Procurement Manager Flexibles SEAI

Role Title: Procurement Manager Flexible Packaging, SEAI

Department: Procurement

Location: Philippines

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 must 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.

A 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:

Flexible Packaging portfolio has a global annual spend of €1,5bn, supporting all Clusters and Business Groups.

It includes Flexibles, Decoration and Tubes packaging portfolios

Main clusters are SEA, SA, LATAM, EU. Home Care is the biggest division with 31% of the spend followed by BPC 28%, Foods 25% and 16% for Refreshments. This portfolio has high material complexity including 3700 specs and 15700 AWs, driven by different barrier and machinery requirements which requires close collaboration with R&D and Manufacturing functions to enable supplier and material transitions.

The role of Procurement Manager Flexible Packaging SEAI, is responsible for a spend of €320m with main countries as Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The role is responsible for the implementation of global and market relevant sourcing strategies, defining preferred suppliers for tier 1 spend (conversion) areas, managing defined partnerships for value and growth.

For tier 2, this role will be responsible to implement the Feedstock/laminate strategy through converters (tier 1) while the Global procurement manager of Flexible packaging resins, from the Flexibles feedstocks team, will be accountable to develop and design the sourcing strategies.

It will also involve defining and implementing portfolio resilience program for each spend area and market. This role will create supplier network that aligns with the overall business objectives for Divisions and Markets and in line with the overall Sourcing Strategy.

This role would require the candidate to be well versed with use of cost model and its analysis. Use of digital tools and reports to enhance negotiations, opportunity identification. Lead and land portfolio savings. Develop and grow supplier network to enable access to world class packaging options. Engage closely with internal stakeholder to deliver business needs through strong network of suppliers.

Responsible of price forecasting, best in class contracting and negotiations, benchmarking, supplier scanning and support driving quality and service in the cluster, one of focus areas for the role will also be: complexity reduction using ZBB principles for structures, size and artwork.

ZBB for Materials program will be a key enabler for extracting value from the portfolio.

Sustainability is in the heart of this role through Plastics reduction and recyclability commitments. The role will involve driving sustainability agenda with clear cost glidepaths, delivering purpose with business priorities and implementing solutions at right cost benchmark.

Key Accountabilities:

• Delivery of sourcing strategy, implementation through contracting and negotiations
• Delivery of Financial KPI’s: NMI, cash
• Sustainability targets, RSP targets
• Resilience program implementation
• Complexity reduction and ZBB program delivery
• Continuous process improvement, financial forecasting

• Manage design principles for laminate structures and artwork to avoid complexity
• Effective supplier communications and engagement in key programs
• New supplier scanning
• Support PMU’s in Operations and Sustainability
• Material price Forecasting
• Delivery project initiatives in digital procurement

Professional Skills:

• Subject matter expertise in Flexibles Packaging, Tubes and Decoration (Labels and Sleeves)
• Negotiation & communications skills
• Digital and analytics knowledge
• Financial acumen for business cases and reporting
• Experience with cost models and “should cost modelling”
• Packaging technologies and innovations
• Experience in procurement transformation projects, tools and technologies.

Experience Required:

• University degree
• Good buying, negotiation and contracting skills
• Strategic sourcing
• Supply market and FMCG knowledge
• Experience on large-scale project management roles
• Expertise in sustainability, circular economy and processing technologies
• Demonstrated and proven leadership capabilities to lead a virtual global team

We highly encourage applicants to exclude information on age, gender, and school/s in view of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Unilever assesses candidates based on skills, performance, experience and leadership.

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.