District Manager- EM South at adidas Group

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organisation 

• Drive districts’ profitability by meeting or exceeding district sales and profit targets and coach store managers on driving commercial success and customer service excellence. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Take full ownership of the district and its commercial success. 
• Coach store managers to increase their stores’ sales, productivity and profitability. 
• Drive service and selling culture in the district. 
• Spend focused time on the sales floor during store visits to determine service improvement opportunities and to coach the Store Managers. 
• Facilitate the effective and timely delivery and execution of Foundational and Seasonal Brand and product training materials in the stores. 
• Plan and prioritize structured store visits to maximize the district’s performance. 
• Dedicate a minimum of 4 days per week to completing store visits and ensure all stores in the district are visited at least once per month (exceptions must be approved by the Market Retail Director) 
• Ensure compliance with established policies, procedures, initiatives and directives. 
• Assess and make recommendations to improve the commercial viability and availability of products for the district’s stores. 
• Manage loss prevention as well as health and safety risks. 
• Lead recruitment, on-boarding, training and development efforts in the district 
• Own succession planning for the district. 
• Ensure compliance to established HR policies and procedures. 
• Coach, motivate and inspire Store Managers to accomplish store goals and maximize their individual performance, both face-to-face and remotely 
• Share best practices to drive overall Market and Global retail performance. 
• Analyse relevant data to probe and challenge the status quo with both retail back office partners and stores. 
• Ensure the legal and financial integrity of the district. 
• Be a Brand Ambassador, consistently exhibiting the Brand Attitude and Values. 
• Ensure proper in-store brand execution according to established standards and directives in all stores within the district 
• Ensure proper in-store Brand execution according to established standards and directives in all stores. 
• Manage all store operations in a systematic and efficient manner, as per established policies and procedures in all stores 
• Ensure all established Visual Merchandising and In-Store Communication standards are consistently executed and maintained in all stores. 
• Manage all store operations in a systematic and efficient manner, as per established policies and procedures in all stores. 
• Lead and implement all applicable loss prevention policies and procedures in all stores including health and safety risks. 
• Create a high-performance culture by setting clear expectations, analyzing performance, and giving appropriate and prompt feedback, including  actively managing poor performance in all stores. 
• Seek coaching and learning opportunities to continually improve your performance 

Key Relationships 

• Retail Back Office Partners 
• Customers 
• Peers and supervisors 
• Vendors and support functions 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• Broad and deep knowledge of retail operations and finance. 
• Systems and computer literate  
• Financial Acumen 

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualification 

• 5 years management experience in a sports/fashion customer- and commercial-focused retail environment. 
• 10 Years retail operations experience in fashion/sports retail environment.  
• Matric or equivalent. 
• Further tertiary qualification in Retail Management will be of an advantage.