Global Category Purchasing Manager (Pet Food)

About Symrise AG

Symrise is a global supplier of fragrances, flavors, food, nutrition, and cosmetic ingredients. Its clients include manufacturers of perfumes, cosmetics, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and producers of nutritional supplements and pet food. Its sales of € 4.6 billion in the 2022 fiscal year make Symrise a leading global provider. Headquartered in Holzminden, Germany, the Group is represented by more than 100 locations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the United States and Latin America.

Symrise works with its clients to develop new ideas and market-ready concepts for products that form an integral part of everyday life. Economic success and corporate responsibility are inextricably linked as part of this process.
Part of the Symrise group and global leader in the pet food industry, we have been delivering high-value solutions that improve pet well-being and owner satisfaction for over twenty years.
* 1500 passionate experts working for Symrise Pet Food
* 28 factories across 14 countries
* N°1 in the pet food palatability market
Everything we do is backed up by a strong culture of innovation, pet well-being, excellence, and sustainability. Our worldwide palatability expertise and strong nutritional experience give us an edge in an increasingly competitive market.
Symrise - always inspiring more…

Global Category Purchasing Manager (PetFood)
As the Global Category Purchasing Manager (PetFood) within TN&H, you will be tasked to develop and lead the implementation of the sourcing strategy for one or several global raw material product categories across all Symrise PetFood geographic regions including the development of global traceability, responsible sourcing & sustainability strategies for these raw materials categories as integral part of the sourcing strategy. Additional responsibilities will include negotiations for Symrise's raw materials using TCO and managing these raw materials in a balanced way aligned with business requirements.

The Position:
* Define and implement Purchasing strategy for some ingredients categories (e.g.: L-Cysteine, Xylose, Ascorbic, Dextrose, Glycine, Sorbate, and others) inside the Pet Food business.
* Lead negotiations with suppliers regarding defined categories and confirm contracts to supply global demand per site.
* With the regional buyers and supply chain, define and implement procurement and supply chain procedures and policies in line with group and category strategies.
* Work together with R&D to develop new ingredients and support innovation.
* Partner with Quality and vendor assurance departments to assure supplier development food safety standards.
* Shape and manage supplier relationships to ensure value is delivered including value definition, value creation including opportunity development and supply chain execution process; value capture including governance and compliance management and value protection to mitigate risk.
* Lead of purchasing, tactical buying, sourcing, and supplier management activities to achieve cost efficient, quality and on time purchases, including compliance to corporate purchasing policies.
* Implement CSR (RSE) policy internally and externally. Making sure suppliers are engaged and aligned with our strategy.
* Conduct market analysis at global level to ensure an updated view of factors that may contribute or put the department's strategies and goals at risk in relation to raw materials, costs, deadlines, and others.
* Actively seek improvements in supply chain activities and performance, primarily through coordination and collaboration with Supply Chain and Purchasing Management team.
* Work closely with business leaders to position the business for future growth.
* Manage and report performance KPIs.
* To negotiate the lowest total cost supply option for Symrise for these raw materials considering TCO
* To manage these raw materials in a way that balances price and supply risk for Symrise in line with business requirements.

The Ideal Candidate:

* Possess a Degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Supply Chain or Chemistry.
* Min 5-7 years within Buyer, Category or Procurement Management roles focused on raw materials for Food/PetFood categories with strong exposure in a multinational matrix environment with interface to a diverse cultural setting is a strong added advantage.
* Strong analytical skills, sound judgement and drive for excellence, demonstrated track record of successful influencing, partnering, and working with key stakeholders and business partners to obtain results.
* Exposure to PetFood, FMCG or Pharmaceutical industries as well as experience in the Phosphates market category will be another added advantage.
* Does possess a high level of personal & leadership credibility while having prior experience in developing the capabilities of teams.
* Fluent proficiency in both Mandarin and English, added language proficiencies in French or Spanish will be considered as a plus.
* High impact and influential while staying agile to quickly analyses and simplify complex issues.