Sustainability Manager – Procurement (Palm Oil)

Unilever is currently hiring a Sustainability Manager – Procurement (Palm Oil) based in Grha Unilever, BSD City, Indonesia

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 inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. 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

• Unilever is the place where you can bring your purpose to life with the work that you do – creating a better business and a better world. If you are passionate about bringing to life Unilever’s Sustainability Goals through working with suppliers and partners on impactful programs, then this role is just for you!

• This is an exciting role in Unilever’s Procurement Sustainability team. Unilever has ambitious targets to drive impact for people and nature in Unilever’s Sustainability Goals. The multi-year commitments require embarking on an ambitious journey to change commodity supply chain traceability and transparency, to increase the accountability of upstream supply chain actors for environmental and social risk, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to deliver on our commitments to a deforestation-free supply chain.

• This role requires a passion to change the world for the better. It requires strong leadership and communication capability. We are seeking a highly curious and motivated individual to work at the heart of sustainable sourcing of palm oil and be a major actor in the delivery of a deforestation-free supply for the business. The role requires you to grasp the strategic picture of complex matters related to climate change and nature, and at the same time deep dive as an expert on topical issues in solving matters related to the sourcing of palm oil. Your duties will include supplier and stakeholder engagement, project management, partnership development, and advocacy, though you will need to be adaptable and able to operate in highly fluid environment.

• This role will be reporting to the Senior Manager, Procurement Sustainability, based in Singapore and shall work closely with Unilever’s commercial buyers and various internal and external stakeholders to implement the company’s sustainable sourcing and deforestation-free supply chain strategy, especially for palm oil, together with suppliers, industry experts, and project implementors working on impact programs in sustainable commodity production and sourcing, forest protection and restoration, regenerative agriculture, and greenhouse gas reduction.

Main Responsibilities

Manage our sustainable and deforestation-free supply chain

• Co-Manage global supply chain risk and lead engagement with various suppliers in terms of contract negotiations, implementation of commitments, and delivery of sustainable and deforestation-free material, and other sustainability requirements for Unilever’s sourcing of palm oil and palm kernel oil (and their derivatives). ·

• Cordinate with Unilever’s procurement team on the implementation of the sustainable procurement strategy with suppliers and partners for Unilever’s sourcing of tropical oils and surfactants.

• Support the design and creation of credible sustainable and deforestation-free frameworks, verification and assurance documents, and digital partnerships and tools to achieve the business’ Sustainability Goals.

Enhance traceability and transparency in commodity sourcing

• Co-manage traceability systems and scores of Unilever’s palm oil supply chain from factory to the plantation level.

• Publish traceability and transparency performance indicators and update methods on a regular basis for stakeholders and reports in coordination with Unilever procurement team and other stakeholders.

• Support innovation and the development of technology to enhance traceability and transparency for Unilever’s palm oil supply chain and provide learnings on these topics to other stakeholders managing other forest risk commodities internally and to the industry.

Develop and implement greenhouse gas reduction roadmaps and regenerative agriculture strategy for our palm oil supply chain

• Lead the creation and execution of greenhouse gas reduction strategy, roadmaps and targets for our palm oil supply chain together with suppliers, internal team and stakeholders, external consultants.

• Strengthen and further develop Unilever’s regenerative agriculture principles for palm oil, creating and delivering programs with our suppliers and implementation partners that are aligned with current regenerative agriculture frameworks.

• Co-develop and implement monitoring and reporting frameworks to measure progress and impact in greenhouse gas reduction and regenerative agriculture impacts.

Manage sustainable production, protection, and inclusion models in strategic landscapes

• Co-manage Unilever’s jurisdictional approach programs in various production landscapes. Ensure continuation and scale up of the programs through the brand investments and the Unilever Climate and Nature Fund and alignment with Unilever’s Sustainability Goals and objectives. Support the development and reporting of landscape indicators to communicate forest and nature positive impact.

• Collaborate with team members and stakeholders to identify opportunities to support and inform decision making on social sustainability and human rights, biodiversity, restoration regeneration, climate change within Unilever’s supply chain and at a landscape level.

• Collaborate and support Unilever’s manager responsible in delivering oil palm smallholder farmer program in the design, execution, and delivery of these programs with suppliers and various organization in strategic sourcing regions across oil palm production landscapes linked with Unilever’s supply chain.

• Co-develop models and partnerships to positively impact, and empower oil palm smallholders at scale and as a result address some critical issues in the sector that include, legal constraints related to obtaining land titles and business licenses, smallholder organization creation, obtaining fair and transparent pricing of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB), acquiring appropriate training on good agriculture practices, regenerative agriculture practices, living income and to provide living wages.

Actively participate and engage in advocacy strategy, reporting, and communications

• Active involvement and engagement in various platforms on sustainable commodity production and landscapes and/or jurisdictional approaches involving the private sector, industry experts, and the government such with the Consumer Goods Forum, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Palm Oil Collaboration Group (POCG), etc.

• Contribute technical content on palm oil in internal and external communication and reporting activities. Responsible in updating content with various internal stakeholder on a regular basis.

• Support the effort to maintain a leading positions on sustainable palm oil sourcing in key forums, scorecards, and campaigns conducted by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and industry initiatives. ​

Candidate Criteria

Experience & Qualification

• 6+ years of experience in sustainability, procurement, or agriculture development.

• University degree economics, environmental studies or management, agriculture development, supply chain, sciences, or related field. Master’s Degree strongly preferred.

• Proven and recognizable achievements in sustainable agriculture and supply chain knowledge from previous procurement experience

• Experience with sustainable agriculture standards and certification schemes. Superior stakeholder management and experience, both internal (across all hierarchies and functions) and external (with suppliers, NGOs, consultants) and a willingness to collaborate and partner with different business functions at Unilever including Sustainable Sourcing, Procurement, UniOps (IT), Legal, Communications, external data providers.

• Excellent Excel & PowerPoint skills that support well-developed skills in presenting complex information, both visually and in writing

• Must be a self-starter with strong Bias for Action, Accountability & Responsibility and Growth Mindset.

• A willingness to work with uncertainty and information gaps; to set a direction where there is no precedent.

• Must be a strong executor, being able to work independently and virtually

• Must lead both processes and people across a broad and diverse geographic and business environment.

• Able to work in fast paced environment and manage timelines

• Exceptional communication and influencing skills.

• Strong analytical mindset and curiosity.

• Outstanding quantitative skill set.

• Attention to detail and good problem-solving skills.

• Project and change management experience.

Skill

• Excellent communication skills in English, verbal and written · Stakeholder management (internal and external)

• Quick and accurate synthesis of information from multiple sources in the form of executive summary/white paper

• Project management: design, budgeting, contracting, monitoring, and reporting

• Strong interest in sustainability and sustainability standards · Ability to work in virtual teams

• Microsoft office skills (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, OneDrive, Sharepoint, PowerBI)

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.