Associate Category Procurement Manager - Foods

ABOUT UNILEVER 

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world.   

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our, collaborative, and flexible working environment. Our organizational ambition centers around creating workplaces that foster equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging across all aspects of our business. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.  

JOB PURPOSE 

Find your purpose at Unilever. You will lead the material cost agenda explaining the commodity cost movements to business leaders and driving savings improving gross margins.  You will develop supplier lead innovations to support top line growth.  You will learn from brilliant business leaders and colleagues in a truly global and diverse culture to ultimately become a better you.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE 

• Deliver Material NMI, Supplier-led Innovation, BU/SC business partnering for the NA Cooking Aids and Mini Meals business

• Advise North America business on commodity impacts and Commodity Risk Management response strategies

• Lead continuous Fuel for Growth pipeline plan for re-investment in our Cooking Aid and Mini Meal brands such as Knorr and Lipton

• Support the material and supplier strategies necessary to deliver best in class innovation for the Cooking Aids and Mini Meals business

• Lead the identification and implementation of material Value Chain Interventions

• Build strong global Procurement networks to deliver fast and brilliant saving / innovation projects

• Connect the business strategy and category priorities with the Procurement strategy developed by the portfolio groups, engaging with the global Procurement organization

• Lead the team to support the business in all Procurement activities related to cost and growth initiatives

• Accountable for forecast of savings, inflation and net impact in the P&L

• Interface with local suppliers and the market on behalf of Unilever

• Support the Development relationship with strategic suppliers in support of the North America Business

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED 

Experiences & Qualifications 

• A minimum of a Bachelor Degree Supply Chain/ Logistic, Business, Sciences, Engineering

• 3+ years general business experience in any Supply Chain function (Logistics, Operations, Manufacturing, Supply Management, Planning)

Skills 

• Procurement portfolio experience & materials strategy development

• Drive Change Management initiatives, intelligent risk taking while managing risk, managerial courage and willing to make hard, fact-based decisions - comfortable with ambiguity

• Maintain, build, and grow supplier relationships, cultural sensitivity/communication/global thinking

• Excellent leadership, interpersonal, team building, delegation, and communication skills

• Excellent business acumen - analytical and quantitative skills

• Managing change - Develops a shared vision and strategy for change. Delivers change whilst managing the interface between “day to day” and improvement projects. Tenacious in the pursuit of change goals

• Problem solving & decision making - Defines problems, systematically gathers and analyses data, identifies cause & effects and establishes root causes & achievable solutions. Makes good and timely decisions

• Drive for results - Is passionate about and perseveres in the pursuit of challenging stretch goals. Demonstrates energy, drive and enthusiasm when striving to accomplish and improve results

• Interpersonal effectiveness - Flexible use of accomplished interpersonal behaviors that facilitate in building trust and engagement amongst others whilst reducing the opportunity for conflict

Pay: The pay range for this position is $86,080 to $129,120. Unilever takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, lic