Strategic Sourcing Manager- (IT Procurement)

Department: Indirect Procurement

Location: Bangalore, India

Work level/Grade: WL2B

Job Title: Strategic Sourcing Manager – IT Procurement

Position Summary

• Reports to Software Category and ASP Leader Indirect Procurement IT,
• Is responsible to lead regional and global strategic sourcing activities within area of spend responsibility, including definition of internal customer needs, insight of supply markets, developing sourcing strategies, activation of supplier selection and negotiation, facilitating supplier implementation and ongoing strategic supplier relationship management.
• Is responsible for IT relationship between IP and assigned UL internal stakeholder community. Is the supply management expert for specified clusters within area of spend responsibility, identifying opportunities and ensuring service delivery to Unilever business stakeholders and UL business stakeholder conformance to IP processes and contracted commitments?
• Is responsible for the co-ordination of global sourcing projects with the regional IT Supply Management teams – ensuring a seamless service to the stakeholders.

Position Responsibilities (Expected Work)

• Develop and align own workplan, objectives, priorities, and processes within the context of the overall ITsupply management and stakeholder community priorities and processes.
• Lead global and regional strategic sourcing activities to professionalize the sourcing of materials / clusters of external spend within area of spend responsibility.
• Identify, initiate and sustain direct interactions with appropriate internal stakeholders / functional / operating teams within the business to drive “buying” behavior change required to meet business project objectives and facilitate implementation of the approved sourcing strategies.
• Conduct data gathering and analysis of internal needs. Develop and follow supply market knowledge and insight (e.g. suppliers, price trends, cost drivers, acquisitions & disposals etc.).
• Develop appropriate sourcing strategies for cluster of spend within area of responsibility.
• Execute the sourcing strategy, including tendering, analysis, selection of and negotiation with suppliers, including crafting and placing of legal agreements / contracts and confidentiality agreements and ensure that all are conducted in accordance with Unilever’s code of business ethics and corporate social responsibility requirements.
• Ensure that supply agreements, commercial terms & conditions, specification information and pricing information including changes is communicated accurately and in a timely fashion to appropriate operational teams/individuals.
• Enable and facilitate the implementation of the approved sourcing strategies with appropriate functional and operational teams within the business.
• Responsible for ongoing supplier relationship management, monitoring, review and continuous improvement as well as leading supplier side of innovation/sustainability/cost savings projects.
• Identify need for and support design of business processes to facilitate use of appropriate “buying channel” (e.g. Ariba Buyer, spot buying desk etc.) within UL stakeholder community.
• Develop a deep understanding of and rigorously apply the Unilever strategic sourcing process and tools, including being fully operational and actively use e-Sourcing tools e.g. use of e-RFIs, e-RFPs, cost modeling and others.
• Respond proactively to information demands and questions from supply management operational teams and other internal parties as needed.
• Provide input, influence and linkage to business transaction tools (as appropriate) e.g. SAP BW, Ariba Buyer.
• Have input to the development of a Supply Management Team workplan for area of responsibility, to deliver the required objectives and within this context develop own strategic sourcing team priorities.
• Participate in or lead Regional/Global Teams (as appropriate) for area of responsibility.

Scope

• IT services global spend is approx €650m.
• Areas of the business where IT Sourcing development is required – including R&D IT support, Supply Chain, IT innovation & business partnering. Works collaboratively in cross-business teams.
• Interacts directly with senior level UL stakeholders and functional experts within the business, regional & global IP colleagues/leaders and internal stakeholders in all functions across all levels of the business.

Skills & Competencies

Knowledge

Education

University degree – any discipline

Experience

• At least 5 years general business experience in any function at appropriate work level(s)
• Software and IT services procurement knowledge and experience
• Appropriate functional business experience in supply management, finance or functional area of assigned stakeholder community with a proven track record of strategic analysis, negotiation, team leadership.

Skills

SC Core 2.00: Alliance and relationship management

Need to manage ongoing relationships with suppliers and internal customers to deliver value into the business. Manage contracts agreement, implementation and termination and joint assessment of the relationship and project portfolio, protect continuity of supply and drive continuous improvement.

SC Source 8.00: Supply market intelligence and analysis

Need to identify, examine and analyze all direct and indirect cost market drivers for sourcing strategy development as well as build databases cost models.

SC Source 9.00: Supply strategy development and supplier selection

Need to match supply market dynamics to internal business need. Construct sourcing strategies, within and across divisions and regions, select suppliers to maximize the sustainable value added to the total business and manage supply risk from global, regional and local supply markets.

SC Source 10.00: Integrating supplier value into the business

Is the key link between the IP and UL stakeholders.

General 105: Change Management

Sustainable cost savings delivery is highly dependent on “UL user buying behavior” change, which is embryonic within UL

General 102: Negotiation

Need to set up contracts, commercial terms & conditions and performance parameters with external suppliers

Competencies Required For Success

(Please identify the 2 to 4 competencies most important to this position)

Breakthrough Thinking

Must be able to find new ways of tackling supply management and change the current “buying” paradigm in order to drive new value for Unilever from the external supply markets as well as bringing supplier ideas into Unilever.

Strategic Influencing

Must “sell’ need for behavior change to skeptical and resistant internal stakeholders expectations. Needs to balance priorities, resource demands and stretching cost savings targets with resistance to change

Team Commitment

Needs to be show a high degree of team commitment, working co-operatively with others across the organization to achieve shared goals, required to work with internal business teams.

Organizational Awareness

Needs to understand the linkages and influencers to interface with to drive behavior change across the entire NA business.