Senior Manager, Materials Development (Apparel)

POSITION OVERVIEW At adidas, we never launch a product unless we consider it perfect. Our product creation teams combine creativity, craftsmanship, innovation, and technical expertise to develop every product with purpose and precision. As Senior Manager, Materials Development (Apparel), you will play a key role in the end-to-end development and availability of innovative apparel materials that support strategic design and marketing direction. You will ensure materials meet product creation timelines, target costs, sourcing strategies, quality standards, and commercial requirements. You will lead material-related collaboration across Design, Product Development, Sourcing, Quality, Sustainability, Advanced Creation, suppliers, and other global partners. Through strong technical expertise and informed decision making, you will translate creative vision into commercially viable material solutions while proactively managing development risks. This role is strategically important in advancing material innovation, consolidation, operational excellence, and continuous improvement across the organization. You will represent Materials Development in cross-functional initiatives, strengthen global processes and systems, and provide guidance and mentorship to developing team members.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES • Material Development Leadership: Serve as a key contact and consultant for apparel material topics, leading cross-functional discussions and guiding material decisions from development through commercialization. • Material Selection & Consolidation: Lead the material selection process and drive consolidation and material sharing opportunities to improve efficiency while supporting product, design, quality, and commercial requirements. • Cross-Functional Partnership: Collaborate with Design, Product Development, Material Sourcing, Quality, Sustainability, Advanced Creation, horizontal Materials teams, and other partners to enable timely, fact-based material and product decisions. • Supplier Development: Identify appropriate sources for new material developments in alignment with sourcing strategy, product allocation, and global supplier capabilities. • Material Innovation: Guide Tier 2 fabric mills and trim suppliers in translating design vision and business needs into innovative, commercially viable material solutions. • Seasonal Development: Initiate and monitor seasonal material developments with suppliers and internal partners, including initial material price negotiations and proto sampling yardage bookings during the development stage. • Quality & Testing: Ensure selected materials, composites, and components are tested and released according to product creation timelines and adidas quality standards. • Risk Management: Provide material-related risk analysis and lead proactive mitigation activities, including decisions regarding material or supplier changes when necessary. • Material Data & Reporting: Ensure the availability and accuracy of material information in internal systems and develop reporting that improves visibility into material usage, performance, and decision making. • Process Improvement: Drive continuous improvement of global material development processes, initiatives, workflows, and material libraries to strengthen operational efficiency. • Systems & Tools: Partner with horizontal teams and relevant IT owners to align material development systems, reporting tools, and processes with evolving business requirements. • Calendar Management: Create, maintain, and communicate material development timelines and ensure key Materials milestones are represented within Product Creation Calendars. • Financial Administration: Manage invoice handling associated with fabric development and prototype development bookings. • Material Trends & Insights: Provide relevant research and insights on emerging material trends by gathering information from internal