Project Manager/ DesignOps

This is a new position for a Project Manager/ DesignOps with 4+ years of experience to become part of a growing Service Design practice within Global Sales in adidas. We are looking for a talented project manager, an organized and empathetic person to support us in setting the standards of the recently formed Service Design internal practice.

As a Design Operations Manager, you will be the go-to-person to manage and prioritise the Service Design project portfolio, take care of incoming support requests, team development and manage the frameworks and tooling that guide teams in their (design) ways of working. Additionally, you will play an active role in communicating the value of service design and in improving the approach – including service design methods and tools, organising and scheduling both internal and external communication and events.

Reporting directly to the Service Design Director and liaising with a team of 10+ service designers, you’ll be the central person to assign tasks, time and allocate the project teams and activities. You will work closely with the designers, that spend their time on delivering projects and working in the foundations of our new practice, leading to better product and service outcomes for adidas and for our consumers. A close collaboration will also exist with the Director and VP, who lead design and work with senior stakeholders, advocating the value of Service Design and consumer-centricity across the organisation.

This role is ideally suited to a Design Operations Manager seeking growth opportunities and ownership, an experienced operations or program manager passionate about Service (and or Product) Design, or a designer with Ops or project management experience passionate about team culture and organisation. You have experience in working with designers (potentially service designers) and understand how the orchestration of people, process, and tools leads to better experiences and outcomes for teams and ultimately, the end-consumers.

Key Responsibilities 

     Primary

Manage Service Design Project portfolio

• Prioritise and manage the service design project portfolio as well as oversees and manages the allocation of team resources – Liaising with the Service Design Leads and the Director to review projects requests from different parts of the organisation, prioritising accordingly to the relevance of the project (tactical or strategic), as well as alignment of team’s availability, strengths and individual needs and interests/ career development of each service designer

• Own and iterate the Practice roadmap, with direction from the Director
• Provide strategic and tactical project management support (inc. timelines and deliverables) for specific service design projects and programs, driving best practice for program management.

Oversee team meetings & general admin

• Lead and coordinate the Service Design team meetings, team-building and retro events (schedule, organise, run), managing team engagement, removing any blockers, supporting the team and chasing key actions

• Manage general Admin tasks and provide ongoing support to the design team e.g., around our licenses, our design toolsets and other technologies
• Manage operational activities for third-party agencies and partners, including but not limited to contract negotiation, deliverable definition, invoice and expenses tracking, on-boarding and off-boarding

Interface with Comms & Events

• Manage and play and active role in shaping internal and external communication for the Service Design Practice, including but not limited to internal comms & events, social media, newsletters, general updates, stakeholder reports, etc

Recruitment & Onboarding activities

• Support recruitment process and pipeline for new talent
• Own the onboarding and integration of new joiners in the Service Design team

Secondary

Manage Service Design Toolkit

• Manage the Service Design toolkit for practitioners to ensure projects can be run and managed effectively, and onboarding new joiners into the ways of working of the adidas Service design team
• Own the Service Design Practice channels (e.g. Sharepoint/ Teams folder/ Stream video channels) ensuring it’s up-to-date and continuously iterated and improved, including how-to guidelines
• Keep up to date with best practice, changes and events in the service design industry

Support Senior Leadership

• Collaborate closely with design leadership and senior contributors to define, document, and operationalize processes. This includes defining and keeping up-to-date documentation of how the Design team works, as well as how to work with all disciplines of the team
• Support the Service Design Director with key presentations to (senior) stakeholders telling the story and value of service design

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent organisation and operational skills; with a pragmatic approach and set of tools to creating processes for an efficient working environment
• Ability to manage multiple projects and timelines, together with understanding of the needs of designers and broader stakeholders
• Knowledge management of previous Service Design projects & deliverables and key insights to make sure these can be re-used effectively
• A natural communicator with strong interpersonal skills, leveraging a mix of good communication skills, stakeholder empathy and a willingness to take ownership when dealing with constraints such as time, budget and business needs

• Detail-oriented and strategic thinker who can apply frameworks to keep track of the many moving parts necessary for projects and teams to be successful
• Understanding of service design, human-centred design, agile methodology and product management processes and systems
• A collaborative leader, being accessible and supportive to others, from senior leadership to recent graduates, building trust while focusing on results and outcomes, recognizing differences in style and background and exercise leadership in a collaborative way
• Positive energy, enable the development of a positive team environment, balancing individual initiative with team collaboration, encouraging people to speak up and express differing views

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• Degree with focus on Business Management, Project Management, Design Management, Organisational Design or a design-related discipline (e.g., Industrial Design Engineering, Design Strategy, Design Thinking, Service or Product Design etc.) or equivalent combination of education and experience
• +4years of experience in working in a Design Operations/ Project Management/ Resourcing environment, supporting/co-leading (service) design teams within an enterprise organization and/or direct work experience in a creative agency or consulting environment in a relevant role (e.g., Project/Program Manager, Creative Operations, or Design Operations)
• Fluent in English both verbally and written