Foods Strategy, Innovation & Operations Manager

JOB PURPOSE

The Foods Retail Category has a Turnover of ~ €7.6Bn and is growing competitively with iconic global brands such as Knorr and Hellmann’s and a strong stable set of Local Brands including Bango, Maizena, Robertsons, Pot Noodle, Calve and The Vegetarian Butcher to name but a few. With purpose at the heart of the strategy to make Foods a True Force for Good, we have been successfully growing the business by shifting our geographic footprint to D&E markets whilst continuing to grow in the Developed world, actively renovating our portfolio to deliver superior product experiences, driving a progressive innovation agenda to ensure we capture key food trends such as plant based eating, snacking, superior dressings and step-changing our functional capabilities to lead in a connected world and working more closely with Unilever Food Solutions and Customer Development teams to capture opportunities in growing channels such as out of home.

This critical role will report to the Foods Innovation & Transformation Director. The role is key to help to shape, execute and communicate the new Global Foods and Innovation strategy and support the transformation of the Foods category into a more agile and consumer centric organization. The role will have wide responsibilities supporting strategy development, innovation execution, landing InnoFLEX, lead specific innovation projects on new business models & new partnerships, stakeholder engagement, category operations, M&A support and help to build a highly connected & thriving Foods Team globally and locally. 

The role offers a great development opportunity for individuals widening their skillset in strategy, operations and innovation in a highly dynamic environment. It provides insight into how Unilever’s matrixed organisation works as well as the opportunity to deliver initiatives with a significant, sustainable benefit to the category worldwide.  
 
WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE?

• Ensure priorities are clear, choices are made, and funds are invested in the highest growth opportunities for Foods.
• Support the category planning, budget process and market performance reviews aligned to 5 growth fundamentals.
• Review white spaces & broader category opportunities globally and identify ‘ability to win’ in market and how to differentiate the offer vs. competitors including new business models
• Define and help implement repeatable models, scaling opportunities, open innovation, and new partnerships to accelerate Foods
• Initiate, drive and lead high impact projects which help drive the business across functions
• Support as required M&A analysis and process.
• Drive implementation of methods that enable faster and more effective ways of working for innovation including supporting roll out of “InnoFLEX” for Foods across the world.
• Manage the Global Innovation Portfolio through tools such as IPM and iTrack and support strategic review with key markets.
• Support the planning, organisation, draft and follow-up on Foods Executive meetings, Foods Innovation Board, Food Cascade (-ups).
• Support content input for Foods for analysts’ reviews, annual reports, innovation and portfolio reviews, category events, quarterly CEO letters.
• Support in critical business-driven communications, defining content for major presentations – ULE, Investor Relations, Change Leaders Conference and other large events and conferences.

KEY COMPETENCES
 

• Analytical skills – very strong analytical skills to leverage data into actionable insight
• Strong, proven strategic analysis & thinking skills, balancing rigour & judgement
• Organization/Attention to Detail – outstanding organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple overlapping priorities to meet key deadlines, whilst ensuring high quality output.
• Communication – strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organisation
• Global mindset – genuine interest in learning about and understanding global, regional, and local markets and their consumers, shoppers, retailers, and competitive dynamics
• Strong external orientation – competitors, markets, broader financial and consumer goods related changes
• Strong leadership & influencing with sound logic and detailed analysis
• An appetite for challenge, with a hardworking, tenacious attitude
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to deliver through relationships with all functions at all levels.
• Thriving in ambiguity – most of the work done by this team is up stream in nature, looking at novel opportunities or challenges and requires structuring a nebulous opportunity, building frameworks to address them

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

• Functional expertise looking to build strategic/big picture skills (e.g. Marketing, Finance) but the role is also ideal for strategy & innovation specialists looking to broaden their business knowledge and skills
• Understanding of new business models, finance, M&A, divestments – financial value creation and finance
• Experience at consultancy firms like McKinsey, BCG, Bain preferred
• Understanding lean like a start-up principle, experience in driving agile innovation, open innovation, partnerships
• Ability to synthesising many types of insight (consumer, shopper, market, competitive, technology etc.) into actionable strategies and ability to convey them simply for senior audiences
• Very strong analytical skills – both in excel and analysing problems and proposing pragmatic, actionable solutions.

Disclaimer

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities, and growing together for better business performance. We embrace diversity in our workforce. 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