Category Manager - EM South

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organisation:

The purpose of the Category Management team is to develop 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, focused on delivering the company sales growth aspirations per sales channel.

• Sustainably grow profitability and market share for the Sportswear apparel category.

• Build the seasonal go-to-market (GTM) process for Sportswear to build the optimal product offering, considering the local consumer and channel requirements.

• Be the product expert and provide the relevant support for all functions locally.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work closely with the CTC Director to develop and define the Sportwear product strategy (including lifecycle management) for the local market. This include the localized product development strategy.
• 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.
• Support 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 (including product development) that meet local needs and reflect differentiation in marketplace where required. Work closely with the Sportswear Hub team to deliver these.

• Own 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 by providing sports marketing support to ensure our partners get access to the best of adidas.

Key Relationships:

• 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
• Market Sales vs Plan

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Merchandising, category management/planning, assortment planning crucial
• Product development experience beneficial
• Commercial experience crucial
• Deep understanding of the lifestyle market in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Strong presentation/communication and influencing skills
• Strong numerical / analytical skills
• Intermediate to advanced skills in MS Office – Excel and PowerPoint key
• Structured, organized and process orientated
• Ability to work effectively within a team environment under pressure

Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• University degree (Fashion/ Consumer Science/ Marketing)
• 5- 7 years experience in category management/range building preferably in a sport/lifestyle/fashion retail industry
• Fluent in English