Procurement Assistant Actuators and Valves – Global & Europe

The European Aerosol Components Procurement team is part of the Global Aerosol Components Procurement organisation and manages the strategy for the supply of valves and actuators globally and operationally in EU.

Business Group/Company                 Procurement Europe

Team:                                                    Global Procurement Aerosol Components

Position                                                 Procurement Assistant Valves & Actuators – Global & Europe

Reporting to                                         Procurement Manager Valves & Actuators – Global & Europe

Country/Location                                Europe – Port Sunlight England or Rotterdam Netherlands

Purpose of Job:

To assist in the Procurement strategy of actuators and valves Globally, with operational procurement responsibility for this portfolio in EU. This means taking responsibility, with the Procurement Manager for the strategy: supplier development, price negotiation, innovation implementation, savings program, contract management.

• Provide support to the Procurement Manager and wider team as required

• To support the procurement team to achieve its goals and objectives and monitor target delivery (commercial analyst function including reporting and analysis on VIP savings, cash generation, Price-to-Price movement, complexity reduction, compliance, forecasting).

• To support the development and implementation of A&V global procurement strategy

• To represent the procurement function to ensure that other functional areas (e.g. Marketing, R&D, Supply Chain) receive quality, timely procurement service and assistance

• To lead or co-ordinate large procurement projects him/herself as needed and support the rationalization of suppliers, materials and services that meet Unilever's business requirements.
  To identify, develop and manage strategic business relationships to enable implementation of the Unilever growth strategy, revenue achievement and Innovation initiatives.

• To build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers.

• To provide expertise and drive implementation of the identified metrics, tools and processes to optimise procurement activities.

Responsibilities:

General

• Support Procurement Manager in the responsibility for a Category portfolio with regards to strategy, supplier management and supplier negotiation.

• Coordinate Category projects including the issue of RFQ’s and subsequent analysis of results. Support the financial analysis of the portfolio, including price benchmarking and total cost analysis

• Build and manage relationships with suppliers & internal customers/stakeholders

• Support Procurement Director, Procurement managers on presentations and updates for internal and external audience

• Support in preparing and execution of team/project meetings/telecons and visits

• Support development of process to capture Global analysis of supplier spend, and pricing

• Represent Procurement Manager as required in Global and Regional meetings

Value

• Follow market conditions, price trends and formulate future market trends for the portfolio/business

• Delivery of VIP program for the portfolio

• Directly lead or co-ordinate large savings projects

• Support the financial analysis of the portfolio and total cost analysis

• Cost Model – become efficient in the use of Plastic cost model, to be used to evaluate supplier quotations and deploy on innovation projects

Capacity

• Support identification of the metrics, tools and process to optimise sourcing, supplier activities and efficiencies

Innovation

• Work closely with the procurement category teams to support the launch of innovations and new product development

• Directly lead or co-ordinate large procurement projects as needed

Quality & Service

• Support the resilience program implementation for the global suppliers, create contingency plans for key materials & suppliers.

• Support / lead the learning transfer for the best practices across globe in regard to quality and service

Specific for EU Role

• Create and update contracts, manage the approval process and ensure UPA’s/CTC are in place.

• Manage the quarterly price update process by managing resin updates, analysing price files and improving the process with suppliers.

• Manage price forecasting and forecast variance analysis.

• Approve invoices , ensure suppliers are paid on time and respond to payment and supplier financing queries

• Mould Management; Support Procurement Operations on Mould Health of actuator moulds

• Manage the compliance program for the A&V suppliers, track progress, and liaise with UL compliance

• Track key savings initiatives, record in SRS and ensure projects are updated on a regular basis and manage interface with Finance on project approvals

• Support on communication of market/cluster updates to relevant stakeholders (cluster, category, and finance).

Measures:

• On-Time-In-Full implementation of Innovation & Supply Chain projects

• Maintenance of SRS for EU Cost Savings and VIP Savings Projects

• Forecasting Accuracy: price trends versus published indices

• No. of Quality Incidents and consumer complaints

• Internal customer satisfaction

Key Contacts:

Internal:

Procurement: Procurement Portfolio team, Procurement Category, Cluster Operations teams, Supplier Excellence Team
Supply Chain: Manufacturing, Quality, Inbound Logistics, SC Category Planning, SC Innovation Planning, S&OP Planning, Global Planning

Others: R&D, Finance, Marketing, IT, Legal

External:

Suppliers & 3PM

Competencies & Skills

General Skills;

• Self-Management (priority setting, risk analysis, resources)

• Take ownership and responsibility; have energy and drive

• Be result and solution oriented; be able to solve (unexpected) problems (in short notice)

• Networking and relationship management

• Excellent communication skills

• Analytical skills

• Drive for team alignment; be able to work in networks; be able to work independently

• Ability to work in virtual teams

Procurement Skills;

• European procurement and contract experience highly desirable

• Established network and contacts within Unilever Finance advantageous

• Excellent analytical and IT skills; SAP/DCIW knowledge highly desirable

• Negotiation skills

• Project management skills

• Good understanding of business economics

• Behaviour and Understanding Key Cost Drivers and Price Trends

• Strategy Development and Implementation, Formulating and Implementing the Sourcing Strategy, Communicating Supply Management Strategies to the Business

• Managing Alliances and Relationships (e.g. managing the Ongoing Relationship to Deliver Value to the Business)

• Experience in procurement

Competencies;

• Growth Mindset (have business, organisational and cultural awareness)

• Accountability and Responsibility

• Bias for Action

• Team Alignment

Other elements:

• Fluent in English

• Possible travel within Europe for team meetings, projects meetings etc.

Diversity & Inclusion

While we have an idea of the experience required to succeed in this role, we have no pre-requisites. 

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