Assistant Procurement Manager – Foods

Job Title: Assistant Procurement Manager – Foods

Department: Procurement

Profession: Supply Chain

Location: Mumbai, India

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. Our strategy begins with a purpose that places consumers at the heart of everything we do: Brighten everyday life for all. Our goal is to deliver best-in-class performance with market-making, unmissably high-ranking brands. 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 aspiration 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.

ABOUT PROCUREMENT:

Part of the Supply Chain’s family, Procurement is accountable for over 30B Euro of material and services spend globally with more than 50,000 suppliers. Getting the right services and materials, sustainably sourced and ensuring accountable procurement is critical to ensuring our brands with purpose grow. Our teams work closely with the business to recognize brand needs, bring supplier innovation to meet changing consumer needs and drive financial value for Unilever through competitive buying. We’re at the forefront of digital procurement, bringing new tools and analytics to drive data-based decisions. We support a network of thousands of suppliers, more than 1.5 million smallholder farmers who in turn support communities of over 7 million people. Our Procurement “Lighthouse” Strategy focuses competitive buying through various levers like world class buying practices, deeper value chain insights, value chain transformation, partnership with purpose and strong procurement expertise.

Main Job Purpose:

Foods BG India encompasses TEA/COFFEE/FOODS and UFS. Under the umbrella of this streams, market leading brands like Taj Mahal, Tazza, Bru Coffee, Kissan, Knorr, Hellman’s are present to cater to varied consumer tastes and preferences.

This role is accountable for the sourcing operations of all KEY RM’s for Packaged Foods and UFS Portfolio like TOMATO PASTE, FRUIT PULPS, INGREDIENTS, SPICES, FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS and involves Buying accountability Market Ingredients worth 75 CR Acetic Acid, HVP Etc and Packaging Spend – Glass and Metal – For Ketchup/Jams and Coffee – 60 CR INR. Cost, Service and Quality will be key attributes for which this role is accountable and will involve cross functional collaboration with R&D, CQA and Supply Chain.

This is a techno-commercial role where, involving the understanding of the supplier landscape in the areas mentioned above to tap the market at the right instance to extract value. Understanding of the Agri Supply Chain of the commodities involved will be a sought-after skill to add value and enrich the outcome of the actions involved. Supplier operations will involve liaising with Factory and Supply Chain to ensure timely material connectivity and ensure 100% OTIF.

Key Accountabilities:

• Delivery of sourcing strategy, implementation through contracting and negotiations
• Effective supplier communications and engagement in key programs
• Advocacy and external communications
• New supplier scanning & development.
• Timely contracting & right pricing strategies
• Execution & Reporting of all cost-effective programs – Lead 5S initiatives, ZBB programs, NMCI mitigation
• Procurement operations including network management of buying activities.
• Resilience plans for the portfolio

Professional Skills:

• Master's Degree – Preferrable in Food Technology/Dairy Technology/Agriculture, with understanding of prevalent procurement practise in the space
• Strong Numerical Acumen with a flair for working with numbers.
• Strong understanding of Supplychain ways of working
• Strong Negotiation & communications skills
• Digital and analytics knowledge
• Senior Stakeholder management & efficient conflict management
• Financial acumen for business cases and reporting
• Experience in Procurement transformation projects, tools, and technologies.
• Conversant with Procurement tools like Ariba, SAP, Coupa & Power BI
• Strong MS EXCEL and analytical Skills. Be able to represent data in simple yet complete way.

Experience Required:

ESSENTIAL

• University degree preferably Masters – IN FOOD TECHNOLOGY/DAIRY TECHNOLOGY/AGRICUTLURE/AGRI BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 
• At least 5 to 7 years solid experience in Finance/Procurement/Supplier Operations
• Good buying, negotiation, and contracting skills
• Expertise in supplier development, preferably in FMCG Foods Space.
• Good understanding of Sustainability, circular economy, and processing technologies
• Experience on large-scale project management roles.
• Demonstrated and proven team capabilities to support a virtual global team
• Experience of working in matrix organisation structure
• Financial acumen to recognize the complete forecasting process

Travel:

• 15-20% Travel within the country

Contacts:

Internal:

Procurement

• Other packaging procurement – Global & regional
• CMRP Team
• Strategy and Insights
• NUTS and ICD BG teams.

Supplychain

• Planning & SUIT
• Factory teams

R&D

• Data science and data expertise
• Project execution
• Global R&D teams

Market

• BG Leadership
• BU Senior leadership
• Brand Leadership team

Sustainability

• Sustainable business
• Integrated social sustainability.
• Communications
• Finance

External:

• Supply Partners
• Advisors and benchmarking organizations

Reporting Channel:

• Procurement Manager – Foods

D&I statement:

Equal Opportunity Employer: Unilever is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, or any other basis protected by applicable law, and will not be discriminated against based on disability. Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.