Job Title:                VM Manager

Location:                Woodmead - FO, Johannesburg

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization: 

Contribute to store profitability by: 

• Meeting or exceeding sales and KPI targets within the store through flawless visual merchandising 

• Coordinating team members to provide a leading shopping experience 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Monitor and analyze performance data and make any necessary adjustments to drive commercial success, especially within VM 

• Allocate resources and organize processes, especially within visual merchandising, to drive efficiency and productivity in a variety of situations, including maintenance and layout of existing stores, floor plans and changes, In-store Communication, reporting, and controlling costs 

• Drive product presentation and best practice within visual merchandising for a meaningful consumer experience, from sell-in to sell-through 

• Be a role model for customer service and meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations 

• Supervise and coordinate the team to ensure all customers receive an optimal service level at all times 

• Lead your team to meet or exceed customer expectations at all times 

• Be a Brand Ambassador, consistently exhibiting the Brand Attitude and Values 

• Use advanced Category expertise to drive sales and customer loyalty in your assigned area 

• Lead training for visual merchandising techniques and guidelines to follow marketing concepts and brand campaigns while supporting all team Foundational and Seasonal Brand and product knowledge training 

• Lead and coordinate team members to consistently execute and maintain established Visual Merchandising and In-Store Communication standards as per global guidelines and local directives, including placement and focus on key articles and ensuring alignment with given Buying and Merchandising timelines 

• Manage merchandise delivery processing on the same day it arrives 

• Keep an organized stockroom and direct sales floor replenishment to ensure the store’s complete product offer is immediately available and easily accessible to customers on a consistent basis 

• Execute all applicable loss prevention procedures 

• Maintain a safe and productive shopping and working environment 

• Support the recruitment, onboarding, training, coaching and motivation of store team members to maximize their performance 

• Share best practices to drive the overall store team performance and market Visual Merchandising strategy and implementation 

• Support’s market Visual Merchandising strategy through coaching and supporting Visual 

Merchandising Champions 

• Complete all applicable training programs and effectively apply the learning on the job 

• Seek coaching and learning opportunities to continually improve your performance 

Key Relationships: 

• Customers 

• Peers and Supervisor 

• VM back office, Trade Marketing back office, Retail back office 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 

• Ability to use critical thinking and creative ways to solve problems 

• Passion for fashion & sports 

• Organized and detailed oriented 

• Good numeracy, literacy, verbal and written communication skills 

• A good eye for style, coordination and attention to detail 

• Ability to make recommendations that effectively resolve problems by using judgment that is consistent with standards, practices, policies, and procedures 

• Strong leadership, interpersonal and communication skills 

• Strong ability to collaborate and influence across different levels and departments 

• Thrives under ambiguity; open to change and act as advocate for the ‘new’ 

• Open to feedback; able to keep composure in stressful situations 

• Passion for adidas brand and for sport 

• Proficient with MS applications (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and other computer software (Internet, POS Systems, etc) 

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications: 

• Minimum 3+ years’ work experience in a sports/fashion customer- and commercial- focused retail environment with advanced selling experience and comprehensive product, retail and industry understanding, [as well as with first supervisor experience] 

• Intermediate numeracy and literacy and advanced verbal communication skills