Sr. Manager Concept Engineering FF & E (m/f/d)

Adidas is an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from people of all ages, genders (incl. gender identity), ethnic and social backgrounds, nationalities, sexual orientations, religions and beliefs, and those with apparent or non-apparent disabilities*. We do not tolerate harassment or discrimination toward any of our applicants or employees.

*We actively encourage individuals with disabilities to apply and will provide reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process.

The Retail Design Team at adidas is responsible for creating future-forward store experiences that elevate the adidas brand across the Retail & Wholesale channels.

We collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop, innovate, and evolve experiential retail concepts, store designs, and fixture innovations that deliver best-in-class consumer journeys. We establish and maintain global store design principles, guidelines, and templates to ensure consistency in experiential brand identity.

We establish and maintain global store design principles, guidelines, and templates to ensure consistency in experiential brand identity. Our goal is to support business strategies and enhance the consumer experiences through retail design innovation.

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organisation:

This role is responsible for maximizing the profitability of Retail Concepts by managing the Development process and the respective team for the globally defined Retail & WHS Concept Hardware (Fixture & Fittings, Sales Support Items and Digital Hardware) - from brief to engineering & prototyping to (if applicable) sourcing.

During the concept design phase this role acts as a consultant to the creative Retail Design team to enable internal partners and external agencies in delivering a comprehensive concept design intent pack according to all retail and adidas specific requirements.

The identification, set-up and management of suitable, globally operating engineering and manufacturing partners are key deliverables to achieve industry leading price/quality ratio and speed to market in line with growth plan for all consumer direct retail & Sustainability Targets.

Key Responsibilities:

• Set up and manage most suitable global retail engineering and manufacturing partners according to the growth plan analysis to support the adidas markets achieving their targets
• Maintain & support vendor network to provide guidance on most efficient usage of global economies of scale & industry leading cost structure for production in cooperation with Procurement & Markets teams
• Create & support processes & procedures to maximize opportunities of supply chains
• Support market-based tender processed (as needed) for Concept Hardware according to industry leading standards and procedures in cooperation with Procurement
• Ensure & support data accuracy (e.g. File management & supply chain) within the system landscape to maintain a solid and robust base for decision making and reporting purposes
• Manage project managers for technical development of all global Retails concepts (also utilizing 3rd party) and assure maximum synergy between concepts
• Consult within Global Retail Design function and market partners during the concept design process to assure scalability & sustainable potential can be maximized
• Establish and maintain process-driven and solution-orientated communication with key stakeholders
• Evaluate concepts on a regular basis and provide regular feedback and guidance to drive high performance within Global Retail Design team
• Promote a high-performance culture by setting clear expectations and individual goals
• Translate the company goals into team specific actions and business plans. Control and monitor performance and results
• Support the update process of concept guidance & tools to enable a transparent demand management process by the markets
• Other duties as requested by line manager

Key Relationships:

• Retail Design Team, Visual Excellence Team
• Quality & Standards team; Demand & Inventory Team
• Global & Regional Procurement Teams; Regional Store Development & Wholesale teams
• Executive Management 3rd party vendors
• External service providers including supply chain managers and factories

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Expert knowledge of construction, manufacturing, construction and quality control processes of Concept Hardware in Fixture & Fitting Production; in Digital Signage Execution
• Material engineering expertise
• Advanced Communication; negotiation and issue resolution skills
• English – excellent written and spoken
• MS Office incl. Power Point – Advanced
• Workflow / Database Software, Project Management skills

Required Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• Graduate level engineering or graduate level BA
• Minimum of 5-7 years’ experience in managing 3rd party supplier relationships in an international context
• Strong communication skills