Senior Specialist Real Estate - EM South at adidas Group

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:


This role maximizes Own Retail profitability across Emerging Markets South by securing and optimizing real estate in line with adidas' store growth strategy. The role leads site identification, financial viability assessment, and lease negotiations while ensuring strong governance, documentation, and cross-functional alignment with Legal and Finance.


Key Responsibilities:


Identify and evaluate real estate opportunities through strategic portfolio planning, site visits, defined site‑selection metrics, demographic analysis, and market research to secure optimal locations for the brand.
Manage and apply site‑selection metrics and decision criteria, including research analytics, financial performance assessments, and revenue forecast models; consolidate and present recommendations to the Retail Leadership Team (RLT).
Lead the negotiation of letters of intent and key commercial lease terms, securing deal structures that are advantageous to the brand through OTLs.
Present adidas retail concepts and requirements to prospective landlords and developers, where required.
Manage the preparation of site justification and business case documentation in support of capital approval processes (BPM).
Continuously evaluate the existing store portfolio to identify opportunities for rent reductions, lease renewals, extensions, or terminations, and lead related negotiations where appropriate.
Manage the existing store fleet portfolio, including the submission of turnover reports to landlords and coordination with internal Finance teams.
Chair and manage monthly PropCo meetings, ensuring agenda preparation, stakeholder alignment, and timely distribution of meeting minutes.
Provide a structured weekly real estate update to the Own Retail team, covering pipeline status, key risks, and decisions required.
Ensure all real estate transactions and documentation comply with internal governance standards, delegated authorities, and legal requirements.
Support internal and external audits by maintaining accurate and auditable lease and portfolio records.


Key Relationships:


Global Real Estate
Emerging Markets Real Estate (Hub)
Landlords
Market Retail team including:
Retail Back Office (RBO) team
Senior Director Own Retail
Senior Manager Store Development and Real Estate
Legal and Finance team


Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:


Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint)
Good numeracy, literacy, verbal and written communication skills
Excellent administration and reporting skills
Commercial negotiation and influencing skills
Strong analytical and financial modelling capability
Stakeholder management across multiple seniority levels
Ability to operate independently


Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:


Minimum of 5 years' retail real estate site selection experience
Industry: ideally in apparel/fashion/shoes or FMCG
Exposure: Sports, store implementation, Real estate community, legal partners
University degree, preferably in Real Estate or Finance