Director Planning and Trading - eCom Europe (Product Merchandising)

The Director Planning & Trading for eCom Europe is part of Product Merchandising and leads both the pre-season planning and in-season trading agenda. The role is responsible for ensuring the right consumer-centric product investment decisions pre-season, while steering commercial product performance in-season through data-driven trading actions that capture opportunities and mitigate risk. The role plays a critical role in shaping the commercial direction of the eCom business across Europe.

Key Responsibilities

Pre-season Planning

• Own pre-season investment planning for the ‘Regular’ eCom business. The Outlet portion is planned by the DTC FO Planning team.
• Facilitate and coordinate a (monthly) bottoms-up process to identify product opportunities to be raised in the IBP (Integrated Business Planning) process.
• Understand monthly developments in consumer demand and corresponding IBP Category submissions, and translate movements into clear assortment choices.
• Co-own (with Product Merch Buying) seasonal milestones like ‘Merchandise Financial Plan’, ‘Buy Sign Off’ and ‘Monthly Buy Review’ to create an aligned and strategic adidas buy.
• Build planning guidance for assortment and investments around key commercial moments like End Of Season Sale and Black Friday.
• Co-create and streamline future pre-season planning processes and tools to help buy the right amount of the right product in the right size for consumers.

In-season Trading

• Lead in-season commercial steering across categories to maximize Net Sales and market share, in line with the strategic role of the eCom channel within the European marketplace.
• Create and communicate weekly and monthly trading insights to influence planning and buying decisions. The Off Price Merch team focuses on trading of the Outlet business.
• Engage in key commercial meetings such as pulse checks and (category) trading meetings to identify trading opportunities and risks – translating into market share, net sales and gross margin wins.
• Drive seasonal retrospective to translate key learnings of previous seasons into actionable insights and recommendations.
• Leverage and evolve data-driven business intelligence (industry, competitors, ranges) to help recommend assortment choices that maximize seasonal commercial impact.
• Partner with Analytics and the wider Product Merch team to design, build and adopt the next generation of forecasting tools and dashboards.

Leadership and stakeholder management

• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing team of currently 9 people (with 3 direct reports), fostering strong engagement, empowerment and cross-functional collaboration.
• Active member of the Product Merchandising leadership team, driving strong collaboration across all Product Merch pillars (Buying, Off Price Merchandising, Merchandising Ops and Planning & Trading).
• Partner with different functions in the eCom EU community to drive the commercial business, and across channels to ensure holistic steering.
• Represent EU eCom pre-season plans towards the European Business Units, furthering the alignment on plans, risks and opportunities, and key business needs.
• Participate in seasonal milestones, like Go To Market Sign-off and Sample Walkthrough (occasional travel required).

Key Relationships

• Sr. Director Product Merchandising eCom EU
• Product Merchandising eCom EU leadership
• Full Product Merchandising team (Buying, Off Price Merchandising, Merchandising Operations)
• Broader eCom community (including VP eCom EU, Sales Planning and Analytics, Finance, Demand Planning, Digital Sales, Consumer Experience, Digital Activation, Supply Chain)
• EU Business Units
• EU Retail (Concept Stores and Factory Outlet)
• EU Marketplace (country) teams
• Global Digital

Requirements

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Business leader with proven planning and trading skills.
• Broad knowledge of Merchandising and DTC supply and operations topics, and solid knowledge of other functional areas involved in planning and trading processes.
• Understanding of our European and digital ecosystem.
• Proven ability to navigate and be effective in matrix organizations, to successfully work in cross-functional teams.
• Fluent in English.

Personal Attributes

• Pro-active, result-oriented and flexible in approach to drive growth.
• Ability to think strategically, to approach topics from different perspectives (consumer, brand, marketplace, financial, operational), to synthesize complex data and to develop innovative and simple solutions.
• Able to prioritize, has a strong sense of ownership and is resilient under pressure.
• Adopts a structured and logical approach from planning to delivery.
• Can quickly and effectively assimilate and drive change and/or new initiatives.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. Ability to seamlessly shift between strategic and tactical topics. Clear vision and ability to articulate to different stakeholders.
• Strong analytical capabilities and commercial acumen.
• Drive to coach, guide, manage and develop the team. A role model and builder of high performing teams and talent.
• Passion for sports, fashion and consumer trends is a strong plus.

Education and Experience

• University degree.
• 8+ years professional experience – Merchandising experience in a multi-channel global brand, and experience in eCom or digital environment preferred.
• 3+ years of leadership experience.

Our culture

At adidas we have a winning culture. To win, physical power is not enough. Just like athletes, our employees need mental strength in their game. We foster the athlete’s mindset through a set of behaviors that are at the core of our company culture.

• COURAGE: Speak up when you see an opportunity; step up when you see a need.
• OWNERSHIP: Pick up the ball. Be proactive, take responsibility and follow-through.
• INNOVATION: Elevate to win. Be curious, test and learn new and better ways of doing things.
• TEAMPLAY: Win together. Work collaboratively and cultivate a shared mindset.
• INTEGRITY: Play by the rules. Hold yourself and others accountable to our company’s standards.
• RESPECT: Value all players. Display empathy and show dignity to all.