Unilever
Website:
unilever.com
Job details:
Job Description: Global Procurement Director – Marketing Promo & Commerce
Function: Procurement / Supply Chain
Portfolio: Marketing, Promo & Commerce
Location: Mumbai, India
Req ID: R-1189217
Team: Global portfolio leads, market leads, strategy and execution teams, and cross-functional teams
About Unilever Procurement
Unilever Procurement is responsible for 38B Euro of material and services spend globally with more than 50,000 suppliers. Getting the right 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 competitive buying. We are at the forefront of digital procurement, bringing new tools and analytics to drive data-based decisions.
Unilever Procurement with ~1300 team members across the globe plays a critical role in enabling business growth, resilience and competitive advantage by securing the right partners, services and solutions at the right value. The function partners closely with business stakeholders to understand evolving brand, customer and consumer needs; brings external market intelligence and innovation; and creates measurable value through strategic sourcing, supplier management, digital enablement, sustainability and disciplined commercial execution.
Role Purpose
The Global Procurement Director – Marketing Promo & Commerce is accountable for leading the global procurement strategy, performance and transformation agenda for the Promo & Commerce portfolio. This includes high-impact categories such as Field Force, Events & Activations, POSM, Premiums, Shopper Marketing and other related BTL (Below The Line) services with a global spend of € 1.2 Bn. The role is responsible for shaping the long-term portfolio strategy, unlocking competitive buying and business value, building strategic supplier partnerships, strengthening governance, and ensuring effective global-to-market execution through a high-performing international team.
Key Accountabilities
- Set the global portfolio vision and strategy: Define and own the multi-year global procurement strategy for Marketing Promo & Commerce, aligned with business growth priorities, procurement strategy, brand plans, market realities and future-fit operating model principles.
- Deliver value creation and financial outcomes: Own delivery of savings, cash, cost avoidance, productivity, budget impact and P&L-recognised value across the global portfolio, with clear performance tracking and governance.
- Lead global-to-market execution: Ensure global portfolio strategies are translated into actionable market plans, balancing scale, standardisation and local business nuance across key markets and business units.
- Build strategic supplier partnerships: Shape the supplier ecosystem, lead strategic relationship management, and develop commercial partnerships that unlock innovation, resilience, service quality, sustainability and competitive advantage.
- Drive transformation and future-fit ways of working: Lead portfolio transformation including PaaS / partner-enabled execution, digital procurement, AI-enabled tools, data transparency, process simplification and improved sourcing models.
- Strengthen business engagement: Act as a senior procurement leader and partner to global and market stakeholders across GMO, Customer Development, Finance, Proc Leadership, CSP / Customer Strategy & Planning and Business Groups / Business Units.
- Lead strategic partnership meetings and governance : Establish clear portfolio governance across pipeline, savings, contracts, supplier performance, risk, sustainability, compliance and stakeholder engagement.
- Champion portfolio competitiveness: Use benchmarking, market intelligence, should-cost thinking, analytics and external insights to challenge current models and identify growth, efficiency and competitive buying opportunities.
- Enable sustainable and responsible sourcing: Embed sustainability, responsible procurement, diversity, equity and inclusion, ethical sourcing and supplier compliance into portfolio strategies and commercial decisions.
- Develop talent and capability: Lead, coach and inspire a diverse global team, building deep portfolio expertise, commercial excellence, stakeholder leadership, change capability and a high-performance culture.
Scope of Responsibility
- Global ownership of Marketing Promo & Commerce procurement strategy and value delivery.
- Leadership of globally distributed portfolio leads, market leads and other associated functions
- Accountability for portfolio performance across multiple business groups, business units and priority markets.
- Senior stakeholder interface across global, regional and local business forums.
- Strategic supplier and agency partner engagement across global and market ecosystems.
- Oversight of transformation programmes, portfolio operating model changes, governance routines and capability-building priorities.
Experience Required
- 15+ years of relevant experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, marketing procurement, commercial strategy, supplier management or related business leadership roles.
- Experience in Marketing procurement - Promo, Shopper, Commerce, BTL, Field Force, Events & Activations, POSM / Premiums or adjacent indirect procurement portfolios.
- Proven track record of managing large, complex, multi-country or global spend portfolios and delivering measurable financial and business value.
- Demonstrated experience leading global or multi-regional teams in a matrix environment.
- Strong experience partnering with senior stakeholders across Marketing, Sales / Customer Development, Finance, Legal, Supply Chain and Business Unit leadership.
- Experience in supplier relationship management, strategic partnerships, negotiations, contracting, governance and commercial model design.
- Strong understanding of FMCG, brand-building investment, shopper / customer activation, evolving commerce channels and marketing effectiveness.
- Experience leading transformation, operating model change, digital procurement adoption, data-led performance management and change management.
Leadership Capabilities And Competencies
- Strategic leadership: Able to set a bold vision, simplify complexity and translate enterprise priorities into actionable procurement strategies.
- Business partnering: Strong ability to influence senior global and market stakeholders, connect procurement to business needs and shape demand early.
- Commercial excellence: Deep expertise in negotiation, supplier economics, value-chain analysis, cost modelling, contracting and value delivery.
- Change leadership: Comfortable leading through ambiguity, transformation and organisational change while maintaining delivery focus.
- Global team leadership: Inclusive, empowering and accountable people leader; able to lead remote, cross-cultural and matrixed teams.
- Digital and data fluency: Strong ability to use data, analytics, AI-enabled tools and procurement technology to drive better decisions and outcomes.
- External orientation: Brings outside-in thinking on supplier markets, retail and social commerce, marketing technology, agencies, production models and customer activation trends.
- Executive communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to create leadership-ready narratives, business cases and governance materials.
Success Measures
- Delivery of annual and multi-year savings, cash and value creation targets.
- Improved P&L recognition and stakeholder validation of procurement value.
- Strong adoption of global portfolio strategies across priority markets
- Measurable improvement in supplier performance, innovation, resilience and governance.
- Successful delivery of transformation initiatives, including digital tools, newer operating models and commercials and supplier strategies
- Improved contract coverage, spend transparency, compliance and risk management.
- Positive stakeholder feedback and stronger procurement embedding in business decision-making forums.
- High-performing, engaged and future-ready global team with clear succession and capability-building plans.
Travel
International travel may be required to engage with key markets, strategic suppliers, global business stakeholders and transformation programme forums. Travel is expected to be moderate and business-needs led.
Unilever Behaviours and Values: The successful candidate will embody Unilever's core behaviours (care deeply, deliver with excellence, focus on what counts and stay 3 steps ahead) and values (integrity, respect, pioneering, responsibility)
“Our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion”
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.
Note: "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."
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