Director, Distribution Operations

Purpose:

The Director, Distribution Center Operations is a senior leadership role within the North American Supply Chain organization, accountable for the endtoend performance of a highvolume distribution center. This role has full ownership of operational execution, service levels, safety, and financial performance, ensuring 24/7 operations run efficiently, reliably, and in alignment with business objectives and longterm growth strategy.

This position leads the continuous optimization of distribution and fulfillment operations, driving performance across the endtoend supply chain. The Director partners closely with crossfunctional stakeholders to improve service outcomes, streamline workflows, and eliminate waste through disciplined execution, structured problemsolving, and continuous improvement methodologies.

The role requires strong business acumen and operational expertise, with the ability to translate data and insights into clear actions and results. The Director is accountable for leveraging analytics, process rigor, and technology enablement to improve productivity, control costs, maintain quality, and enhance the overall customer experience.

As a people leader, the Director oversees a multilayered leadership organization within a 24/7 operating environment and is deeply committed to building strong, engaged, and capable teams. This role sets the tone for how people are led - promoting collaboration, teamplay, and shared ownership across functions and shifts, while demonstrating genuine care and concern for employee wellbeing, safety, and development. The Director is responsible for fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous learning, ensuring leaders at all levels are equipped to engage, coach, and develop their teams effectively. Success in this role requires the ability to lead through complexity and ambiguity, balance strategic priorities with daytoday operational execution, and create an environment where performance and people outcomes are both priorities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide overall leadership and direction for all distribution center operations, with full accountability for safety, service, cost, quality, and operational performance in a 24/7 environment.
• Lead, develop, and inspire a multilayered leadership team, fostering a peoplecentered, highperformance culture grounded in accountability, teamwork, engagement, inclusion, and retention, while building strong succession pipelines.
• Demonstrate visible leadership and genuine care for employees by prioritizing wellbeing, open communication, and a strong leadership presence across shifts and functions.
• Own full financial performance, including budgeting, forecasting, cost management, productivity improvement initiatives, and capital investment decisions to optimize costtoserve.
• Establish and execute the strategic vision for distribution operations, aligning operational priorities with broader supply chain and enterprise objectives to support growth and scalability.
• Drive operational excellence through Lean and continuous improvement methodologies to improve productivity, quality, throughput, and operational consistency while eliminating waste.
• Oversee the design and execution of processes, staffing models, workflows, and controls to ensure accurate, timely, and efficient order fulfillment and high levels of customer service.
• Leverage data, analytics, and system capabilities (including WMS) to enable performance visibility, support decisionmaking, and continuously optimize operations in partnership with Technology teams.
• Lead distributionrelated transformation initiatives and manage internal and external partnerships, including system implementations, network optimization efforts, and thirdparty relationships as needed to support capacity and volume requirements.

Key Relationships:

• Indy Manufacturing Operations
• Indy Capacity Planning
• NAM SCM stakeholders
• Commercial business teams
• Finance, HR, Tech / IT, Workplaces
• External 3PL (if and when required)

Knowledge Skills and Abilities:

• Strong analytical and financial acumen, with the ability to interpret data and translate insights into informed business and operational decisions.
• Strategic thinker with a demonstrated ability to convert longterm vision into actionable operational plans, while balancing strategic, tactical, and daytoday priorities with an endtoend business mindset.
• Proven experience leading highvolume, fastpaced operations with direct impact on customer experience and service outcomes.
• Deep expertise in Lean and Continuous Improvement principles and tools (e.g., World Class Manufacturing), driving disciplined execution and sustainable performance improvement.
• Strong project and process management capabilities, with a track record of delivering results against defined priorities, timelines, and performance targets.
• Effective communicator with strong interpersonal and influencing skills across all levels of organization.
• Advanced proficiency in data analysis and reporting tools, including Microsoft Excel.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, develop, and manage highperforming teams.
• Position requires extensive walking and standing on hard surfaces.
• Fluent in English (written and verbal).

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Finance or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Master's degree desired.
• 10+ years work experience leading in large scale distribution/warehouse/logistics operations/facilities (ideally in-house)

adidas celebrates diversity, supports inclusiveness and encourages individual expression in our workplace. We do not tolerate the harassment or discrimination toward any of our applicants or employees. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

adidas offers robust and progressive medical, including HSA (Health Savings Account) with employer funding or FSA (Flexible Spending Account) options, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, adoption, with surrogate and fertility support, short and long-term disability, and basic life and AD&D insurance, which can be supplemented with employee-paid coverage. Employees are able to enroll in adidas' 401k plan and Stock Purchase Plan with employer match. Full-time employees are eligible for education assistance and generous Leave policies including 14 weeks of paid parental leave.

Employees are eligible to earn an annual bonus based on both company and personal performance. Employees accrue prorated flexible time off in the amount .4388 hours per day that increases with years of service, twelve paid holidays throughout the calendar year and Service Time Off during milestone years.

At adidas we offer a Hybrid work policy which requires attendance in the office Monday through Thursday, with the flexibility to work remotely on Friday each week. For work requiring a high degree of collaboration or an in-person presentation, in-office attendance is required even on Friday. The working location of this position is Indianapolis, Indiana.

Though our teammates hail from all corners of the world, our working language is English.