Adidas DIRECTOR CATEGORY MANAGEMENT 

United Kingdom, England 

678117886

Job Title: Director, Category Management

Drive cross-functional Marketing execution ensuring one category voice reaches the consumer today, tomorrow and in the future.

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and implement strategies that integrate local consumer insights, market trends, and country-specific dynamics while aligning with global and EM directives.
• Serve as a local expert, embedding Channel specific opportunities, consumer insights, and trends into brand and category strategies.

Seasonal Range Planning & GTM Execution

• Lead a team of Category Managers and Creation Team to create seasonal GTM plans and regional ranges aligned with growth goals.
• Design compelling range and concept selections across Categories, balancing brand priorities, commercial needs, and local market nuances toensuring winning strategies across channels.
• Oversee the GTM process, ensuring seamless communication across EM and Channels across the market country teams and integrating channel inputs.
• Enhance commercial outcomes by driving sell-in processes, focusing on key accounts.

Planning & Insights

• Develop and govern seasonal range plans across channels, and segments while ensuring alignment with EM strategies and providing insights to the EM Analytics team.
• Partner with market Brand Finance to align Seasonal business planning targets (Net Sales, Volumes, Go-In-Margin) and drive cross-category alignment and actions.
• Track Sell-Through and Sell-In performance, generate reports, and deliver actionable insights for strategic

Business Development & Projects

• Identify and drive growth opportunities in collaboration with country and channel teams.
• Lead or contribute to initiatives aligned with market priorities and business growth initiatives, such as Responsiveness, Value Consumer, and Local Production.
• Work on creation programs as needed to enable channel opportunities as well as to manage local regulations

Leadership & Culture

• Cultivate a high-performance culture, fostering engagement and professional development.
• Set clear targets for direct reports and provide ongoing coaching for growth and improvement.
• Agility and speed to cater to changing category and regulatory requirements.

Key Relationships:

• EM BU
• Brand Activation
• MOPS, PMO
• Demand Planning, SCM, Finance (marketing ROI), Sourcing (Creation)
• Sales (all channels)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong understanding of local markets' consumers, accounts, economic environment and commercial needs.
• Distinct track record of success in GTM planning, merchandising and/or sales experience in a global or market function.
• Strong presentation/communication, negotiation and influencing skills, especially with senior stakeholders within a global matrix organization.
• Strong cross-functional and stakeholder management experience across commercial functions (e.g. marketing, sales, etc.) and support functions (finance & sourcing), as well as different organizational levels (Global, Market, etc.)
• Strategic thinking to build long-term plans and agility to quickly adapt to changing business needs.