Director HR Business Partner Retail

Purpose:

Lead and enable a people ecosystem in Adidas Japan’s retail business centered around moments that matter, delivering value at every touchpoint. Drive the effective implementation of the People Strategy from a business partnering perspective to realize this vision. Act as a Strategic HR Partner to the organization and its people, and lead the local Retail HR Business Partner team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the key HR Business Partner contact for the Head of Retail, a member of the Senior Leadership Team at adidas Japan.
• Act as a trusted HR advisor to all employees within the Retail function (office and stores), coaching and mentoring team leaders to enable empowered decision-making on people, engagement, and performance topics.
• Drive and execute the People and HR Strategy for the Retail business, with a strong focus on strategic priorities aligned with both Global Sales and Japan HR.
• Lead organizational design, change, and transformation initiatives, redesigning structures to achieve strategic objectives while enhancing productivity and efficiency.
• Leverage data, analytics, and dashboards to optimize organizational performance and functional effectiveness.
• Build a strong talent pipeline, including robust succession plans for senior leadership roles (MD-1 and MD-2 levels).
• Ensure consistent execution of core HR processes in full compliance with adidas Group policies, local labor laws, and internal regulations.
• Respond swiftly to inquiries, issues, and needs from team leaders and other stakeholders across the Retail function (office and stores).
• Clearly communicate business priorities to local Rewards, Talent, and Talent Acquisition teams to ensure alignment in new initiatives, programs, and systems.
• Collaborate with local Rewards and FP&A teams to ensure effective headcount (HC) and personnel expense (PEX) planning and management.
• Maintain a high level of communication with senior management and contribute to decision-making related to organizational structure and team development.
• Support business initiatives through impactful HR measures and foster positive employee relations within the workplace.
• Promote and embed adidas’s culture based on its six values.
• Lead, manage, and develop team members according to their needs, driving high levels of engagement and motivation, while embracing diversity and acting as a role model within and beyond HR.

Key Relationships:

• Head of Retail, their first-line leadership team, and store manager population
• Local HR teams (Rewards, TA, Talent)
• Global Sales HRBP Team, Regional COE Talent, Rewards, GBS.
• Finance (FP&A)
• External Partners such as Coaches, Consultants, Recruitment Agencies etc.)

Knowledge Skills and Abilities:

• HR Capabilities: Employee relations, HR Subject Matter Expert, use of HR Metrics, change delivery, organizational design delivery, maintain external perspective, anticipating people trends, workforce planning.
• Business Capabilities: Commercial Awareness, business acumen, Retail business & Retail talent market knowledge and expertise, customer focus, aligning business & People / HR Strategy, knowledge of the value chain and key processes to use and impact on the people outcome and strategy.
• Consulting Capabilities: Brokering solutions to meet business needs, ability to customise/sell HR solutions in creative ways. Trusted Advisor, impact & influence, facilitation and coaching, project delivery and leadership development
• Innovative thinking.
• A team leader with excellent people management skills.
• Coaching and mediation skills.
• Excellent Communicator (verbally, in writing, presenting)
• Being a role model regarding our adidas Values led culture such as Teamplay and Respect.
• High level of facilitation skills to all employees including senior management.
• Drives innovation and fosters the development of new ideas.
• Drives change processes by applying change management methods.
• Shows deep understanding of the overall strategy and derived goals. Translates goals in actionable projects or tasks.
• Strong convincing and influencing skills. Communicates clearly, has a clear opinion and conveys ideas to the point.

Requisite Education and Experience:

• University degree preferably with a focus on Business Administration, Human Resources Management, or related fields
• Minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in a multinational company ideally with experience in HR Business Partner, Rewards, Talent within HR Function.
• Proven strategic HR partner, who supported business partners and contributed to the further development of standard global HR tools and programs.
• Experience in handling complex matters and complicated employee relations issues (including discrimination claims, harassment investigations).
• Experience in leading a HR team on acquisition/divestiture and integration of a new organization.
• International experience and mindset.
• Effectively work in global matrix organization.
• Fluent in Japanese and English.