The Regional Senior Buyer (Commodity & Specialty Ingredients) is responsible to implement and maintain a strategy to source a competitive, innovative, and cost-effective regional portfolio of raw materials across all manufacturing plants in their categories. These portfolios will include materials sourced regionally, with a common supply base and similar market forces, across the AMEA & CNAO regions for Dairy, Plant Based, Specialized Nutrition and Waters.
The global context is extremely challenging with unbalanced supply and demand, several constraints in capacity and the world-wide demand growth in Plant based food industry. Creating pressure in the short term to support business demands. You can expect a fast-paced environment.
You will be accountable for the management of raw material strategy and performance of your region, including landing the sourcing strategies and strategic objectives from the global categories, while optimizing the supplier portfolio with strategic initiatives. Additionally, you will manage relationships with key stakeholders, ensure alignment with Danone business objectives, and bring a regional focus to global portfolios ensuring world class delivery on all fronts.
The job function requires global external interactions with suppliers and extensive market/network knowledge. In addition, it requires extensive internal interaction with key functions including regional Procurement, R&D, Quality, Operations, Regulatory and Project leads. This position’s contributions is key to Danone, functional and global business strategies, and cost initiatives, directly impacting Danone’s margins.
This position will be based in our office in Singapore (DPS) as part of the ingredients team, reporting to the Global Category Sourcing Manager Oils & Fats.
Main responsibilities of the role are:
• Deploy global category strategies for assigned categories and to ensure raw material supply, manage costs, capture savings. Implement strategies within the portfolio, driving results and achieving strategic objectives.
• Build category expertise across cost models, market analysis, benchmark, spend analysis, internal needs and total cost of ownership.
• Ensure security of supply, risk analysis, dual sourcing, contingency planning, quality, sustainability, service levels, with the lead of category activation team
• Execute a disciplined application of Danone`s strategic sourcing methodology.
• Accountability for the yearly purchasing budget (rolling forecast), manage risks and opportunities to the budget in a monthly basis, in close cooperation with stakeholders – finance & regional teams.
• Accountable to manage the execution of the supplier relationship management strategy within the category.
• Optimization with continuous improvement in raw material quality and service through collaboration with R&D, Quality, Operations, Regulatory and Project leads in support of efficiency, secure of supply, sustainability, and quality goals.
• Provide continuous impactful communication to stakeholders and escalation to regional and global counterparts.
• Increase of working capital through payment term negotiation and collaboration with Planning group on vendor managed inventory and vendor-based planning initiatives.
• Alignment with Responsible Sourcing Team on Supplier and ingredient risk assessment.
• Responsible for regional contract creation and maintenance across your categories.
To be successful in this role, you will need…
• Gets energy from working in procurement in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment!
• Good knowledge of spend area at hand is preferred, with professional experience (>7 years) in strategic procurement, an international working environment and with experience in Food Raw Materials.
• Pragmatism, "Hands on" mentality, with strategic business approach
• Ability to navigate in ambiguous environment, tenacity, resilience.
• Someone who is oriented to deliver value, in love with FMCG & healthcare nutrition.
• Strong knowledge of business practices and financial concepts/impact/analyses
• Strong people skills, project management and/or experience in cross-functional teams.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Fluent oral and written skills in English language.
• Job entails a fair amount of business travel.
