Marco Ender has worked his way from a working student to senior manager at Amer Sports. In addition to exceling in his role in supply chain performance, he wants to master multiple sports.
Marco Ender joined Amer Sports in 2015 as a working student and has since graduated to Senior Manager Supply Chain Performance, based in our Munich office in Germany.
His role is threefold: reporting, consulting, and project management. With his reporting hat on, Marco answers questions such as: How do we deliver on time? How’s our inventory turning? How’s our forecast accuracy? Are we able to deliver what our customers want? He also consults Amer Sports brands and management on stock-keeping unit amounts, warehouse capacity, future inventory volume, and more.
Things get more technical in the project management bucket where Marco collaborates with the Munich-based SAP team. Last year, they worked on making the estimated arrival of goods in the warehouse more accurate, the need for which was heightened during the COVID-19-adjacent supply chain challenges.
“In the past, we were working with fixed route data to calculate estimated arrival dates. Now we get a daily satellite update on the container location at a given time to predict when it will most likely hit the warehouse,” explains Marco.
Mindful about sustainability and making a change
While sustainability isn’t spelled out in Marco’s job description, he considers it in his work — and his ways of working.
“I can contribute to waste management and freight decisions, for example, through better planning and forecasting. I’m always happy when I have the chance to change and improve something. Whenever an opportunity to do so pops up, I love to deal with it.”
One personal example of his sustainability-orientation is his considerate approach to business travel.
“Personal encounters are important, and so many people haven’t met in person in the past few years. I always try to ask, ‘Is this trip necessary? Can I take the train instead of a plane?’” says Marco, referring to the need for occasional travel between Munich and Annecy in France, for example. “But I admit I struggle with these decisions. I try to be better and look for alternatives.”
Seeing opportunities in global growth
Marco knows that sustainability is an integral part of growth. Reflecting on our company’s ambitious growth targets, Marco gets philosophical.
“Growth is attractive because it opens new doors. If a company is shrinking, you may need to cut resources. But when you’re growing, there’s always a door opening somewhere.”
As an example he offers the Global Transportation team, which is responsible for inbound and outbound transportation activities for all Amer Sports brands globally.
“Being a smaller company in the past, the team was small but very hands-on. And now we’ve had the chance to become more professional to really deliver the best service to our brands. Being a bigger player comes with a lot of opportunities.”
Multisport enthusiast with a beginner’s mindset
If Marco likes to capture opportunities at work, the same holds true in sports. He has played football since he learned to walk and has been a licensed football referee since the age of 14. When not in the pitch, you can find him swimming, running, hiking, on the volleyball court, or in the gym.
“I aim to reach a minimum level in all these sports. That’s what I like about Amer Sports. I can try my hand at different sports like tennis, squash, and skiing. I know I can’t be great at everything, but I want to challenge myself to be good enough.”
Marco approaches each new pursuit with a beginner’s mindset.
“I started to play ice hockey this year. Starting something new at 30 is not so easy,” he says, comparing learning a new sport to taking on a new role at work. “You need to be humble. You need to train a lot and listen to your teammates. You need to fight harder in the beginning, but step by step, you’ll get better.”
People-centric culture with a healthy work-life balance
Marco praises his colleagues at Amer Sports and how they have championed his career advancement.
“The people have supported me a lot. Whenever I feel like I’ve grown to the next level in a certain project or role, I have gotten a new input from someone, and an opportunity to jump to a new challenge. That’s why I’m so happy here.”
Marco appreciates the healthy work-life balance which, he believes, stems from our company’s Nordic roots and culture of trust.
“The flexible hours and trust allow me to do sports during my lunch break at the gym or nearby lake. And when there’s a higher workload, we might need to put in longer hours as a team, but then we can balance it out.”
“People are so relaxed here. It’s the sports spirit—sports people are informal and easy-going. I really can’t imagine going back to any other industry.”
Marco Ender
Current role: Senior Manager Supply Chain Performance, Amer Sports
Location: Munich, Germany
Previous experience: Internship in aircraft maintenance; Working student, Operations Project Manager, and Strategic Program Manager at Amer Sports.
Hobbies: Soccer, beach volleyball, ice hockey, hiking, diving, traveling & foreign cultures, and politics.
Fun fact: “As a university student, and before joining Amer Sports, I used to be a chauffeur for celebrities and other VIPs such as the US Secret Service.”
