Asst. Procurement Manager - Lakme Innovations & Shop & Deploy

Job Title: Assistant Procurement Manager – Lakmé Innovations, Shop & Deploy

Work Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra

Requisition ID: R-95302

Work Level: 1D

About Unilever

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our collaborative, and flexible working environment. Our organizational ambition centres around creating workplaces that foster equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging across all aspects of our business. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

ABOUT PROCUREMENT

Part of the Supply Chain’s family, Procurement is responsible for over 30B Euro of material and services spend globally with more than 50,000 suppliers. 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 brand needs, bring supplier innovation to meet changing consumer needs and drive financial value for Unilever through cut-throat buying. We’re at the forefront of digital procurement, bringing new tools and analytics to drive data-based resolutions. We support a network of thousands of suppliers, more than 1.5 million smallholder farmers who in turn support communities of over 7 million people. Our Procurement “Lighthouse” Strategy focuses cut-throat buying through various levers like world class buying practices, deeper value chain insights, value chain transformation, partnership with purpose and strong procurement expertise.

Lakmé is one of the most promising brands under the Beauty & Wellbeing umbrella of Hindustan Unilever Limited. It is among the oldest & largest Indian cosmetics & skincare brands with a wide array of good quality, reasonably priced, innovative products.

With innovation being key in the world of beauty, this role will be at the centre of all innovations in the Lakmé brand. As the procurement lead for Lakmé innovations and shop & deploy, you will be accountable for scouting, negotiating & connecting all materials to land innovations as per the launch calendar while also handling end to end buying & sourcing operations from our shop & deploy finished goods (ODM) manufacturers.

Roles & Accountabilities:

• Lakmé Innovations:
  • Accountable for all procurement-related activities for on-time & in-full launches planned under colour cosmetics & skincare categories for Lakmé
  • Share all cost-related inputs for preparing business case for potential launches – for existing & new materials - working with R&D and suppliers.
  • Close pricing, cost models, MOQ, lead time decisions for all new raw & pack materials being introduced through new products
  • Coordinate with factory & suppliers to ensure material connectivity for new launch production as per expected timelines
  • Represent Procurement in monthly Lakmé Brand Innovations Team meeting
  • Specific focus on Agile networks to launch express innovations
• Lakmé Shop & Deploy (S&D):
  • Lead the vendor landscape for Lakmé S&D universe (ODM)
  • Manage buying & sourcing operations for a spend of approximately €10Million
  • Scout for new vendors & products to bring outside-in view of key trends in the market (global & local), arrange product samples, share feedback with vendors
  • Lead onboarding of new vendors – registration, compliance, audits, contracting
  • Negotiate & close costing along with cost models (split into RM, PM & conversion costs)
  • Lead cost savings & resilience programs
  • Be a core team member for development & deployment of in-house digital tool for S&D

Stakeholders:

• Brand Innovations team
• Innovations network planners
• R&D
• Supply Planners
• Factories

Professional skills required:

• Expert business partnering & stakeholder management
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with owner’s mindset
• Negotiation & communication skills
• Financial acumen for understanding business cases & reporting
• Basics of procurement processes, packaging & costing formats

Background/experience required:

• University degree (MBA preferred)
• 2 to 5 years of previous supply chain/procurement experience OR experience in innovations/ project management roles
• Experience in FMCG industry (beauty industry preferred)
• Working with MS Excel & Powerpoint

D&I statement:

Equal Opportunity Employer: Unilever is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, or any other basis protected by applicable law, and will not be discriminated against based on disability. Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life. 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.

"All official offers from Unilever are issued only via our Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Offers from individuals or unofficial sources may be fraudulent—please verify before proceeding."