Procurement Buyer – Cocoa & Chocolate

Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.

As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.

To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive to succeed here because we expect pace and agility, we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact

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Our mission is to provide happiness with every bite to all our consumers. To us that means happiness for people every day, in what they eat and what they do. 

Our Story 

The pladis story began when the families of McVitie’s, GODIVA and Ulker each started making the sweet and savoury treats they would later become famous for. The founders of these companies shared a secret; they knew how to create products that people loved. And this grew their brands into icons with large portfolios of sweet and savoury treats. 

In 2016, Yildiz Holding embarked on a remarkable journey to transform its consumer food businesses and built a new global industry leader combining the businesses of Ulker and United Biscuits: and so pladis was born, combining hundreds of years family brand heritage. Named after the ‘Pleiades’ constellation, a group of stars visible from anywhere on earth, pladis retains the values and beliefs of the entrepreneurs that built its brands, honesty, integrity, passion. 

At heart, we are a family business, and we retain the honesty, integrity and trust instilled in our brands by their pioneering founders through our traits and behaviours. 

Our culture is unique – we have a large global footprint with the heart and soul of a start-up company. It’s this culture that distinguishes us from our competitors. We’re not afraid to try new things, to experiment and strive for the impossible. Sometimes we make mistakes (we’re human!) – and we use this to learn and push ourselves forward. 

That’s just who we are. 

You’ll find pladis a phenomenal place to work. Everyone who works here is a member of the pladis global family. We pride ourselves on giving everyone the chance to succeed, and we value each individual’s contribution. 

Why to join our team? 

pladis is home to iconic brands Godiva, McVitie’s and Ulker. These brands make sweet treats and savoury treats that consumers everywhere recognise and enjoy! As we start on our new journey, we will continue making the biscuits and confectionery people know and expect from these brands, and we will expand their portfolios too. Together we will build new and exciting products at pladis – new flavours, new concepts, and new ways to share happiness! 

Our strength is not only in our products, it is also in our people and our values. Each business that has united to form pladis are loved for their heritage and values. We will retain the honesty, integrity and trust instilled in our brands by our ground-breaking founders as we embark on the next chapter of our success. 

To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive to succeed here because we expect pace and agility, we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact. 

This is an extremely exciting opportunity for an experienced Procurement professional to join the team in a strategic role with the UK&I responsibilities. 

Role Purpose: 

We are looking an FMCG procurement buyer with a passion for delivering results and growth. Filled with energy and drive to develop relationships with suppliers and key internal stakeholders to support business ambitions. You will have a desire to grow your skills, engage teams across the business and take people with you at each stage. You will be highly analytical, numerate and able to communicate your clear vision effectively to all levels in the business 

As a Regional Procurement Buyer, you will lead and manage the procurement of cocoa & chocolate for the UK&I region. You will maintain and develop the supplier base, drive strategic relationships, and execute material group strategies. Reporting to the Procurement Head for the UK&I, you will play a critical role in ensuring supply continuity, cost optimisation, and sustainable sourcing. 

Key Responsibilities: 

Strategic Responsibilities: 

• Building strong relationships with suppliers and owning your sourcing strategy to ensure a robust security of supply across all materials. 
• Share and implement the regional category strategies for cocoa & chocolate focusing on key strategic deliverables: cost out, cash flow, supply continuity, sustainability, and innovation. 
• Build strong SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) in partnership with the global head across global and regional strategic suppliers. 
• Collaborate cross-functionally with regional teams (e.g., manufacturing sites, supply chain, and R&D partners) to deliver regional projects for productivity and business continuity. 
• Work closely with the global head of category to implement key strategic projects. 
• Implementing all regional procurement-driven processes & tools within their team and category. 
• Develop and implement category strategies for other regional categories, focusing on key strategic deliverables: cost out, cash flow, supply continuity, sustainability, and innovation. 
• Provide input into the category and supplier segmentation, and managing suppliers operating locally and not under the radar of the global category. 

Operational Responsibilities: 

• Collaborate with suppliers and manufacturing sites to ensure on-time and complete deliveries, minimizing risk. 
• Ensure the category has a robust contract balance process in place. 
• Lead AOP (budgeting process) for the cocoa & chocolate category within the region. 
• Continuously monitor the market for intel, new suppliers, and horizon scanning. 
• Finalise contracts with suppliers and ensure compliance to pladis Ts&Cs. 
• Gather all necessary requirements (volume, specifications, service levels, KPIs) from stakeholders. 
• Manage closely current volumes, spend and specifications by supplier. 
• Update regional price lists and systems and managing price reconciliations. 
• Managing the procurement SRP system to ensure contracts are loaded, managed and maintained to enable supply chain teams to order and manage materials. 
• Executes physical hedges, based on category instructions, with local suppliers. 

Qualifications and Experience: 

• Graduate qualification or proven experience in FMCG procurement. 
• Negotiation and commercial analytical skills Supplier/Customer relationship management experience or excellent inter-personnel skills with the ability to form strong working relationships 
• Project management and leadership skills, including how to make a strong recommendation 
• The ability to lead many workstreams and work in a team whilst managing key stakeholders 
• Demonstrate experience of developing, leading, and delivering change implementation within an organisation 
• Excellent communication and influencing skills within the team and across the business. 
• Cocoa & chocolate category experience is desirable. 
• MCIPS or equivalent certification is desirable. 

Our winning traits and behaviours 

• Purpose-Led – Energised by our promise to deliver happiness to the world with every bite. 
• Agile – Ever evolving, never satisfied and never standing still. 
• Collaborative – Willing to work with others for mutual success. 
• Resilient – Quick to adapt to change, fast learner and persistent in the face of setbacks. 
• Positive – Self-motivated, optimistic, adventurous, and inspiring 

Diversity and inclusion are central to everything we do and is reflected across our business. pladis brings together brands and people from around the globe – and this diversity is our outstanding strength. 

We’re an equal opportunities employer and believe in encouraging an inclusive environment where we celebrate diversity of thinking and respect everyone’s distinctive qualities and perspectives. 

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform key job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation. 

Join us on our exciting journey to create happiness with every bite! 

pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List. If you are a recruitment agency and wish to submit candidate to be considered for this vacancy, you must have agreed to, and signed, our terms of business.

We will not accept CVs from any other sources other than those currently on our PSL. We will not pay a fee for any candidate that has not been represented by a provider on our PSL.

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