BIRKENSTOCK is a global brand which embraces all consumers regardless of geography, gender, age and income. The company is deeply footed on a family tradition of shoemaking that can be traced back to 1774. With around 6200 employees worldwide, BIRKENSTOCK is the largest employer in the German footwear industry. To ensure our quality standards, we produce over 95% of our products in Germany and source more than 90% of our materials and components from Europe. The BIRKENSTOCK Group is headquartered in Linz am Rhein and maintains several locations in Germany, as well as sales offices in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.

For our division Product Functions ,at our location in Köln we are looking for a

Director Business Development and Transformation (m/f/d)

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Your Shoes to fill:

• Provide strategic leadership for the Business Development, Process Optimization/MDM, and ESG teams, ensuring alignment with the company's overall objectives.

• Collaborate with the Chief Product Officer (CPO) and leadership to create and manage a portfolio of high-impact projects and initiatives.

• Partner with the CPO to develop a pipeline of transformative projects and initiatives.

• Lead the initiative steering process, ensuring timely progress reporting and alignment with business goals.

• CPO Support: Act as a trusted advisor and executive assistant to the CPO, supporting milestone tracking, initiative reporting, and preparing high-level presentations (e.g., board projects, quarterly product updates).

• Business Development: Lead and execute complex, end-to-end projects that involve defining new business opportunities. Develop comprehensive strategies that encompass supply chain creation, business process innovation, and market readiness.

• Master Data Management (MDM): Ensure the MDM team implements a strong governance framework, driving critical MDM initiatives across the organization.

• Process Optimization: Oversee the Process Optimization team to continuously improve the seasonal calendar and workflows. Champion process improvements across key systems (e.g., Centric) to drive efficiency and productivity.

• ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance): Lead the ESG team in developing and evolving the company’s ESG roadmap. Ensure compliance with ESG reporting standards and drive transformative initiatives in areas such as climate action, social responsibility, environmental engineering, and occupational health & safety (OHS).

your walk of life:

• University degree in business administration or engineering or related field

• At least 7-10 years of mid-scale leadership roles in the field of project management (consulting) and/or transformational initiatives

• Expertise in Excel, PowerPoint, and Power BI, with the ability to leverage these tools for analysis and presentations.

• English written and spoken is a must. German is a plus.

• Strong strategic mindset, combined with hands-on execution skills and a results-driven approach.

• Strong strategic mindset, combined with hands-on execution skills and a results-driven approach.

• Highly analytical with a strong decision-making orientation, particularly suited for interacting with senior management and cross-functional teams.

WE OFFER:

BIRKENSTOCK offers you all the advantages of a successful, fast growing, global company: dynamic work environment, considerable design freedom, authentic and open corporate culture and excellent development opportunities. Sounds exciting? It is. We are looking forward to receiving your online application, stating your salary expectations! If you have any further questions, please contact Ankita Arora.