Asst Procurement Manager-Homecare Innovations

Job Description Job Title: Asst Procurement Manager-Homecare Innovations Department: Procurement Profession: Supply Chain Work Location: Mumbai, India Req ID: R-1170077 Reporting: Procurement Manager - Home Care, Surfactants & Fragrances Home care. Job Description: On any given day, two billion people use Unilever products to look good, feel good and get more out of life. Our Vision is to double the size of the business, while reducing our environmental footprint and increasing our positive social impact. Within Procurement, our goal is to attract and develop great people who want to achieve great successes within and for Unilever as a whole. We aim to attract people with a passion for procurement done the right way who can apply their skills and expertise to enhance the teams they operate within, and who can grow and develop to reach their full potential. We offer every opportunity for individuals to reach their full potential developing them as necessary and providing the chance to shine across the function to ensure we maintain an effective talent pipeline, built on diversity of thought, able to step up to leadership opportunities as the need arises across the business. We aim to ensure that we have the right people in the right roles across the function to drive future success and ensure we reach the objectives necessary to deliver Unilever's vision. A successful procurement professional is expected to be: - Strong in running the innovation networks from procurement side for various innovations across the HC (Laundry and HHC) category. - Act as an entrepreneur, treats business as his/her own, sets trends and is willing to lead, follow or get out of the way while working on innovation networks. - Strong communication skills with internal as well as external stakeholders - Exceptional execution is key to ensure ambitious ideas are progressed fast towards implementation. - Outstanding in pushing ideas that are forward thinking and that contribute to creating sustained competitive advantage and incremental turn over generation. - Able to understand the business urgency and able to push the agenda with different stakeholders to gather the inputs: R&D, Supply Chain, Suppliers etc. - Behave as a Partner to Win ambassador and demonstrate the value Procurement adds to the business. Main Job Purpose: The role will lead the Home care Innovations from the procurement side and partner cross functional stakeholders (brand teams, functional teams e.g. R&D, Supply Chain, Quality). The role will drive value and work with suppliers to land innovations on time and in full. Manage relationship with the India based suppliers, deliver savings and in turn contribute to South Asia cost savings delivery. Leverage previous knowledge and expertise to run the innovation networks and work with different stakeholders to gather their inputs for innovation launches. Person will be responsible for Leading 5S, PMI and cash for Home care. Key Accountabilities: Lead the HC Innovation for India, represent procurement in various Innovation network meetings. Work with internal and external stakeholders to gather the inputs for innovation/relaunched product costing and ensure material connectivity for trials and launches. Work closely with Suppliers, R&D, Global Buyers and other stakeholders to drive the innovation agenda for India. This may require travel to supplier sites and UL factories during clean future initiatives implementation. Material price forecasting to enable business case preparations and decisions on new product launches. Work with different stakeholders like Brand, R&D, SUIT, Planning, Central Quality, Finance and Procurement for innovation new product (re)launches and smart product changes (as part of renovation agenda). Present update on HC Innovations to internal stakeholders and flag concerns wherever needed. Interact with suppliers for the purpose of strategic and ongoing development of innovative solutions as part of Innovation, savings and clean future agenda. Should be able to lead the agenda and hold people accountable for their actions during the projects. Challenges: - Establishing effective relationships with the internal customers Brand, Procurement Managers, R&D, SUIT, Finance, Quality, and other stakeholders) as well as external partners (Suppliers) is key to the delivery. - This role would require coordination with different raw and pack material buyers and other stakeholders: Working across organizational and cultural boundaries independently without direct hierarchical control of resources. Professional Skills: - Candidate should be at minimum a science graduate with 5+ years of experience in Product/ Process or Technology development/ deployment, Innovation Network management/ Procurement preferably within FMCG. - University degree and Supply Chain exposure is preferred. - Project management skills Skills/Competencies - Ability to work in a hugely diverse, cross-cultural business environment. - Strong network and stakeholders management skills - Self-driven with the ability to work independently. - Problem solving skills to analyze the situation & take decisions to support the business needs. - Excellent Excel and power point skills - Influencing skills Experience Required: - 5+ years of relevant work experience Product/ Process or Technology development/ deployment, Supply Chain/Network management role within FMCG domain - Exposure to Home care formulations/ raw materials preferred. Travel: Low levels (25%) Contacts: Internal: - Procurement teams - Global & Local - Brand, Global/local R&D, SUIT, Planning, Finance, Quality, SEAC External: - Suppliers - New & Existing - Procurement/Market Intelligence Agencies etc.