Purchasing Specialist Supervisor - EM South at adidas Group

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization

• To ensure that the consolidated sales demand (all channels) of lead market SA is procured and available for allocation on time and in full, in accordance with business and SCM metrics. Implement and administer purchasing practices and controls aligned to adidas, global supply planning, BU guidelines and within the scope of lead market SA mandates. Maintain focus on continuous improvement initiatives as it pertains to broader Supply Chain Outputs, planning and purchasing. Streamline Order Management as a process and maximize alignment whereby ensuring best practices are followed for the buy process.

Key Responsibilities

• Day to day purchase order management.
• Purchase order tracking (incl. STO’s and DRS), the maintenance thereof and any amendments needed.
• Direct responsibility for adidas South Africa monthly purchasing process including mid-month process.
• Play a lead role in the overseeing of purchase orders and the success thereof within the Purchasing Team with specific focus on key SCM KPI’s.
• Execute purchase order requisition process within global parameters & policies (incl. DRS).
• Manage interfaces between global operations, planning and all involved parties. 
• Effective constraint management (PO lead times, cut-off behaviour, global planning and factory variability, MOQ’s, one-shot production, etc.).
• Implement, manage or support key SCM initiatives with respect to special or customized purchasing controls. i.e. Drop Shipment process controls, Unique Labelling or handling requests.
• Standardised business reporting and providing monthly feedback to SCM Management Team (PO tracking, Article availability, GIT, ARUN & TLR) including other ad-hoc reporting.
• Monitoring and updating of WFM & GTS daily (work flow tools) with focus on KPI targets (OTIF, OTA).
• Proactive exception management reporting (delays, risk, cannot supply, cannot plan, warehouse shortages, etc.).
• Support SCM initiatives with respect to purchasing controls (Direct shipments, unique labelling, handling requests).
• Monthly production forecast updates and analysis feedback (ILS).
• Deliver on SCM key performance metrics (OTA, OTIF).
• Contribute to key strategic initiatives (never out of stock, replenishment).
• Identify supply chain constraints and determine actions to overcome supply problems.
• Participate in global and market driven supply chain projects and survey process.
• Drive a full understanding of end-to-end processes within the business. 
• Fulfil SAP key user role.    

Key Relationships 

• Global operations (Supply chain, Planning)
• Purchasing team
• Order fulfilment
• Operations
• Customer service
• Sales 
• Product marketing / Sports marketing
• Finance
• Demand Planning

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• MS Office (Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint).
• SAP knowledge.
• Supply chain understanding.
• Supply chain system knowledge (SIM, ILS, WFM).
• Analytical systems knowledge (MSTR).
• Strong communication skills.
• Strong personal presence capable of handling and self-motivation.
• Strong leadership skills.
• Analytical & Process thinking.
• Ability to meet critical deadlines with good planning and organization skills.
• Ability to challenge the way in which things are done.
• Good team player.

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications 

• Preferably Degree level qualification. 
• 3-5 years of overall work experience in Supply Chain/Logistics or Customer Service.
• Competent user in Microsoft Office applications.