Manager, Business Development SEA

Role overview

This position is central to helping the SEA Head Office run smoothly and effectively. It supports the Director of Business Development and the senior leadership group in setting priorities, strengthening governance, and ensuring disciplined execution. The role also contributes to building a stronger operating model for the SEA Head Office, with clear leadership rhythms and consistent follow-through on critical business initiatives.

Core responsibilities

Head office operating model and business governance

• Implement the SEA Head Office operating model with clear structures for governance, ownership, and decision-making.
• Help define strategic and business priorities, ensuring accountability, regular follow-up, and visibility on progress.
• Act as a coordination hub for priorities, actions, and stakeholders across the SEA leadership team.
• Work closely with the SEA GM and leadership team as a dependable partner in planning and delivering key business agendas.
• Assist in preparing leadership meetings, business reviews, and other important executive sessions.
• Spot potential risks, gaps, and interdependencies early, then drive stakeholder alignment to maintain momentum.
• Create organized routines for meeting agendas, documentation, and action tracking to support better decisions.
• Manage calendar and meeting-planning approaches that improve focus, prioritization, and time use for leaders.

Strategic execution and organisational effectiveness

• Support strategic initiatives that cut across functions and align with SEA leadership goals.
• Collaborate with Finance, HR, Brand, Commercial, and Operations teams to ensure executional alignment.
• Look for ways to streamline processes and improve overall organisational efficiency across SEA.
• Leverage internal data, analytics, and market intelligence to draw out insights, surface trends, and identify opportunities that support profitable growth for adidas in SEA.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of growth opportunities across countries, channels, brands, and support functions, aligned with Global and Emerging Markets strategy.

Key relationships

• SEA senior leadership team
• SEA Retail, eCommerce, Wholesale/Franchise, and Brand teams
• Country channel and brand leads
• Emerging Markets Business Development
• SEA and Emerging Markets support functions, including IT, Finance, Operations, and HR

Skills and abilities

• Strategic thinker who can balance long-term direction with practical delivery.
• Commercially minded with solid business judgment.
• Effective communicator with strong influencing skills across teams and senior stakeholders.
• Experienced in managing projects and driving structured execution.
• Comfortable in a dynamic, fast-changing environment and open to adapting quickly.
• Highly detail-oriented and capable of bringing order to unclear situations.
• Advanced user of Microsoft Office, especially Excel and PowerPoint.

Experience and qualifications

• 8 to 10 years of experience in business development, strategy, consulting, or project/program management.
• Prior exposure to or support of senior leadership teams is a strong plus.
• A university degree in Business or a related discipline is required, with preference for finance, marketing, or sales.
• Background in apparel, footwear, fashion, FMCG, or consulting is preferred.

Equal opportunity statement

The employer values diversity, fosters inclusion, and encourages individuality in the workplace. Harassment and discrimination are not tolerated, and equal opportunity is provided to all applicants and employees.