Manager Account Operations - Zalando (m/f/d) temp until end of 2025

at  Adidas

Purpose & Overall Relevance to the Organization:
Deliver best in class service to an assigned account group. To do this, work in partnership with the sales organization and key departments to implement the company’s strategic business plan. Ensuring reliable and professional employee management through disciplinary and functional leadership of the assigned team.

Responsibilities:

• Personnel responsibility:
• Lead all direct reports as an integrated team by setting specifications, KPIs, goals, and guiding principles for the team
• Creating a high-performance culture and managing career and succession planning for key talent
• Inspire, lead and promote a culture of achievement within the team
• Ensuring cooperation and cooperation between all employees and departments in the cluster and with the European teams
• Further development of the professional and social core competencies of the “Direct Reports” through regular coaching and mentoring
• Leadership based on the leadership framework and brand values
• Continuous evaluation of employees as part of the official adidas Performance Management process
• Ensuring succession plans for all relevant positions in your own team
• Continuous development and support of defined talents in the team
• Role of the main contact person for sales regarding the operational business and the roles and responsibilities
• Be an expert in all operational and commercial areas to ensure that excellent account operations are delivered at all times
• Active questioning of working methods and practices. Propose and implement practical improvements
• Working with our wholesale customers and partners to build and align with a robust organization based on corporate strategy
• Design, continuous optimization and documentation of CS processes, taking into account customer and company interests
• Review customer requirements in collaboration with the sales teams; Collaboration to define the respective service level, taking into account the cost-benefit effect
• Representing the interests of the CS department as an ‘Account Operations Representative’ vis-à-vis those responsible for other internal and external functions
• Act as an ‘Account Operations Representative’ in system- and process-based IT and SCM projects; Deriving system and process adaptations and integrating them into local/global interfaces
• Responsibility for order book management from purchase order to invoice to ensure order book transparency and implementation of incoming orders in accordance with company policies
• Validating the coordination of special processing for new requests and changes in line with our business strategy
• Ensure that returns and complaints are handled by the team within the defined service levels
• Representing and supporting colleagues, senior managers, directors or senior directors from other groups in Account Operations
• Independently carry out projects and workshops to achieve the departmental goals
• In addition to the above-mentioned tasks, all tasks from the job description ‘Senior Specialist Account Operations’ are also part of the area of responsibility of the Manager Account Operations

Powers:
Power of attorney

Main contacts:

• Wholesale Accounts
• Wider Account Operations Team
• Sales Team
• Global Operations
• IT
• External Parties
• MR
• Finance & Controlling
• Marketing & Merchandising

Knowledge, skills and abilities:

• Above-average practical skills in MS Office, SAP, Salesforce, and MicroStrategy
• Fluent in written and spoken German and English
• Business sense
• Independent way of working with commercial understanding
• Strong conflict management skills and very good communication skills
• Very high customer orientation as well as presentation and communication skills
• Process-oriented attitude and in-depth understanding of complex relationships
• Team leader with confidence, positivity, and initiative that contributes to the high-performance culture in the team as well as in the department
• Experienced in working under pressure to meet deadlines and competing priorities
• Willingness to travel, if necessary

Required education and experience/minimum qualifications:

• Successfully completed vocational training in the field of industry or logistics, supplemented by further training or bachelor’s degree
• At least 3 years of experience in providing customer support in the area of account operations, sales or supply chain
• At least 2 years of management experience

• Personnel responsibility:
• Lead all direct reports as an integrated team by setting specifications, KPIs, goals, and guiding principles for the team
• Creating a high-performance culture and managing career and succession planning for key talent
• Inspire, lead and promote a culture of achievement within the team
• Ensuring cooperation and cooperation between all employees and departments in the cluster and with the European teams
• Further development of the professional and social core competencies of the “Direct Reports” through regular coaching and mentoring
• Leadership based on the leadership framework and brand values
• Continuous evaluation of employees as part of the official adidas Performance Management process
• Ensuring succession plans for all relevant positions in your own team
• Continuous development and support of defined talents in the team
• Role of the main contact person for sales regarding the operational business and the roles and responsibilities
• Be an expert in all operational and commercial areas to ensure that excellent account operations are delivered at all times
• Active questioning of working methods and practices. Propose and implement practical improvements
• Working with our wholesale customers and partners to build and align with a robust organization based on corporate strategy
• Design, continuous optimization and documentation of CS processes, taking into account customer and company interests
• Review customer requirements in collaboration with the sales teams; Collaboration to define the respective service level, taking into account the cost-benefit effect
• Representing the interests of the CS department as an ‘Account Operations Representative’ vis-à-vis those responsible for other internal and external functions
• Act as an ‘Account Operations Representative’ in system- and process-based IT and SCM projects; Deriving system and process adaptations and integrating them into local/global interfaces
• Responsibility for order book management from purchase order to invoice to ensure order book transparency and implementation of incoming orders in accordance with company policies
• Validating the coordination of special processing for new requests and changes in line with our business strategy
• Ensure that returns and complaints are handled by the team within the defined service levels
• Representing and supporting colleagues, senior managers, directors or senior directors from other groups in Account Operations
• Independently carry out projects and workshops to achieve the departmental goals
• In addition to the above-mentioned tasks, all tasks from the job description ‘Senior Specialist Account Operations’ are also part of the area of responsibility of the Manager Account Operation