Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:

• Act as a General Manager and guardian of the category across the Emerging Markets by creating & executing Go to Market plans within the global framework but locally relevant for the Business Unit to drive brand and business success for the Business Units of Football & Motorsports.
• Do the above in conjunction and partnership with (1) the local Emerging Markets Clusters, considering different realities/needs and distribution channels & (2) the Emerging Markets Brand Activation & Omnichannel functions ensuring one strong adidas category voice and message reaches the consumer and drives demand.

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive & develop 3-5 year category plan based on overall adidas SBP process (in collaboration with Global)
• Provide BU leadership within category (across all related functions & departments) on vision, strategic objectives/actions & financial targets as defined in brand SBP
• Deliver financial expectations set out in the SBP / IBP across all channels and countries
• Work with Concept to Consumer teams to set & monitor EM pricing corridor for category range
• Define & implement EM cluster & channels allocation for global allocated products
• Define category CI and lead the communication with Global BU to get EM needs prioritized e.g. new Football Brand Partner signings
• Deliver powerful, compelling, commercial, viable range/concept selection for EM to support the overall brand strategy, purpose & direction
• Partner with and give input to the alignment with EM Brand Activation on category MWB and allocation by key concepts
• Responsible for BU category forecast within IBP, all channels
• Lead all creation needs, validate SMU requests for EM to fulfill EM needs to support the SBP
• Take responsibility for Sell-through of the category across EM, work with performance tracking dashboards and share update with Global BU
• Drive performance and development culture through organization’s people values
• Drive employee engagement, leading by example
• Identify and develop high-potential talents, to fuel the team's succession plan
• Look for opportunities to provide cross-functional experiences to identified high-potential talents from both, in and outside of the team
• Manage allocated category OPEX & T&E to fulfill business priorities

KPI’s:

• Market P&L for category (NS, Std Margin, Contribution)
• Sell Out all channels
• 3-5 year category plan : achievement of key initiatives
• Brand key KPIs
• Execution excellence in brand concepts/stories
• Market share

Key Relationships:

• Global BU
• Emerging Markets Hub: Brand Head Office, Brand Activation, Omnichannel, CTC, MOPs, Channels, Brand Finance, DNA, Demand Planning, & SCM
• Emerging Markets Clusters: Category Management, Channels
• Emerging Markets General Managers, Brand Directors

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to develop and implement strategy
• Proven leadership and management abilities especially in managing a diverse team (incl. remote management)
• Strong presentation/communication, negotiation and influencing skills, especially with senior stakeholders within a global matrix organization.
• Broad Marketing experience, with a distinct track record of success and expert Merchandising knowledge
• Strong cross-functional and stakeholder management experience across commercial functions (e.g. marketing, sales, etc.) and support functions (finance preferred), as well as different organizational levels (Global, Market, etc.)
• Strong industry knowledge, across divisions—footwear, apparel and accessories—and across all Bus.
• Expert understanding of Asian markets’ consumers, accounts, economic environment and commercial needs

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in merchandising/product, marketing, sales/retail required. Regional experience preferred.

• University degree in Business or equivalent professional experience, ideally in Sales and/or Marketing, MBA preferred

• Previous experience in managing a global matrix organization required

• Sporting goods industry experience required
• Fluent in English
• Fluent in local language (if applicable) preferred
• Has lived and worked in different cultures or has substantial experience working in regional teams
• Willingness to travel upwards of 20% of time