Director, SCM PMO Korea

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:

To lead the planning, delivery and continuous improvement of adidas Korea’s distribution and fulfillment infrastructure. Acting as the market’s central project management office for supply chain initiatives, the role takes full delivery ownership of large-scale distribution projects – from concept and business case through design, construction, automation, go-live and stabilization – and builds the market’s capability to develop and optimize its logistics network within defined time, cost and quality boundaries

Key Responsibilities:

1. Project Delivery & Operational Design

• Own the end-to-end delivery of large-scale distribution and fulfillment projects, from concept development and business case creation through design, construction, automation implementation, go-live, and stabilization.

• Lead the design and optimization of distribution center operations, including facility layout, material flow, storage strategy, and automation solutions, to achieve throughput, productivity, quality, and safety objectives.

• Ensure seamless integration of WMS, WCS, automation systems, material handling equipment (MHE), and facility infrastructure into a fully operational and scalable solution.

• Drive project execution across cross-functional teams, external partners, and vendors, ensuring delivery against agreed scope, timeline, budget, and performance targets.

• Lead inventory migration, operational readiness activities, and post go-live stabilization to secure successful transition from project implementation to business operations.

2. Program Management Office (PMO) & Governance

• Establish and lead the market Supply Chain PMO, driving standardized project management practices, governance frameworks, reporting structures, and stage-gate processes.

• Manage multi-million-euro CAPEX programs, including investment planning, business case development, funding approval, risk mitigation, and executive stakeholder alignment.

• Monitor and control project performance across cost, schedule, scope, quality, and risk dimensions, proactively driving corrective actions and escalation management where required.

• Implement robust project controlling mechanisms, including budget tracking, variance analysis, accrual management, forecasting, and risk reporting.

• Prepare and facilitate steering committees and executive governance forums, providing transparent updates, decision support, and strategic recommendations.

• Ensure formal project closure and structured handover to operations with complete documentation, capability transfer, and benefit realization tracking

3. Network Development & Continuous Improvement

• Build and strengthen in-house capabilities to design, develop, and continuously improve the market distribution and fulfillment network.

• Identify opportunities to improve capacity, productivity, automation, service levels, and cost efficiency, translating opportunities into prioritized initiatives and investment proposals.

• Develop data-driven business cases and ROI assessments to support strategic network and operational improvement decisions.

• Lead continuous improvement and transformation programs that enhance operational performance and long-term network scalability.

• Drive end-to-end change management to ensure sustainable adoption of new processes, technologies, and ways of working across the organization.

• Collaborate with regional and global stakeholders to align local network development priorities with broader supply chain strategy and best practices.

Authorities:

• Full accountability for assigned project CAPEX within the approved budget; decisions above the approved threshold to be escalated to Senior Leadership / SLT.

• Authority to select and manage external suppliers and 3PL / engineering partners within approved scope, in partnership with Supplier Management.

Key Relationships:

• SCM Korea leadership and teams (DC Operations, Order Fulfillment, Product supply)

• Global Distribution & Global Engineering teams

• Finance / Controlling, Global Real Estate & Workplaces, Tech

• Supplier Management, HR, external consultants and 3PL / automation partners

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Pro-active, impact-oriented mindset with the ability to think end-to-end and take full ownership of delivery.

• Strong understanding of distribution center layout, material flow, automation and operational (process) design.

• Solid program / project management discipline, including CAPEX, governance and portfolio oversight.

• Strong business and financial acumen – comfortable building business cases and managing CAPEX budgets.

• Proven ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder programs simultaneously under time pressure.

• Strong communication and facilitation skills across all levels, including senior leadership.

• Fluent English (written and verbal) for regional / global stakeholder management; Korean strongly preferred.

• Ability to travel domestically (esp. operational sites) and internationally as required.

• Strong MS-Office skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint); familiarity with project-management tooling.

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• Four-year university degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Industrial / Logistics or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Minimum 10+ years of progressive experience in supply chain / distribution, with a strong focus on large-scale infrastructure projects.

• Demonstrated experience leading at least one large-scale Greenfield or Brownfield distribution center project end-to-end through go-live and stabilization, ideally as a Program Director or equivalent.

• Strong understanding of DC facility layout, material flow, automation and operational design, including integration of WMS / WCS / automation / facility systems.

• Experience managing large-scale CAPEX programs and 3PL / engineering suppliers, with clear business (shipper-side) ownership of the outcome.

• 5+ years of leadership / team-management experience.

• PMI / PMP certification and PMO experience are a plus.