Senior Category Manager Running - Go To Market Team

Purpose of the role:

Purpose is to execute fully localized GTM processes across all seasonal milestones, Assortment Recommendations for local WHS

The Zone GTM teams will work with the European Business Units to drive and steer the respective category from the brand and commercial point of view. They will be the experts for the category in the marketplace, from an adidas perspective, as well as having the complete perspective of the competitive landscape. The GTM teams will have ownership for holistic category plans in close collaboration with Activation and Sales.

What you'll do:

• Contribute and input to the creation of Zone GTM plan for the respective category in alignment with line manager.
• Be the Category expert in the specific Zone, with a strong knowledge based on trends, competition, distribution, marketplace, and specially market share (Circana) providing the strongest inputs to EU and Global to improve the range and cover the specific Zone needs.
• Download and prepare EU & Global BU material of respective category during the Milestones
• Provide input on forecasting topics such as quantitative or qualitative data, segmentation, allocation etc.
• Maintain regular analytics on the sell-in and sell-through performance of respective category to ensure sustainable growth of the category.
• Ensure operational excellence in the specific Zone for all GTM relevant topics
• Explore and drive business opportunities together with local sales teams
• Key contact to local sales teams on range specific topics & concepts
• Key contact to Brand activation teams on the Category GTM process and topics
• Act as Zone “Lead”- expert and input into EU business opportunities for the Category
• Manages sample order process in alignment with EU and following MOPS targets
• If applicable, support local allocation split process if not defined by EU by channel, accounts, and doors
• Support local Brand teams when needed creating and presenting specific promo ranges and product offers in alignment with EU BU (Ie. Spoma, Key City, EIM…)
• Provide input into SMU of local key accounts and WHS, while driving the process with the European/Global teams
• Tailor and prepare local sell-in tools to ensure consistency across EU and support the sales team.
• Drive strong category presentations across the different milestones, with special focus on SMM presentation.
• Partner/Liase with the rest of Category GTM Teams across the zones, especially in South Europe.

Skills you'll need:

• Pro- active (engaging & impact-oriented) mindset, ability to think end-to-end
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to influence both internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with different international cultures
• Business mindset: Very good numerical and analytical skills
• Good experience to manage projects on cross-functional level
• Good communication (both written and verbal) and facilitation skills (small and large groups) especially when interacting with different levels of business
• Ability to travel, domestic or international, as required
• Manager with advanced cross functional marketing knowledge and market experience ideally in the specific category.
• Consumer-focused with deep product and range understanding with an excellent understanding of balancing brand and commercial aspects to build channel specific GTM solutions.
• Strong organizational skills
• Passionate about sports, preferably BU specific with knowledge of the category
• Team player, very collaborative and able to work with virtual / remote teams

Main requirements:

• 5-8 years of Merchandising Experience, cross-functional marketing and/or sales experience
• Ideally minimum 2 years of managerial experience
• Fluent in English (writing and verbal)
• IT skills: Outlook and Word: Basic; Excel and PowerPoint: advanced

What we offer:

• Salary starting from 52k
• Annual Bonus (15%)
• Meal vouchers
• Employee discounts online and instore
• Employee Assistance Plan (EAP)
• Welfare and Corporate benefits program
• Learning and Development Opportunities
• Exposure to international brand