Manager, Manufacturing - Footwear (OA1)

Laceless Design; Manage; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

adidas is seeking a seasoned sourcing operations professional in Belgium to drive production efficiency, quality, and CI improvements across partner factories. You will manage factory relationships, implement best practices, and influence mid-management to meet targets while ensuring compliance with Responsible Sourcing policies.

The role emphasizes a quality-first mindset, strong analytical skills, and Fluent English, with a focus on diverse and inclusive leadership in a global supply base.

Qualifications

• University degree in engineering or related field.
• Minimum 5+ years of relevant experience.
• Quality-first mindset with strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.

Responsibilities

• Independently manage all production, quality, production availability, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Escalate critical issues and drive problem-solving discussions to mitigate impacts.
• Manage relationships with factory management to achieve operation excellence.
• Roll out adidas best practices to responsible factories.
• Influence factory production/quality middle management to achieve objectives.
• Make day-to-day decisions within defined scope via exception-management.
• Validate T1 capacity offers and monitor availability when constraints exist.
• Ensure sourcing operations comply with adidas Responsible Sourcing & Purchasing Policy and standards.
• Role model leadership to foster Diversity Equity & Inclusion.

Skills

Production & CI

Problem solving

Influencing & communication

Quality-first mindset

English fluency

Education

University degree in engineering or related field

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

PURPOSE

• A key player in Sourcing in driving Sourcing’s vision to be the Most Agile, Most Competitive, Most Digitalized & Cleanest Supply Base in the industry.


• Drive achievement of quality and production goals in supply partners’ facilities while supporting other functions to reach adidas’ goals in areas such as manufacturing efficiency targets, Social & Environmental Affairs (SEA).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Independently manage all production, quality, production availability, and manufacturing efficiency.


• Escalate critical issues and drive problem-solving discussions to solve or mitigate the potential impacts.


• Manage relationships with factory management in applying the right resources, processes, tools, strategies to achieve operation excellence.


• Rollout and implement adidas best practices and directions to the responsible factories.


• Influence factory production/quality middle management and drive change to achieve production objectives.


• Make day-to-day decisions within defined scope through exception-management by evaluating and balancing risks and seeking support on complex issues.


• Validate and confirm T1 capacity offers and follow up on availability performance when constraints exist.


• Ensure all sourcing operations and practices fully comply with adidas’ Responsible Sourcing & Purchasing Policy, adidas standards and legal requirements, while managing the relevant processes internally and externally.


• Role model leadership to foster a culture of Diversity Equity & Inclusion that strives for an inclusive workplace.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

• Global Sourcing


• Sourcing suppliers


• Global Operations


• Other GOPS/Sourcing functional teams

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Strong understanding of production and continuous improvement (CI) processes/methods


• Ability to provide effective input into projects


• “Quality-first” mindset, strong analytical reasoning, and problem-solving skills to help others find/solve “root cause issues”


• Strong influencing, people, presentation and communication skills


• Fluent in English (written and spoken)


• Strong Microsoft office skills

REQUISITE EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• University degree in engineering or related areas.


• Minimum 5+ years of relevant experience