Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:
Act as the General Manager of Football Korea, leading the transformation of adidas Football into the No.1 Football Brand in Korea through category leadership, market share expansion, consumer-centric innovation and cultural relevance. Drive sustainable growth across Football Footwear, Licensed Apparel, Team Sports and Football Culture while building authentic connections with the Korean football ecosystem, athletes, clubs, communities and key partners.
Own the end-to-end Football business agenda spanning Product, Distribution, Activation and Marketplace Excellence to deliver both short-term commercial success and long-term brand leadership.
Key Responsibilities
- Market Leadership & Ambition Ownership: Own the Football & SPSP Ambition roadmap and annual business planning. Establish quarterly market share targets and lead cross-functional execution plans to achieve category leadership. Build action plans to close the market share gap against key competitors and drive profitable growth while balancing sell-in and sell-out performance.
- Football Culture & Consumer Ecosystem Leadership: Develop adidas into the most culturally relevant Football brand in Korea. Build strategic partnerships across football communities, grassroots football, academies, amateur leagues and creators. Lead local football storytelling and consumer engagement initiatives, identify emerging cultural trends, and drive trial, seeding, community activation and grassroots football programs.
- Marketplace Expansion & Growth: Define and lead the channel growth strategy. Expand leadership within key specialty and football/SPSP-focused accounts. Partner with Sales to secure category visibility, premium execution and SKU productivity, while balancing heat, scarcity and commercial productivity.
- Product Franchise Leadership: Lead franchise strategies across key footwear franchises and future innovation platforms. Drive launch excellence and commercial success of key product concepts. Influence Global BU to secure priority allocations and Korea-specific opportunities, ensuring Korean consumer insights are reflected in future product creation.
- Local Creation & Football and SPSP Innovation: Identify local product, collaboration and creation opportunities. Partner with Global BU and Creation teams to deliver Korea-first initiatives, including locally relevant player packs, club-related concepts and culturewear opportunities.
KPIs
- Market P&L for category, including net sales, margin and contribution
- Sell-out across all channels
- Inventory health
- Market share
- Achievement of key initiatives in the three- to five-year category plan
- Execution excellence in brand concepts and stories
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Ability to develop and implement strategy
- Proven leadership and management abilities, including remote management of diverse teams
- Strong presentation, communication, negotiation and influencing skills within a global matrix organization
- Broad marketing experience with a distinct track record of success and expert merchandising knowledge
- Strong cross-functional and stakeholder management experience across commercial and support functions
- Strong industry knowledge across footwear, apparel and accessories and across all business units
- Expert understanding of Korean consumers, accounts, economic environment and commercial needs
Experience & Capabilities
- Deep passion and proven expertise in the Football & SPSP industry and culture
- Strong understanding of consumer behavior, specialty landscape and marketplace dynamics
- Experience leading category transformation and market share growth initiatives
- Demonstrated success influencing global stakeholders and driving local relevance
- Experience managing complex matrix organizations and cross-functional leadership teams
- 10+ years of experience in merchandising/product, marketing, sales or retail
- Regional experience preferred
- University degree in Business or equivalent professional experience, ideally in Sales and/or Marketing
- Previous experience managing a global matrix organization
- Fluent in English; fluency in the local language preferred
- Willingness to travel upwards of 20% of the time
Company Culture
At adidas, employees are encouraged to demonstrate courage, ownership, innovation, teamplay, integrity and respect. adidas also emphasizes diversity, equity and inclusion as part of its culture and talent processes.