VM Manager

adidas Group; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 300,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading sports fashion company in Johannesburg seeks a VM Manager to drive store profitability through effective visual merchandising and team leadership. The ideal candidate will have at least 3 years of experience in retail, strong communication, and organizational skills. This role also includes customer service and team coordination responsibilities, contributing to a premium shopping experience.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in a sports/fashion retail environment with supervisory experience.
• Intermediate numeracy and literacy skills.
• Experience in sales or business development.

Responsibilities

• Monitor and analyze performance data to drive commercial success.
• Drive product presentation and best practices in visual merchandising.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training, and motivation of team members.

Skills

Critical thinking

Creative problem-solving

Organized

Detail-oriented

Strong communication

Leadership skills

Interpersonal skills

Adaptability

Passion for fashion & sports

Tools

MS Office applications

Job description

Job Title: VM Manager

Location: Gauteng, Johannesburg

Application Deadline: September 27, 2025

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:

Contribute to store profitability by:

• Meeting or exceeding sales and KPI targets within the store through flawless visual merchandising.
• Coordinating team members to provide a leading shopping experience.

Key Responsibilities:

• Monitor and analyze performance data and make necessary adjustments to drive commercial success, especially within VM.
• Allocate resources and organize processes to drive efficiency and productivity, including store maintenance, layout, in-store communication, reporting, and cost control.
• Drive product presentation and best practices within visual merchandising for a meaningful consumer experience, from sell-in to sell-through.
• Be a role model for customer service and exceeding customer expectations.
• Supervise and coordinate the team to ensure optimal customer service at all times.
• Lead your team to meet or exceed customer expectations consistently.
• Act as a Brand Ambassador, exhibiting the Brand Attitude and Values.
• Use advanced category expertise to drive sales and customer loyalty.
• Lead training for visual merchandising techniques aligned with marketing concepts and brand campaigns.
• Ensure team adherence to visual merchandising standards and execution as per global and local guidelines.
• Manage merchandise delivery processing on the day of arrival.
• Maintain an organized stockroom and ensure replenishment for immediate product availability.
• Execute loss prevention procedures.
• Maintain a safe and productive shopping and working environment.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training, coaching, and motivation of store team members.
• Share best practices to enhance team performance and visual merchandising strategy.
• Support market visual merchandising strategies through coaching.

Merchandising Champions:

• Complete training programs and apply learning on the job.
• Seek coaching and learning opportunities for continuous improvement.

Key Relationships:

• Customers
• Peers and Supervisors
• VM back office, Trade Marketing, Retail back office

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills.
• Passion for fashion & sports.
• Organized, detail-oriented.
• Strong numeracy, literacy, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Good sense of style, coordination, and attention to detail.
• Judgment to make effective recommendations and resolve problems.
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate and influence across departments.
• Adaptability to change and openness to feedback.
• Passion for the adidas brand and sport.
• Proficiency with MS Office applications and other software.

Minimum Qualifications:

• At least 3 years’ experience in a sports/fashion retail environment with advanced selling skills and product knowledge, including supervisory experience.
• Intermediate numeracy and literacy skills.
• Experience in sales, retail, or business development roles.