Job purpose:

Within the Continental Europe McCain Procurement Team, the Dairy & Proteins buyer will lead the overall supplier relationship strategy and procurement approach for their respective spending area. Ensuring proper commercial engagements and relationships with existing and new suppliers. By reinforcing McCain’s policy, Values & Principles, Ethics and our strategic approach with external suppliers and with internal company functions.

The main responsibility for this role is to source our proteins needs for our McCain Appetizers & specialties businesses. This requires a strong focus on security of supply for the mid and long term, while always delivering sustainable cost advantage for McCain and leveraging our supplier’s innovation capabilities (new formula’s development as well as vegan substitute’s development to meat & cheese). 

This role will report to the Category Manager, Dairy and Proteins for McCain Europe. It is part of the Direct Materials Procurement Group.

Where you’ll work:

Flexible – can be based France (Villeneuve-d'Ascq) or The Netherlands (Lewedorp, Rilland)

Key Responsibilities:

Strategy development and implementation

• Work with the Category Manager, Dairy and Proteins and the team to develop a sourcing strategy that supports current business and accounts for future growth. Strong focus around anticipation behind future customer’s needs and related industrial substitutes solutions (customer focus)
• Own and report on categories procurement functional performance metrics (KPIs)

Relationship Management

• Develop strong personal relationships with internal stakeholders and senior leadership across the business
• Deliver outstanding partner service to key stakeholders. With a view to becoming an invaluable business partner of key functions including Manufacturing, Finance, HR, Marketing and the wider business

Category management

• Ensure category plans support operational business owners’ goals and future growth
• Ensuring category plans are effectively executed – support and guide team members to provide strong commercial leadership on all areas of expenditure
• Supply risks managed proactively and contingency plans in place with critical suppliers

HSSE, D&I & CSR

• Embed McCain’s Health, Safety, Security policy, D&I and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies & policies, and ensure application and compliance in all sourcing activities
• Drive contribution of key suppliers to achieve McCain’s goals

Supplier relationship management

• Develop a standard approach to SRM across the team, ensuring strategic and key suppliers are managed appropriately dependent on criticality and risk. Strong focus around specificities behind the meat sourcing stream

Cost-Saving Opportunities

• Proactively identify and deliver cost-saving opportunities within the category portfolio through cost competitiveness and new formulas development with our Value Engineering team
• Optimize spending (SCA, cash and cost avoidance) across the sourcing while maintaining high-quality products, delivered on time

Market knowledge 

• Develop strong market knowledge, helping to improve our accuracy in our monthly price forecast (12 months rolling) and further challenge our suppliers during negotiations. In parallel, based on the risk & opportunities identified, the buyer will provide recommendation and look for market risk management solutions (physical and financial hedging, inventory management)
• Provide in-depth financial analysis with impact evaluation 

New product development

• Be in close contact with our Value Engineering team and R&D to support technical/product optimization while improving top line performance thanks to innovation screening and implementation

Profile description:

About You:

• Master’s Degree, preferably in procurement, Business or Engineering.
• Minimum 2/3 years procurement experience preferably in the food & beverage, FMCG / CPG industry. Meat and dairy market knowledge are a strong plus
• Business thinking: Able to connect business needs with external capabilities
• Collaboration: Regarded as a constructive team player and have a strong sense of partnership behavior
• Analytical thinking: Disciplined and data oriented to gain competitive advantage (should cost modeling & TCO approach)
• Communication: Ability to communicate within a complex organization environment
• Capacity to plan, organize and manage multiple priorities
• Creative & Flexible: able to evaluate opportunities and adapt priorities according to internal & external context
• Diversity mind-set: Ability to manage in a matrix organization and across regions and cultures
• Fluent in English (oral/written), ideally fluent in oral French. Dutch language could be a plus

What we offer:

• A challenging but very rewarding role within an effective and international team(flat hierarchies).
• Global career growth and learning opportunities.
• Competitive salary and attractive benefits
• Hybrid mode of work
• Support of the supervisor and team in professional adaptation
• Opportunity to work independently in a challenging and international environment
• Friendly atmosphere