Roadmap Development: Shape the future of our Idea-to-Product organization by defining and executing a long-term vision for our business processes, workflows, and digital capabilities. Act as the resident expert and visionary for integrating AI opportunities throughout the value chain.
• Process Optimization & Digital Twin: Document current workflows and processes to identify optimization potential, while developing the "Northstar" setup for the future way of working across Apparel & Accessories (A&A) and Footwear (FTW).
• Tech Partnership & Capability Delivery: Partner closely with the Technology team as the primary business owner and thought partner to design, gather requirements and align advanced business capabilities with strategic goals.
• Operational Leadership & Decision Making: Act as the primary spokesperson for operational teams, taking critical trade-off decisions, managing the user base, and heading up a dedicated team covering the Idea-to-Product domain.
• Business Architecture: Lead the business architecture team, taking end-to-end responsibility for mapping, scaling, and structuring organizational capabilities.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Sparring: Manage high-level senior interactions and act as a trusted strategic sparring partner for the Senior Leadership Team across Product Strategy, Innovation, Design, Development, and Sourcing teams.
• Enablement & Tool Adoption: Coordinate comprehensive training programs for new tools and capabilities, actively driving user adoption and operational excellence across teams.

Your story

• Domain Expertise: Deep understanding of the product development value chain (Idea-to-Product) and Creation processes within the Apparel, Accessories, or Footwear industries.
• Proven Leadership Experience: 10+ years of experience in business process management, digital transformation, or operational excellence, with a proven track record of managing and developing high-performing teams, with experience managing 5+ direct reports preferred.
• Team Architecture & Talent Leadership: Demonstrated success in the strategic recruitment and development of top-tier talent to build high-performing organisational units from scratch.
• Tech & AI savviness: Technical affinity and a data-informed, problem-solving mindset, backed by deep business acumen and process expertise to help shape technology roadmaps and evaluate AI opportunities.
• Strategic Stakeholder Management: Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated experience influencing, collaborating with, and acting as a peer to C-suite and Senior Leadership Teams.
• Change Management & Execution: Demonstrated capability in documenting complex workflows, executing gap analyses, driving tool adoption, and managing large-scale user training across cross-functional teams.
• Academic Background: Degree or deep knowledge in Business Administration, Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field with a strong focus on process mapping and capability maturity frameworks.

Attributes of a successful candidate:

• Strategic Visionary: Ability to look past current constraints to design a digital "Northstar," for our future way of doing business, balanced with a pragmatic approach
• Resilient Decision Maker: Comfortable navigating ambiguity, prioritizing conflicting demands, and making high-stakes trade-off decisions in a fast-paced environment.
• Collaborative Influencer: A natural bridge-builder who can seamlessly speak the language of both deep-tech engineers and creative product operations teams.
  About the Team

---

As the Business Process Excellence team for the Idea-to-Product value stream, we define, manage, and optimize the workflows and technical capabilities that bring our innovative products to life. We are visionaries who are data-driven, action-oriented, and obsessed with challenging the status quo.

Heading up a team of 5-7 domain experts, we work hand-in-hand with Product Strategy, Innovation, Design, Development, Sourcing, and Technology teams to champion future ways of working - ensuring our global growth is supported by cutting-edge AI, digital twins, and operational excellence.

Zürich

Just by the banks of the Limmat you’ll find our largest global hub in Zürich West – On Labs – where you can hike up 12 floors through our custom-built spiral trail.

Förrlibuckstrasse 190,

8005

Switzerland

Location
Dennis

Specialist, Apparel Product Manager

We’re at the heart of the action, helping out different people and teams across R&D and the wider business every day. There’s a learning curve, sure, but the variety of projects and topics we cover is unmatched.
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.

Build the better you
What to expect

We want to set everyone up for success, so here’s the lowdown on how we hire. Our process is a two-way street – bringing you into our culture, while helping us learn how you think.

Our full process can last about eight weeks from application to offer, because we care about getting it right. These steps explain how we usually do things.

Before you get started, feel free to consider if you want to work with us. Strange question? Well, we give people a lot of space to navigate their day-to-day and that style isn't for everyone. We want you to be passionate about what you do and be sure this is the right fit. Because when skills and passion combine – it creates that 'Wow' moment.

• Step One

It starts with you...

You'll start by submitting your application to a specific role. We try to keep this step as simple as possible. We do get a lot of applications, but we review them all. If you're a good fit to the role, a recruiter will follow up with you directly. If you didn't receive a reply, or were unsuccessful this time around, we encourage you to look for other possible matches at On.

• Step Two

Interview with a recruiter

What ignites your spirit? This is where we’ll start getting to know all about you and what makes you tick – and it’s your first chance to get a feel for our culture. Chatting with a member of our talent team, you’ll learn more about On and how we work. We’ll learn about what motivates you and what you could bring to the team.

• Step Three

Interview with a hiring manager

Ready to dig into the details? This second interview will be held with your future manager and will focus on the specifics of the job. Together you’ll delve into your unique skills and experiences and how they could be relevant at On. It's also a time to assess how you might feel working side-by-side. Bring any questions you have about the job, the team or anything else you might like to know – this is an open forum.

• Step Four

The Case Study

What's your style? This task will help us understand how you think, face a challenge and give insight into your novel ideas. Designed to give everyone their best shot, your case study is based on something you might typically experience on the job. This is your chance to show us what you’ve got. So express yourself. Be you.

• Step Five

The Experience Day

Your first taste of the Oniverse. This is a time to meet some of the people you'll be working closest with. In person or virtually, you'll get a feel for the day-to-day at On and the people who make it happen. You'll chat with a few potential teammates - the conversations will be as equally driven by the role and your experience as by our values. We believe how you do things is just as important as what you do.

• Step Six

The Result

Are we a good fit? We’ll get together internally to share our feedback and decide if we’re a match. We know that job searching is a big time investment, so it’s not a decision we take lightly. It’s also time for you to reflect on the experience – are we the right place for you? No matter the outcome, we’ll give you meaningful feedback.