Apparel Product Creation (Merchandising/ Development) - Sr. Manager

[PURPOSE]
- A key player in Global Sourcing in driving Sourcing's vision to be the Most Agile, Most Competitive, Most Digitalized & Cleanest Supply Base in the industry.
- Translate brand needs and future trends into supplier-facing capability requirements. Develop, evolve, and implement supplier management tools including identifying and executing continuous improvement opportunities to enhance the performance of the supply base.
- Key Sourcing lead for adidas' Apparel Co-Creation Team, across a broad portfolio of silhouettes on topics related to technical, product constructions, materials, process-oriented, speed to market, driving efficiency, and delivering margin expectations.
Drives the process and is responsible for initiating and managing projects. The role requires strong cross-functional managing abilities and collaboration including interactions with Marketing, Design, Planning, and Supplier base.
[KEY RESPONSIBILITIES]
- Lead development for adidas. Ensuring that products consistently exceed customer expectations in respect to fit, comfort, design integrity, performance, perceived value, manufacturability, and quality.
- Enhance the development process between the Co-Creation Team and Tier 1 factories. Support the continuous improvement of our Product Creation system & processes to ensure optimal and efficient operations, and special focus on change management.
- Influences and drives speed programs to bring products faster to market.
Manages and develops relations with T2 supply base to support localization, speed to market, meeting material pricing targets and materials quality.
- Generates and provides technical support and training for junior members within the organization.
- Devises and drives the product process and leverages category sourcing strategy to deliver new material and design innovation while meeting gross margin/ profitability objectives.
- Ensures all product milestones are achieved in a fast-paced creation process and establishes better working practices to advance processes.
- Develops and improves processes intending to drive leading product processes with speed and efficiency. Always innovating with speed and flexibility.
- Lead & drive the Product Creation system and process training activities for Sourcing regional locations including new/enhanced developments, monitoring of performance and collection of user feedback.
- Lead the account management of adidas' Product Creation systems for Sourcing regional location internal & external users, support enhancements and escalations to ensure consistent access for Sourcing users.
- Conduct regular organizational performance analysis. Proactively assess and suggest improvement opportunities for Sourcing across functional areas.
- Act as support for all policies and procedures relevant to Sourcing, including process optimization, update, and implementation within Sourcing.
- Proactively collaborate across functions to identify and resolve issues that are posing obstacles to Product Creation.
- Ensure all sourcing operations and practices fully comply with adidas' Responsible Sourcing & Purchasing Policy, adidas standards, and legal requirements, while managing the relevant processes internally and externally.
- Manage relationships with the factory development team leaders to continually upgrade sports category competence, development innovation capability, and technical expertise.
- Role model leadership to foster a Diversity Equity & Inclusion culture that strives for an inclusive workplace.
[KEY RELATIONSHIPS]
- Internal stakeholders: Manufacturing, Costing, Material, Planning, Product Quality, Product Testing & Compliance, E&MI, Brand Marketing & Design.
- External stakeholders: Sourcing Suppliers (Tier1 factory development, sample room supervisors; Tier2 / Tier3 suppliers)