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 Click “Apply” to get started. What will this role achieve? The Procurement team is made of 120 professionals working across the world to create competitive advantage for pladis through mid-term sourcing strategies and strong supplier relationships. Our 2025 Procurement vision aims at delivering more value for the business along 5 key business deliverables: Supply Continuity, Cost Out, Cash Flow optimisation, Sustainability and Supplier Innovation We work as a matrix organisation, with Global Categories demonstrating the pladis global size and Regional Procurement ensuring a strong connection and proximity with our 6 regions (UK & Ireland, Western Europe & Emerging markets, Middle East – North Africa – India, Turkey – Eastern Europe – Central Asia, APAC and North America). Within UKI Regional Procurement, the Head of Centre of Excellence reports directly to the UKI Procurement Lead, who in turn reports into the UK Managing Director. You will drive (in alignment with Global Packaging Procurement team) the Packaging Category (70 M£ spend) What will be your key deliverables? Policy and Compliance: Ensure procurement activities align with organisational policies and regulatory requirements. Stakeholder Management: Collaborate with internal partners to understand their procurement needs and expectations in the delivery of change projects Performance Management: Monitors and reports on procurement performance and implement improvements as necessary. Risk Management: Identify and manage procurement risks to protect the organisation’s interests through supplier financial evaluation tools Leads all aspects of the End-to-end Source to Pay (S2P) process. This includes defining the strategy, implementing the process, ensuring compliance, and continuously improving the process. The S2P process includes all activities from identifying a need for a product or service to the payment of the supplier. Sourcing Guideline Ownership: The Procurement Head owns the sourcing guidelines of the organisation. This involves developing, implementing, and maintaining the guidelines, as well as ensuring that all procurement activities are in line with these guidelines. The sourcing guidelines provide a framework for how sourcing activities should be conducted to ensure fairness, transparency, and value for money. Operational Procurement: This role is responsible for all operational procurement process. This includes managing purchase, supplier relationships, contract management, and invoice processing. The Procurement Head ensures that the operational procurement activities are efficient, effective, and aligned with organisational policies and procedures. Leads Productivity Governance: You will be responsible for managing the productivity governance. This involves setting efficiency goals, supervising performance against these goals, and implementing strategies to improve efficiency working along side the Global Head of Productivity Acceleration. Custodian of Procurement Tools and Systems: All regional procurement-related tools and systems will come under the leadership of this role. This includes responsibility for the selection, in collaboration with Global Procurement implementation, maintenance, and upgrade of these tools and systems. The Procurement Head ensures that these tools and systems are used effectively to support procurement activities, and that users are trained and proficient in their use. This role also involves ensuring data integrity, security, and compliance with data protection regulations Sustainability: Act as a single point of contact for information regarding sustainable procurement and provide advice and guidance on sustainable procurement processes Transformation- lead Regional procurement transformation projects Bring your experience. Essential Experience in Procurement (with shown success in running a Category at regional or global level, in a worldwide organisation) Ability to deal with ambiguity within a complex and multicultural environment Shown ability to work with cross-functional team, with a collaborative mindset. Natural leadership & influence skills Strong analytical skills Ability to be hands on operationally as well as building a long-term strategic vision Advanced Excel & Power Point skills Available to work in Chiswick 3 days a week (Preferable) travel on request to factories & suppliers. Desirable Master’s degree or equivalent experience Proficiency in another language Previous work experience in matrix procurement organisation What will the interview process be? 1st stage interview – 45 minutes competency-based interview based on our company values and your experiences. 2nd stage interview – 60 minutes – a technical interview to understand your skill set/case study or presentation interview. Final interview based on Leadership Success Model Assessment/role competencies. pladis does also use both Psychometric and Aptitude tests to support our processes so you may be asked to complete these as part of your process. Some processes may differ, but we will keep you updated What does pladis offer you? Annual Car allowance, paid monthly Annual Incentive Plan (AIP) – this is the business’s annual bonus scheme. Opportunity to self-enrol into Health Cash Plan Private medical Insurance Stakeholder Pension Scheme Life Assurance Cover upon enrolment to Stakeholder Pension Scheme 25 days bank holidays Holiday Enhancement Scheme 1 Volunteering Day per year Cycle to work scheme. Discounted gym membership – Carlisle and Chiswick only Discount and Cashback Scheme – make your everyday spending work hard for you on major high street brands, supermarkets and services Access to Employee Assistance Programme Financial Wellbeing Support Access to great training and development opportunities Our Values Purpose led – We’re energised and guided by our purpose to bring happiness with every bite Agile – We’re ever evolving, we never stand still, always improving for our customers and our consumers. Positive – We’re highly motivated optimistic, courageous, and we inspire each other to be better Resilient - We’re persistent in the face of setbacks, quick to adapt, learn and move forward Collaborative – We gain strength from operating as one pladis, winning and succeeding together. Best mix of ingredients pladis is an equal opportunities employer, like every great recipe we’re a thoughtful mix. A happy and inclusive place to work that’s as diverse as our consumers and the communities we support, live and work in, all around the world. Where every voice is heard, and difference is celebrated. Where fresh perspectives and new ideas help us grow and thrive. 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. 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.