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. Manage relations and drive innovation centers effectiveness on projects & resources allocation. Research & develop sourcing solutions for new product concepts and commercial competitiveness – Focus on FTW physical foams & bottom technologies Drive definition, readiness & validation of innovation & commercially ready technology solutions. Secure for adidas best in class bottom technologies (Material, process, machinery, tools & suppliers) Senior point of contact with industry & academic partners to remain on forefront of technology & FTW evolution

 

Key Responsibilities

Drive innovative bottom solutions & validation towards specifications, compliance & integrity. Provide commercial tangible guidance throughout the readiness levels, ROI, timelines, and scalability. Work closely with supplier innovation teams & centers to ensure performance, competitiveness & advantage for adidas. Encourage suppliers to continuously upgrade their expertise, technical applications, new materials innovation, and manufacturing technologies. Scouting & Research in sporting goods and other industries to benchmark and identify potential opportunities for application of innovative technology, processes, and materials. Provide regular update and valuable input to project teams, key stakeholders & escalation to leadership team when needed. Challenge the team, stakeholders & suppliers to ensure feasibility, commercial readiness, impact & progress of projects. Project base allocation of resources Ensure project deliverables on time, in full & within budget. Lead & staff a cross divisional team 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. Develop and coach the team to ensure the best standards of performance, appropriate skill set, and strong succession plans are in place. Role model leadership to foster a culture of Diversity Equity & Inclusion that strives for an inclusive workplace.

 

Key Relationships

Product Development & Sourcing Sourcing Materials team HQ Innovation Teams Testing & quality adiLab, Innovation Management Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 Supply Partners Innovation departments, machine & tooling suppliers

 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Innovative & Visionary Strong people management skills and proven ability in leading multidimensional teams Have depth and breadth of experience in Materials and Methods of Make, but also sports product creation and engineering. Strong influencing, people, presentation, communication, and articulation skills Fluent in English (written and spoken)

 

Requisite Education and Experience

University Degree, in Materials/Polymers/Process/Textile/Chemical/ Mechanical Engineering or related areas – Expert in physical foam technologies Minimum of 10+ years of relevant experience and 3 years of people management experience Fluent in English & ability to communicate with technical teams & SLT International experience in both HQ & Sourcing Product and material experience is an advantage.