SENIOR MANAGER HEAD OFFICE & RETAIL STORE RELATIONS - TEMP UNTIL MAY - EUROPE (M/F/D)

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization   This role is responsible for maximizing the efficiency of the European Field and Back Office by leading and executing the Retail Relations and communication strategy to promote and convey information from the VP Retail & Franchise Europe, Head Office all BO functions (Retail Operations, Training Academy, Merchandise, Marketing and Finance) to stores.
This role will enable improved communications between the Retail & Franchise department and global functions within the adidas Group.
Key Responsibilities   •    Lead the team ensuring ‘Thinktime’ as the main communication channel of tasks between Retail Back Office and the stores is managed and regularly maintained.
Ensure the process is continuously improved/ adapted to maximise benefit for stores.
•    Ensure Franchise is supported during implementation of Thinktime in Franchise stores channels.
•    Drive and own Stadium, as the communication and collaboration channel for Retail, is kept up-to-date and relevant, and communication and content is created and pushed through the right channels.
Ensure gatekeepers and admins are supported, sufficiently trained, managed and statistics are shared to drive conversion.
Increase the frequency of usage by interacting with Stadium gatekeepers, retail directors, district managers, Store Relations Champs and stores.
•    Implement and support with global communication tools for the European retail market •    Secure the flow of communication according to the operating rhythm and Retail Europe   communication strategy.
•    Produce annual plans of communication such as events, surveys, strategies, product launches.
•    Design, develop and implement the newsletter so that it is shared on a regular basis to Retail Europe senior leadership, Retail Directors, District Managers and stores.
•    Ensure communication of global contests and creation and management of store contests on a European level.
•    Develop, create and manage the ongoing individual recognition program for European retail employees •    Lead a cross-functional team to organize and manage the execution of Retail events, including event theme creation, development and identifying objectives (e.
.
Management Summits and workshops, monthly meetings with the cooperation of the global events team and other retail BO and field teams).
•    Assist in the production of Retail presentations (e.
.
PowerPoint slides)  •    Maintain and promote Corporate Identity guidelines for all materials/events in Retail.
•    Act as a consultant to members of the Retail organization on communication processes.
•    Interact with other communication professionals throughout the adidas Group.
•    Facilitate a culture of sharing and adopting global best practices across all markets.
•    Regularly align with the VP Retail Europe and Retail Back office leadership Functions (Retail, eCom, Franchise) on needed events and upcoming meetings/conferences/product launches.
•    Communication to event participants including calendar requests, invitations, regular updates and follow-ups.
•    Evaluate the competencies of team member(s) on a regular basis, provide prompt and constructive feedback and assume a coaching role in order to support and inspire team members.
Key Relationships   •    Retail Operations •    Retail Training •    Marketing Activation •    Visual Merchandising •    IT and Business Solutions  •    Finance •    HR •    Merchandising •    Global Retail    Knowledge, Skills and Abilities   •    Leadership and influencing skills •    Ability to work effectively within a team environment and under pressure •    Very Structured and process-orientated •    Great organizing and communication skills  •    Attention to detail  •    Hands-on attitude  •    Advanced user of MS Office, especially PowerPoint, Excel and Word •    Working knowledge of Thinktime, Stadium or a similar internal retail communication platform is an advantage •    Fluent in English •    Additional languages are an advantage   Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications   •    University degree in retail, communication or similar business experience •    1-4 years event management experience •    Minimum of 1-year internal communications experience •    Minimum of 2 years retail marketing/omni-channel/ operations experience •    2- 3 years management experience