Senior Director, US Sports & Specialist Sports

Area                                                                                                         Global Brands

Department                                                                                             US Sports/Specialist Sports

Direct Reporting Line                                                                            GM of US Sports & Creation Center Portland

Subsidiary/country                                                                                 US

Location                                                                                                   Portland

Number of Personnel Managed                                                             4+ (Direct), 10+ (Total Team)

Cost Center/Budget and/or Revenue Responsibility                           Yes

 

PURPOSE & OVERALL RELEVANCE FOR THE ORGANIZATION

 

Sports in North America are constantly evolving and we believe at adidas we can lead that evolution better than any other brand.  We do this by pioneering progress for our consumers and partners through products and stories that fuel disruption on the field of play.  You are a leader with a growth mindset, action orientation, and willingness to pursue opportunities identified with and through a passionate and entrepreneurial team.  You will be responsible for the development and implementation of the product creation strategy, go-to-market approach, and consumer direction for an end-to-end Global Business Unit (US Sports), while stewarding the go-to-market approach for the North American Specialist Sports Business Unit. In addition to the areas of direct responsibility you will build productive cross-functional relationships through influence and partnership with various global and local stakeholders.  Balancing consumer and customer perspective you are able to navigate internal and external conversations to drive impact.  Through a general management orientation you will seek opportunities to refine processes and evolve strategic direction for the respective area across functions according to the overarching operating unit direction. 

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

 

Set the Business Unit vision, strategic objectives/actions. & financial targets and bring them to market. 

Monitor product financials (sell-in-/ sell-through-performance, number of articles, volumes per article) and initiate business development action for the respective Business Unit.

Steer and lead the creation teams across quad to ensure proper implementation of the Brand & BU strategies.

Manage team inputs and outputs through Go To Market milestones globally and locally.  

Establish close working relationship with the Business Unit comms, and design teams to deliver holistic and unified product concepts.

Work closely with the Operating Unit Senior Leadership Team to build short-, mid- and long-term business plans.

Set targets to achieve Business Unit goals and manage the turnovers for the defined BU product range.

Establish a close working relationship with various category teams in the North American market.

Act as a cross-functional marketing team captain for the respective Business Unit.

Lead and steer the product creation process in close relationship with Design, Development, Costing, and Merchandising.

Identify business opportunities and risks; respond to them by initiating key action steps with relevant Business Unit functions and x-functional partners.

Identify cross-category consumer impact collaboration opportunities

Drive business relevant initiatives to achieve financial targets with omni-channel partners across e-Commerce, owned retail, wholesale, and Sport Specialty through close working relationships.

Integrate relevant units (Design, Development, Innovation, Brand Comms, SPOMA, Merchandising) in strategic planning, product creation, & merchandising phases as needed

Staff most suitable persons in direct report positions in alignment with HR.

Set personal objectives, guidelines and assess all direct reports.

Develop functional and social skills of direct reports on and off the job.

Build a highly functioning team by managing all reports as an integrated team by setting objectives, targets and guidelines to ensure smooth cooperation and growth & development of all direct reports in accordance with adidas values.

Identify and prepare talents in the respective Business Unit for career progression within the adidas organization.

 

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

 

Product & Category Managers within Business Unit

Global Business Unit Counterparts

Design & Operations Team

Brand and Sports Marketing

Business Unit Directors/Category Managers in Markets

North American Market Wholesale Chann