VM Manager - Johannesburg

Job Location : Gauteng, Johannesburg

Deadline : April 13, 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 any necessary adjustments to drive commercial success, especially within VM
• Allocate resources and organize processes, especially within visual merchandising, to drive efficiency and productivity in a variety of situations, including maintenance and layout of existing stores, floor plans and changes, In-store Communication, reporting, and controlling costs
• Drive product presentation and best practice within visual merchandising for a meaningful consumer experience, from sell-in to sell-through
• Be a role model for customer service and meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations
• Supervise and coordinate the team to ensure all customers receive an optimal service level at all times
• Lead your team to meet or exceed customer expectations at all times
• Be a Brand Ambassador, consistently exhibiting the Brand Attitude and Values
• Use advanced Category expertise to drive sales and customer loyalty in your assigned area
• Lead training for visual merchandising techniques and guidelines to follow marketing concepts and brand campaigns while supporting all team Foundational and Seasonal Brand and product knowledge training
• Lead and coordinate team members to consistently execute and maintain established Visual Merchandising and In-Store Communication standards as per global guidelines and local directives, including placement and focus on key articles and ensuring alignment with given Buying and Merchandising timelines
• Manage merchandise delivery processing on the same day it arrives
• Keep an organized stockroom and direct sales floor replenishment to ensure the store’s complete product offer is immediately available and easily accessible to customers on a consistent basis
• Execute all applicable loss prevention procedures
• Maintain a safe and productive shopping and working environment
• Support the recruitment, onboarding, training, coaching and motivation of store team members to maximize their performance
• Share best practices to drive the overall store team performance and market Visual Merchandising strategy and implementation
• Support market Visual Merchandising strategy through coaching and supporting Visual Merchandising Champions
• Complete all applicable training programs and effectively apply the learning on the job
• Seek coaching and learning opportunities to continually improve your performance

Key Relationships :

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

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities :

• Ability to use critical thinking and creative ways to solve problems
• Passion for fashion & sports
• Organized and detail-oriented
• Good numeracy, literacy, verbal and written communication skills
• A good eye for style, coordination and attention to detail
• Ability to make recommendations that effectively resolve problems by using judgment that is consistent with standards, practices, policies, and procedures
• Strong leadership, interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong ability to collaborate and influence across different levels and departments
• Thrives under ambiguity; open to change and act as advocate for the ‘new’
• Open to feedback; able to keep composure in stressful situations
• Passion for adidas brand and for sport
• Proficient with MS applications (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and other computer software (Internet, POS Systems, etc)

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications :

• Minimum 3+ years’ work experience in a sports / fashion customer- and commercial-focused retail environment with advanced selling experience and comprehensive product, retail and industry understanding, [as well as with first supervisor experience]
• Intermediate numeracy and literacy and advanced verbal communication skills