Procurement Assistant Manager – Europe Rigid Plastics Bottles

There has never been a more exciting time to be working in Procurement when you consider the sheer scale of what we are seeking to do in terms of Procurement with Purpose supporting the UL vision of Brands with Purpose grow, Companies with purpose last and People with Purpose Thrive. ‘Purpose’ is at the heart of what we do. 

As Unilever Procurement adapts to the ever-dynamic business environment, we will need to be agile in order to continue our track record of delivery in contributing to the top and bottom line. Inevitably, given the consistent and high quality of our delivery over the past few years, we will be asked to continue this rate of performance and indeed go over and above this standard to ensure the value provided is further enhanced across the scope of our remit.

As well as ensuring that we are best in class in delivering the basics, we also have to look to the future and continuously evolve to meet the needs of our changing environment - reinventing ourselves for sustained competitive advantage. And of course, we are only half of the picture. Our suppliers are at the heart of everything we do. We need to work more closely than ever with suppliers to co-create sustainable practices and bigger and better innovations.

This places great demands on the skills and expertise of all of us as Procurement professionals.

The successful procurement professional is expected to be:

Outstanding in idea generation, ideas that are forward thinking, and that contribute to creating sustained competitive advantage.

Strong at selling ideas to his/her business partners, internally and externally, translating these into effective proposals conveying value and communicating it accordingly.

Appreciative of the value and impact of outstanding execution – an eagle eye for detail.

Act as an entrepreneur, treats business as his/her own, sets trends and is willing to lead, follow or get out of the way.

A partner with purpose ambassador and demonstrate the value Procurement adds to the business.

Genuinely committed to Unilever’s sustainably lead business model, connected with Unilever and the business agenda.

Talent mastery, which includes: spotting, fostering, encouraging and retaining talent is non-negotiable

 

Main Job Purpose:

Professional strategic program management for the sourcing of 130 Million Euros of Rigid Plastic Bottles and materials meeting the specified needs of the Business at the most competitive commercial terms. Building and developing sustainable partnerships through innovative value creation.

Key Accountabilities:

Procurement of Rigid Plastic bottles/ Blow moulding 

Strategy

Competitive supplier selection or development

Benchmarking & best practices -identify metrics, tools and process to optimize sourcing, supplier activities and efficiencies.

Manage local EU change management projects e.g., complexity reduction projects (e.g. harmonisation of specifications and suppliers), resilience

To support in delivering Unilever ‘s multi-year commitments on sustainable sourcing -the environment, well-being and social imperatives in the procurement of materials and services.

Close liaison with the feedstock team to ensure our direct resin sourcing strategy for virgin and PCR resin are aligned and executed via our bottle convertors.

Close liaison with all EU Rigid Plastics team members and strategy and insights teams on contract board and strategy council submissions, cost model development and competitiveness vs the market and implementation of insights through the strategy and negotiations.

Manage EU price forecast against future sourcing strategy and innovation plan.

Bottles procurement- Europe

Value Creation

 

Responsible for the value creation program/competitiveness for the bottles portfolio in EU- identifying opportunities, tracking and ensuring timely inputs to global/regional project development and OTIF execution of global/regional strategy and projects.

Manage the Operation Cash Flow and Working Capital plans for the Portfolio in EU.

Work with the global resins procurement managers/ assistant managers to integrate global resin sourcing strategies with business and portfolio demands, ensuring timely inputs to EU project development and OTIF execution of global/regional strategy and projects

Close liaison with supplier operations teams in implementing metrics, tools and processes to optimize sourcing, supplier activities and efficiencies

Close liaison with strategy and insights teams on contract board and strategy council submissions, cost model development and competitiveness vs the market and implementation of insights through the strategy and negotiations.

Collaboration with collaborative manufacturing teams in driving PCR inclusion and leveraging our buying scale to CM’s to optimise our competitiveness
 

Supplier Relationship Management:

Ensure suppliers for EU bottles are compliant to our responsible sourcing policy

Negotiate value driven agreements that are in line with defined commercial and legal requirements and subsequently manage the supplier relationships/SLA’s along with key stakeholders

Measure and manage overall performance of EU suppliers.
 

lead the rationalization of suppliers, materials and services that meet Unilever's business requirements

Support service, resilience and quality strategies with the respective supply base, supporting markets in specific requirements with the suppliers

Support the PCR implementation programs with suppliers
 

Business partnering

Responsible for EU price forecasting ensuring accuracy and completeness of the forecast OTIF and communicating timely to key business stakeholders forecast updates timely for further engagements with CCBT’s

Share market insights that support the business with accurate price forecasting, which includes market conditions, price trends and future market trends to enable proper budgeting and price forecasting

Others

Ensure compliance to defined procurement procedures-contracting, contract management process- contract boards, strategy councils

Close liaison with strategy and insights teams in identifying metrics, tools and processes to optimize sourcing, supplier activities and efficiencies
 

Technical & Behaviour Skills

Proven experience in Procurement or Supply Chain

Strong Negotiation skills.

Self-starter mentality

Strong analytical capabilities (incl finance)

Experience in Cross Functional working

Experience and understanding of business processes and SAP systems.

Ability to interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds,

Strong communications skills and ability to engage and influence others.

Fluent communication and verbal skills in English.

Strong ability in working with multiple stakeholders, projects, and deadlines, with strong analytical & negotiation skills and “can do” mentality.

Appetite for change and eagerness to collaborating with stakeholders to drive through improvements.

Collaborative, team player who focuses on team success above self
 

Experience Required: 

ESSENTIAL

University degree

At least 3 years’ experience in procurement or supply management roles

PREFERRED 

Experience in blow moulding technologies (IBM, ISBM & EBM) coupled with commercial acumen

Experience in operations- end to end portfolio management including service and quality
 

Travel: As per job/site requirements

Contacts:

Internal: 

Procurement:

- Procurement portfolio assistant managers for bottles. 

- Procurement operations team, Category

- Unilever Rigid Plastic Bottles leadership team.

Supply Chain:

- Manufacturing

- Quality

- Inbound Logistics

- Supply Chain Category Planning

- Supply Chain Innovation Planning

- MCO Demand Planning (depending on team/portfolio)

- S&OP Planning

- Import / Export

CCBT’s: support strategic project pitch on value creation ideas

Legal: Contracting

R&D: Alternative’s approvals

Finance: Forecasting and project businesses cases

Marketing

External: 

Suppliers

Agents

3 PM

3rd Party Service Providers
 

Reporting Channel: Procurement Manager- Bottles Global & Europe.