Director, Sourcing Apparel Team Sports
PURPOSE
- A key player in Global Sourcing in driving Sourcing’s vision to be the Most Agile, Most Competitive, Most Digitalized & Cleanest Supply Base in the industry.
- Lead the end-to-end Team Sports Sourcing Operations activities within the designated region and across relevant Operation Centers/Team Sports factories and manage the relationships between adidas and supply partners ensuring that adidas objectives are met.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Drive end-to-end execution of the operations (from-creation-to-shipment) across the assigned Team Sports supply base / region
- Own operational performance of assigned supply partner factories (incl. related Key Performance Indicators) and build / maintain the relationship with factory operations heads and internal functional leads to ensure quick issue resolution
- Proactively identify operations issues before they impact performance, drive mitigation efforts in close partnership with relevant stakeholders and ensure timely implementation and communication
- Supervise the direct development and commercialization process of assigned Team Sports products in collaboration with Creation Centre teams / factory personnel / technical teams to ensure effective transition of design into samples and production (incl. standards/timeline adherence, manufacturability, material selection and cost)
- Ensure adequate capacity / production planning (incl. seasonal/monthly capacity booking), timely planning system updates and effective implementation of all related policies and guidelines in close collaboration with LO Planning
- Drive material management activities within assigned supply base (e.g. adequate seasonal greige/material/trim booking, timely replenishment, inventory monitoring, material outage reporting and liability management)
- Implement Team Sports Sourcing strategy within assigned supply base (incl. new capability build up within existing supply base and onboarding of new supply partners/ facilities) and provide operations input to the strategy and allocation processes
- Represent Team Sports Sourcing operations both internally & externally and foster a strategical partnership and relationship with our customers
- Proactively identify operations process issues at regional/local level, drive best practice development, coordinate deployment activities to improve operations excellence and facilitate best practice exchange with teams in other regions / other relevant stakeholders
- Drive other company key initiatives within and beyond Team Sports Sourcing as assigned by Line Manager and/or Functional Leader, to ensure resources are balanced across Team Sports and Inline business so company priorities are met.
- Ensure all sourcing operations and practices fully comply with adidas’ Responsible Sourcing & Purchasing Policy, adidas standards and legal requirements, while managing the relevant processes internally and externally
- Role model leadership to foster a culture of Diversity Equity & Inclusion, invest in people skills through Development / Training, provide ongoing coaching to the team members and take an active role in driving engagement
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
- Global Sourcing: Allocation & Planning, Sourcing Operations, Materials, Costing, Quality, Manufacturing Excellence
- Head Quarter: Global Team Services, Global Brand / Business Unit teams, Design
- Global Operations: Global Product Supply, Product Operations, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Customs
- External: Tier 1 supplier teams (e.g. Team Sports Operations, Business Planning, General Management)
- Other Global Functional Team: Social and Environmental Affairs / Government Affairs
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES
- Strong understanding of sportwear industry and experience in end-to-end manufacturing processes (incl. development, materials, production, planning, quality, costing, etc.)
- Strong analytical skills and a passion for leveraging data to derive insights and drive impact
- Strong, proactive and agile problem-solving skills
- Strong people, influencing and communication skills
- Strong Microsoft office and Business Intelligence Tools skills
- Fluent in English (written and spoken)
- Project management skills an advantage
- Able to see an overview and connect the dots for end-to-end processes
- Strong leadership skills and ability to work with multidimensional teams
Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:
- University degree in production management/engineering/product creation or related areas
- Minimum 7+ years of experience of which ideally 5 years were in production creation/ manufacturing and in managerial positions
At adidas, we strongly believe that embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into our culture and talent processes gives our employees a sense of belonging and our brand a real competitive advantage.
– Culture Starts With People, It Starts With You –
By recruiting talent and developing our people to reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities, we foster a culture of inclusion that engages our employees and authentically connects our brand with our consumers.
Job Title: Director, Sourcing Apparel Team Sports
Brand:
Location:
Shanghai
TEAM:
Supply Chain & Sourcing
State:
SH
Country/Region:
CN
Contract Type:
Full time
Number:
546725
Date:
Jul 2, 2026