Manager Group Policies & Accounting Principles

at  Adidas

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:
Responsible for driving compliance with global policies and standards [Global Policy Manual (GPM) and specifically the Group Finance Manual (GFM). As part of the Group Policies & Accounting Principles team, you will help to keep the group-wide accounting policies up to date, communicated and trained, drive the implementation of new or amended accounting standards and advise internal stakeholders on all types of accounting-related questions related to new and existing business models/practices.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage and drive the implementation of new and revised International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS);
• Coordination and liaise with the individual policy owners of the adidas internal Group Finance Manual (GFM) regarding policy updates, communication and training in their area of responsibility;
• Drive the update, communication and training of individual GFM policies that are in the responsibility of the Accounting Principles team;
• Act as contact person and provide advice on accounting matters for other finance departments and other internal stakeholders (e.g. treasury, local and global accounting teams, controlling, investor relations, taxes, Global Business Services (GBS));
• Administer and maintain the IFRS Accounting SharePoint;
• Support in the preparation of selected notes to the consolidated financial statements of adidas AG;
• Act as contact person for group auditors and support in the process for determining the global group audit scope and the global group audit budget as well as similar processes;
• Support in monitoring the global non-audit services provided by the external auditors in accordance with the applicable German and EU regulation / legislation as well as adidas internal policies; including administration and maintenance of the tool/system used for approval and tracking of non-audit services
• Manage and coordinate the semi-annual global internal representation letter process;
• Organize and host quarterly internal Accounting Community Calls;
• Manage and lead other Corporate Accounting initiatives / projects and be involved in cross functional projects;

Key Relationships:

• Corporate Functions and local Finance teams on accounting and GFM policy related questions
• Global internal accounting community, including Global Business Services (GBS)
• Policy owners from different Corporate Functions, mainly within Finance
• Interact with global and local finance functions with regard to other issues (e.g. non-audit services, audit budget, etc.)
• Interact with external group auditors

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Analytical mindset and ability to understand and deal with complex issues
• Excellent knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and related literature; additional German GAAP (HGB) knowledge a plus
• Open-minded and interested in personal training and development in the accounting area
• Strong organizational, project management and time management skills
• Good interpersonal, presentation and communication skills
• Well-developed PC-skills (MS-Office, SharePoint, etc.)
• Comprehensive understanding of accounting-related business processes
• Fluent in English (written and spoken), knowledge of German a plus

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum of 4+ years of relevant professional work experience in accounting or external audit
• Degree in Business Administration from a university or comparable institution with focus on Finance / Audit / Accounting

• Manage and drive the implementation of new and revised International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS);
• Coordination and liaise with the individual policy owners of the adidas internal Group Finance Manual (GFM) regarding policy updates, communication and training in their area of responsibility;
• Drive the update, communication and training of individual GFM policies that are in the responsibility of the Accounting Principles team;
• Act as contact person and provide advice on accounting matters for other finance departments and other internal stakeholders (e.g. treasury, local and global accounting teams, controlling, investor relations, taxes, Global Business Services (GBS));
• Administer and maintain the IFRS Accounting SharePoint;
• Support in the preparation of selected notes to the consolidated financial statements of adidas AG;
• Act as contact person for group auditors and support in the process for determining the global group audit scope and the global group audit budget as well as similar processes;
• Support in monitoring the global non-audit services provided by the external auditors in accordance with the applicable German and EU regulation / legislation as well as adidas internal policies; including administration and maintenance of the tool/system used for approval and tracking of non-audit services
• Manage and coordinate the semi-annual global internal representation letter process;
• Organize and host quarterly internal Accounting Community Calls;
• Manage and lead other Corporate Accounting initiatives / projects and be involved in cross functional projects