Assistant Sourcing Manager – Utilities and Decarbonization Africa - Durban at Unilever

ABOUT PROCUREMENT

• Part of the Supply Chain family, Procurement is responsible for over 30B Euro of material and services spend globally with more than 60,000 suppliers, over half of them in MBS. Getting the right services and materials, sustainably sourced and ensuring responsible procurement is critical to ensuring our brands with purpose grow. Our teams work closely with the business to understand stakeholders needs, bring innovation to meet changing consumer, employees’, and customers’ needs, and drive financial value for Unilever through competitive buying. We’re at the forefront of digital procurement, bringing new tools and analytics to drive data-based decisions.
• Our strategy is ‘Procurement with Purpose’ and focuses on buying responsibly, buying better, and growing together with partners around the world. Our ambition is based on three key drivers: being Purpose-Led, Value-Driven, and Future-Fit.
• Within Packaging Capex and Utilities, the Assistant Sourcing Manager Utilities & Decarbonization is responsible for the sourcing strategy development, implementation, and procurement in the Utilities procurement category for their geography. This role will be responsible to achieve our decarbonization strategy to Scope 1, 2 and 3 (Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that the company makes directly and indirectly in all value chain) from a Procurement standpoint in support of our business strategy covering African region. This role forms a key business partner with Supply chain, Sustainability team and Engineering at supply chain sites.
• The Assistant Sourcing Manager will increase efficiency of our Utiliites and Decarb procurement by driving scale where it makes sense, decreasing fragmentation, pooling expertise across African region, prioritizing higher impact spend areas, leveraging technology and data, and delivering on best practices.

Position Objectives:

• Be accountable for the implementation of the Utilities and Decarbonization Procurement strategies and best practices across Africa
• Support and guide the procurement organization across Africa’s Factories to meet goals and objectives in support of the overall Unilever Strategy
• Pro-actively engage with the utility & decarbonization procurement leads and peers to understand the strategic plan in their PMU and drive best practices
• To build and maintain strong working relationships with stakeholders and user communities across Unilever business by being the critical point of contact for Africa.
• Engages with key suppliers (Utilities, Decarbonization) and develop understanding of their capabilities and solutions. Be aware of industry key drivers, new technologies and new sustainability capabilities.
• Help develop and execute ongoing communications with the business for the selected sourcing strategies and progress
• Support identifying opportunities across Supply Chain and their connections with Utilities, Decarbonization, Renewable Sources
• To take ownership on and lead projects in procurement across the key areas of Partnership with Purpose (PWP), Responsible Sourcing Policy (RSP), Sustainability, Contract Lifecycle Management (CL), Savings, Cash and People & Well-Being

Business Relationship management

• Establish successful Ways of Working (WoW) between stakeholders and Procurement
• Develop and execute ongoing communications with the stakeholders for the selected sourcing strategies and progress within area of spend responsibility
• Manage the relationship with key supplier partner as part of the portfolio in the context of the Unilever Partner with Purpose (PWP) programme.

Skills/Competencies

• Experience buying utilities and managing decarbonization projects. Experience in engineering and renewable technologies is a plus
• Ability to analyse sourcing data and conceptualise sourcing strategies to identify / propose sourcing opportunities while setting Portfolio strategy or developing negotiation strategies
• Influencing skills to promote ideas and concepts back to stakeholders and budget holders in a Business Partner capacity
• Attention to detail and ability to assimilate, appraise and extract information quickly when faced with increasing data inputs
• Problem solving skills to analyse information to evaluate internal demand and external supplier information and extract critical cost opportunities
• Thorough and astute preparation and approach for external contract negotiation
• Financial understanding of the supplier cost models and lifetime cost of acquisition
• Advanced negotiation abilities to develop win win situations with key suppliers
• A Partner with Purpose (PWP) ambassador Innovative thinking to measure and promote supplier performance Curiosity to use, or suggest adaptions to, new technology to provide cost reducing or value creating support
• Skilled at challenging business stakeholders and driving change
• Ability to communicate effectively in English language
• Participate in taste panels as approved tester and make decisions on status of products in terms of acceptance or rejection. (Mandatory that person does not smoke due to the negative effect this has on sensory evaluation which is a key component of the job)
• Landing Innovation in factory for quality/Food safety aspects.
• Lead problem solving kaizens derived from QA prioritization matrix to obtain zero defects
• Setting up and supporting SAP QM for new and current skus

Packaging material analysis and approval of material

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

• Experienced (5+ years) in a procurement role
•  Experience in Utilities procurement areas
•  Experienced in setting up and managing complex supplier contracts
•  Skilled in delivering to challenging value delivery targets
•  A proven commercial operator and excellent negotiator
•  Experienced in stakeholder and supplier management
•  Strong communicator with experience in working successful in virtual team environments 
•  Skilled at challenging business stakeholders and driving change