Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:

At adidas, we have a clear purpose: “Through sport, we have the power to change lives.” This guiding principle shapes how we operate as a company, how we collaborate with our partners, how we create our products, and how we connect with our consumers. Our values represent essential behaviors and mindsets, reflecting the “You Got This” attitude we strive to see in every team member.

This same purpose and mindset are at the heart of Global Business Services (GBS) the team that delivers consistent, end-to-end business solutions across adidas. By driving process excellence and operational efficiency, GBS enables our partners to focus on what matters most: creating impact.

Within GBS, the Payments Specialist is responsible for ensuring that all company payments— including those to vendors, employees and customer reimbursements—are processed accurately, timely, and in compliance with internal controls and local regulations. The Payments Specialist safeguards the integrity of financial transactions, supports day-to-day business operations, and contributes to maintaining strong relationships with vendors, business users, and external partners.

By combining strong analytical skills with exceptional attention to detail, the Payments Specialist supports the integrity of financial records, provides visibility on interims open items and root causes, and ensures timely resolution of discrepancies within internal stakeholders and external vendors.

As part of the company’s operational excellence framework, this role plays a key part in maintaining reliable vendor relationships, safeguarding compliance, and contributing to the continuous improvement of Accounts Payable KPIs and overall process efficiency.

Key Responsibilities:

• Execute vendor, tax, and intercompany payments in full compliance with internal policies, controls, and local regulations.
• Prepare and review payment proposals to ensure accuracy and completeness prior to execution.
• Verify daily bank statements, classify outgoing payments, and reconcile discrepancies.
• Ensure all payments have proper documentation and approvals before processing.
• Maintain and reconcile interim accounts open items and clearing accounts, promptly identifying and resolving differences.
• Support internal and external stakeholders (Accounting, Treasury, Procurement, Vendors) by addressing payment-related inquiries.
• Participate in month-end closing and ensure accurate posting of payment-related transactions.
• Maintain DTPs and documentation thoroughly and accurately, following company and audit standards.
• Identify improvement opportunities within the payment process and support their implementation.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on automation, standardization and process optimization initiatives.

Key Relationships:

• Internal: Corporate Treasury, Accounting, Local Market Finance teams, Internal Controls, Procurement, and GPO/IT support teams.
• External: Banks, financial entities, and external auditors.
• Operational Partners: Accounts Payable delivery team (for payment proposals and posting validations) and business users (for issue resolution and payment-related inquiries).

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

 University degree in Accounting, Commerce/Business Administration/Finance.

• 2+ years of relevant experience in Payments, Treasury Operations, or Accounts Payable.
• Strong understanding of banking processes, payment controls, and financial compliance standards.
• Experience using SAP and banking platforms; knowledge of Ariba, Concur, or APWF is a plus.
• Fluent in English and Spanish; Portuguese is a plus.
• Proven analytical and problem-solving skills, with ability to identify root causes and drive timely resolutions.
• Experience in a GBS or Shared Service environment is a plus.
• Highly adaptable professional with strong interpersonal and customer-focused skills; connects easily across functions, levels, and cultures, and effectively drives collaboration in complex organizational settings.