Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organisation: 

• The purpose of the Category Management team is to develop locally relevant product ranges by category to best meet the needs of the local consumers, profitably.

For this role specifically: 

• Deliver a globally aligned and locally relevant product range for EMS, focusing on delivering the company sales growth aspirations per sales channel 
• Sustainably grow profitability and market share for each category
• Support the seasonal go-to-market (GTM) process to build the optimal product offering, considering the unique local consumer and channel requirements.
• Be the product expert and provide the relevant support for all Marketing GTM plans

Key Responsibilities:  

• Deliver a compelling range/concept selection for EMS by balancing local consumer, global brand and commercial considerations and supporting the overall business strategy of the channels. 
• Lead GTM process to engage channels and customers and collaboratively build the strongest viable product mix.
• Deliver net sales and profitability (GIM) by managing pricing, margin, and the product mix.
• Ownership of product demand forecasting which most accurately reflects the customer and consumer demand in the market.
• Seasonal analysis of marketplace to understand trends, competitor product assortments and pricing.
• Proactively drive cluster range enhancements that meet local needs and reflect differentiation in marketplace where required. Work closely with the HUB BU’s and local-souring apparel team to deliver these.
• Drive the range architecture for the cluster considering range guidance, brand focus and local pricing requirements.
• Monitor and maintain the accuracy of product data available to the business via the pricing matrix.
• Conduct monthly analysis of sell-through performance, sell out, of the relevant categories and make adjustments to the range where necessary.
• Support seasonal Brand Activations by aligning with BA/Omni team on Marketing plans; communication tools; activation tools; and providing sports marketing support to ensure our partners get access to the best of adidas.

Key Relationships:

• Manager Category Management EM South (line manager)
• Director Category Management & Mops EM South
• EMS Cluster Category Management Team.
• Cluster Demand Planning team
• EMS commercial channel Teams (DTC, Ecom, WHS)
• EM BU’s

KPIs:

• Net Sales and GIM%
• Range efficiency targets; range size and efficiency (incl. overlap)
• Market Sales vs Plan

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:  

• 3-5 years experience in a Merchandising role (buying/range building), Sports/Lifestyle brand/retail preferable
• Experience working in a complex matrix organization
• Elite user of MS Office software; advanced MS Excel skills critical
• Strong presentation/communications and influencing skills
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• University degree and/or a minimum of 5+ years equivalent professional experience
• Fluent in English