Foods & Mini Meals UK CSP Lead

Job Title: Customer Strategy & Planning (CSP) Lead - Total Foods UKI & Mini Meals UKI

Location: Kingston, United Kingdom

ABOUT UNILEVER & FOODS

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. 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.

Food is hot! What we eat, how we cook and how we are inspired to eat is changing rapidly. Foods Europe is a critical growth engine within Unilever’s Foods Business Group. As a Business Unit we have high ambitions where we believe in empowering the markets and creating the right ammunition to win the hearts and the minds of our consumers and customers.  At the heart of Foods Europe is our bold mission to be Food Lovers and Growth Hunters. Foods UKI is a sizeable business, the 5th largest market for Foods globally.  The UKI business holds either the #1 or #2 share position in our categories.  Our global power brands, Hellmann’s and Knorr, are a priority focus, alongside strong local jewels, such as Pot Noodle, Marmite and Colman’s.

We lead with a ‘One Team, One Dream’ mindset across our UKI Foods team, which alongside our unique ‘Foodie Culture’, has created a team we are all proud to be part of. We have also built a reputation for being thought leaders in the digital and marketing space, with the UKI team leading the way in Social First and Retail Media and being proud winners of 26 creative excellence awards over the past three years, including numerous Cannes Lions.

JOB PURPOSE

This is a critical Customer Strategy and Planning role. Reporting directly into the Foods Business Unit General Manager, with responsibility for setting the commercial strategy and leading the deployment and execution against this with our CBD (Customer Business Development) team.  This role will lead Total Foods CSP and also be directly responsible for the Mini Meals CSP agenda.  

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and execute the Channel and Category plans for Foods to enable delivery of commercial targets across the cross-channel customer base in the market

• Own the decision-making process for commercial trade-offs vs strategy

• Lead across the Revenue Growth Management RGM/Net Revenue Management NRM Levers, embedding it at the heart of CSP, ensuring initiatives are integrated into planning

• Represent the Customer and Channel in the forecasting process as part of the Foods Leadership Team

• Drive best-in class execution and ensure the UKI Foods team becomes obsessed with perfect execution of our plans in store, both offline and online

• Build and lead a high-performing CSP community within the UKI Foods team
  

KEY INTERFACES

Within Foods Business Unit:

• Part of UKI Foods Leadership team representing the voice of the customer into the Business Unit

• Key interactions: Business Unit Cross Functional team including Category Directors, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance and European/Global CSP

Within Customer Business Development:

• Lead Business Unit forums with account teams and engagement with Customer Development Leadership Team

• In Market Cross Business Unit CSP Leads – for best practice execution and to maximise efficiency of execution across the business

• Member of extended Customer Development leadership team

All ABOUT YOU

• Established as a Senior Manager, with prior and recent experience in senior Customer Business Development Role (CBM) being an essential prerequisite for this role. Alongside this, ability to manage multiple priorities and stakeholders, structured and operational grip and influence as delivery is largely through others

• Strong strategic thinking and ability to connect insights, category dynamics, and customer needs

• Excellent and proven leadership of people and culture building capabilities

• Passion for high performance and a true talent catalyst

• Key Skills: Commercial and Channel strategy creation and execution, NRM/RGM, skilled at evaluating commercial opportunities and selling ideas across 6Ps, managing senior stakeholders across CD and BU, performance management + forecasting

CRITICAL BEHAVIOURS

• Cares Deeply – for both their people and the business performance

• 3 Steps Ahead – future focused and able to anticipate competitor moves and have response plans ready to execute

• Focus on What Counts – build and champion the Foods annual plan and chosen priorities in order to deliver consistent top and bottom-line growth

• Deliver with Excellence – sets high standards and leads team by example in being best in class

• Have the ‘gravitas’ (experience, self-awareness, and interpersonal skills), allowing to interact with senior stakeholders effectively and efficiently across the company

What we offer

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all. 

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. We are also more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self. To find out more, including about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (unilever.com).

Location

In June 2020 we announced our plan to consolidate a number of Unilever’s offices across the South East of England into a new Unilever campus in Kingston-upon-Thames in or around early 2025. However, on the 08 August 2024 we announced to our existing staff our proposal to retain our central Head Office in London, 100 Victoria Embankment (“100VE”) until our lease expires in 2027. As a result of this new proposal, we will be consulting with our existing staff, and new joiners who join during this period of consultation at 100VE, on the proposal made in August 2024. During consultation we will clarify the future location of each team and function. This means your role will either be based in 100VE until 2027 or in Kingston-Upon-Thames from early 2025. As we are yet to commence consultation on the proposal you agree, until such a time when consultation has concluded, your normal place of work as set out in the enclosed Statement of Terms & Conditions will be 100VE. You agree that on the conclusion of the consultation your place of work will be 100VE or 100VE until early 2025 and then Kingston-upon-Thames ("the locations") and you will be notified of which of the locations will be your place of work after that consultation ends.