Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:

At adidas, we have a very clear mission: “To be the best sports brand in the world” and a passionate purpose: “Through sport, we have the power to change lives.” These guiding principles shape how we operate as a company, collaborate with our partners, create our products, and connect with our consumers. Our values represent the essential behaviors and winning mindset we strive to see in every team member.

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

Within GBS, the Inventory Accounting team plays a key role in ensuring transactional integrity across channels by reconciling Goods in Transit (GIT), Goods on Hand (GOH), and COGS variances with precision, speed, and scalability. Acting as the connective tissue between logistics operations, financial systems, and compliance frameworks, the team ensures accurate month-end inventory activities, reconciliations, and stakeholder follow-up.

The Team Lead Inventory Accounting is responsible for ensuring the accurate and timely execution of the team’s core responsibilities while driving operational excellence across inventory accounting processes. The role ensures that GIT, GOH, and COGS variance activities are managed in alignment with global standards, internal controls, and scalability objectives. In addition, the Team Lead provides visibility into operational risks, performance metrics, and optimization opportunities to support informed decision-making.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop the team through coaching, training, motivation, and performance management, fostering a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee daily reconciliation operations, ensuring adherence to SLAs and delivery of consistent, high-quality service to business partners.
• Coordinate and ensure timely month-end closing activities related to inventory accounting processes.
• Ensure compliance with internal controls, accounting policies, and audit requirements.
• Build and maintain strong, proactive relationships with business stakeholders and global functional teams, acting as a strategic liaison and escalation point.
• Define, monitor, and report key performance indicators (KPIs) related to reconciliation accuracy, timeliness, and issue resolution.
• Ensure KPIs are consistently achieved and communicated clearly to enable visibility and informed decision-making across functions.
• Drive process optimization by identifying improvement opportunities, implementing scalable solutions, and promoting automation and standardization initiatives.
• Conduct root cause analyses for complex issues, assess potential solutions, and lead implementation in alignment with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Manage operational escalations and ensure timely resolution of critical issues.
• Support the Manager and act as backup when required.

Key Relationships:

• Global, regional and market finance teams
• GBS teams
• Supply Chain Management teams.
• Retail Operations teams
• Internal and External Auditors

Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Education / minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, or comparable professional education.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in accounting and/or finance. Desirable in Inventory accounting.
• At least 3 years of experience in leadership or similar supervisory roles.
• Strong accounting knowledge.
• Proven experience in people management and team development.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office or equivalent tools.
• Solid knowledge and experience in SAP FI; knowledge of SAP MM and inventory-related processes is a plus.
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal.
• Self-motivated and self-directed individual.
• Strong attention to detail and customer-oriented mindset.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Hands-on attitude and proactive mindset.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Experience working in a Shared Services environment is an advantage.