Summary
adidas is seeking a Director of Buying & Merchandising to lead buying strategy and execution for its EMC DTC business across retail, e-commerce and franchise channels. The role covers assortment planning, forecasting, in-season trading, product availability and performance analysis, with a focus on revenue, margin and range efficiency. The director will work with planning, finance, demand planning, supply chain and operations teams, and lead talent development and team performance. Candidates should have a university degree in business, finance or merchandising, 10–12 years of merchandising experience, 8 years of management experience and fluency in English.
The posting
As published on adidas-group.com. Pulled from the employer's site and shown as they wrote it.
Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:
This role is critical to supporting the profitability of EMC DTC by focusing on assortment planning & forecasting, in-season trading, maximizing profit through agile, data-driven decision-making & overall category strategy for DTC channels. The role will contribute to the execution of the buying strategy, leveraging smart and comprehensive views of marketplace trends and trading performance. The role emphasizes quick action to capitalize on opportunities, driving revenue and margin improvement across the EMC DTC business which includes Retail, ecom and Franchise.
Key Responsibilities:
- Drive overall buying strategy and execution for DTC being responsible for meeting all KPIs including Net sales, Margin, range efficiency, productivity, and range overlap.
- Drive a compelling range/concept selection for each market by balancing both brand and commercial considerations, and supporting the overall business strategy.
- Contribute to pre-season planning including Open-To-Buy (OTB) plan, pre-season product planning, option planning and ranging to build & drive the Ecom merchandising vision.
- Based on the OTB and the assortment plan, make the buying forecast ensuring consistency with the marketing strategy and historical data
- Drive Country Range enhancements through assortment planning that reflects localization and differentiation in the marketplace for DTC.
- Provide regular analysis of sell-through performance and contribute to strategic planning based on the analysis.
- Ensure product availability in collaboration with supply chain team, develop an action plan to mitigate risks.
- Create a seasonal / phasing framework aligned to consumer consumption peaks and category launch requirements.
- Stay informed about evolving consumer behaviour and preferences to tailor trading actions accordingly.
- Leverage marketplace trends and customer feedback to refine strategies and improve the shopping experience.
- Identify market opportunities and implement actions to capture unmet consumer demand, improving customer satisfaction and market share.
- Identify areas for improvement in current ways of working, systems, and tools to streamline trading and inventory management processes.
- Build scalable foundations for future growth by implementing best practices and innovative solutions.
- Brand and commercial calendar planning inline with consumer & market trends.
- Work closely with Planning, Finance, Demand planning, SCM & operations teams to ensure alignment of trading actions with broader business strategies.
- Establish and monitor KPIs to track the effectiveness of trading and inventory actions.
- Provide actionable insights and regular updates to stakeholders to ensure alignment and transparency.
People Management:
- Evaluate the competencies of his/her subordinates on a regular basis and provides prompt and feedback and guidance to drive high performance
- Takes ownership for Talent Management processes to grow, develop and retain talents.
- Promote a high-performance culture by setting clear expectations and individual goals.
- Translate the company goals into team specific actions and business plans. Control and monitor performance and results.
- Mange a diverse team and identify, develop and nurture talent building a solid succession pipeline
Key Relationships:
- Planning
- Operations
- Brand
- Finance
- Supply Chain
- Franchise sales
- EM Hub Merchandising, Ecom & Franchise team
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- High degree of commercial and business acumen
- Strong time-management, planning and organizational skills
- Ability to multi-task in a dynamic environment and challenge the status quo
- Leadership and influencing skills
- Advanced user of MS Office suite of products
- Fluent in English
- Advanced knowledge of Retail Management Systems
- Strong analytical skills
- Structured, organised and process orientated
- Attention to detail as error in analysis will have crucial impact to business
- Ability to work effectively within a team environment and under pressure
Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:
University degree in business/Finance/Merchandising.
Merchandising Experience: 10-12 years
Management Experience: 8 years