<h2><strong>The role</strong></h2> <p>As an Associate Director, Procurement, you will report to the Procurement Director and own the strategy, performance, and people development for your category cluster. This is a 12-month fixed-term position. You will lead a team of Category Managers, set the direction for supplier relationships and commercial outcomes, and operate as the senior point of escalation across operational and strategic procurement challenges.</p> <p>This is a role for a procurement professional who is equally comfortable in a negotiation room with a strategic supplier, a governance forum with senior cross-functional leaders, and a development conversation with a direct report. You will act as a connector between your team's day-to-day work and the broader supply chain strategy and as a builder of capability, process, and relationships that outlast the current planning cycle.</p> <h2>&nbsp;</h2> <h2><strong>What you’ll do</strong></h2> <p><strong>Strategy &amp; Category Leadership</strong></p> <ul> <li>Define and own the multi-year category strategy for your cluster sourcing model, supplier segmentation, risk posture, and cost ambition and present that strategy coherently to Director-level stakeholders.</li> <li>Translate market intelligence (commodity dynamics, seasonality, geopolitical risk, supply constraints) into actionable procurement decisions and communicate them with clarity and confidence.</li> <li>Lead cross-category standardization and process improvement initiatives, identifying leverage across the broader portfolio where applicable.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Supplier Relationships &amp; Partnerships</strong></p> <ul> <li>Build and steward the most strategically important supplier relationships in your cluster, including joint investment plans, multi-year contracts, and structured partnership governance.</li> <li>Lead or oversee tender processes end-to-end — from strategy and data-pack through to award, contract, and supplier briefing at pace and to a high standard of documentation.</li> <li>Act as the senior escalation point for supply disruptions, quality issues, and commercial disputes, resolving with a mix of supplier accountability and operational pragmatism.</li> <li>Develop new or alternative suppliers to strengthen resilience and competitiveness across your category network.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Performance, Data &amp; Commercial Delivery</strong></p> <ul> <li>Take full commercial accountability for your cluster's cost performance, savings targets, and COGS variance — ensuring outcomes are tracked, explained, and acted upon.</li> <li>Drive a data-first culture within your team: category reviews, investment cases, and supplier performance assessments should be grounded in robust analysis and structured decision-making.</li> <li>Contribute to seasonality planning, static pricing rounds, and volume S&amp;OP processes with the rigour and cross-functional coordination those forums require.</li> <li>Oversee cost reporting, invoice validation and supplier database quality for your cluster.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Team Leadership &amp; Development</strong></p> <ul> <li>Lead, coach and develop a team of Category Managers, creating a high-performance environment that is psychologically safe, commercially ambitious, and genuinely invested in its people.</li> <li>Shift progressively from doing to enabling: your job is to build the capability of your team, not to be their best individual contributor.</li> <li>Own team capacity planning, workload prioritization, and performance development including calibration, promotion cases, and succession thinking.</li> <li>Foster a culture of continuous improvement, clear communication, and accountability without micromanagement.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Stakeholder &amp; Cross-functional Leadership</strong></p> <ul> <li>Build and maintain strong working relationships with Product, Supply Chain Operations, FSQA, Finance, and Legal representing Procurement credibly and influencing decisions in cross-functional forums.</li> <li>Represent GRO Strategic Procurement at Director-level planning and governance meetings as appropriate, contributing with the strategic perspective expected at that level.</li> <li>Manage upward effectively — keeping the Procurement Director informed, flagging risks early, and bringing well-framed recommendations rather than unresolved problems.</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>What you’ll bring</strong></h2> <p><strong>Experience</strong></p> <ul> <li>7+/9+ years in strategic procurement, supply chain, or a closely related commercial discipline ideally in FMCG, or food ingredients, though we care more about the quality of thinking than the specific category.</li> <li>Demonstrated track record of building supplier relationships at a strategic level, including contract negotiation, partnership governance, and managing through disruption.</li> <li>Experience setting and executing category strategy across a meaningful portfolio ideally managing a cluster of subcategories or a team.</li> <li>Proven ability to lead and develop others, whether as a formal team lead or through mentoring, cross-functional project leadership, or stepping up in an interim capacity.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Skills &amp; Mindset</strong></p> <ul> <li>Strategically confident: you can connect day-to-day procurement decisions to a longer-term commercial and supply chain vision, and you communicate that narrative clearly to senior audiences.</li> <li>Data-driven: comfortable building investment cases, analyzing COGS variance, and driving evidence-based decision-making within your team.</li> <li>A natural relationship-builder inside the business and with suppliers who can hold a firm commercial position while maintaining the trust and goodwill the relationship depends on.</li> <li>Coach rather than doer: you instinctively look to develop the person next to you rather than solve the problem yourself.</li> <li>Operationally resilient: you stay focused and solution-oriented in a fast-paced, supply-volatile environment, and you bring that steadiness to your team.</li> <li>Proactive and accountable you take ownership, raise risks early, and bring solutions rather than problems.</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>What we offer</strong></h2> <p>Elevate your lifestyle! Join one of Europe's fastest-growing tech powerhouses in a dynamic phase of expansion.</p> <ul> <li>Immerse yourself in a diverse global community of 90+ nationalities.</li> <li>Enjoy a competitive compensation package that goes beyond the norm, with perks like a HelloFresh- subsidized Pension Scheme, Berlin relocation support, and a Hybrid working model.</li> <li>Elevate your lifestyle with exclusive discounts on your weekly HelloFresh box and office meals.</li> <li>Invest in your growth with an annual learning &amp; development budget, German language learning budget, and access to the HelloFresh Academy.</li> <li>Plus, we've got your well-being covered with mental health support, transportation perks, and working-parent-friendly benefits. From our 24/7 gym access, wellbeing platforms like Headspace and Spill, to sabbatical leave options, HelloFresh is not just a workplace; it's a lifestyle of perks and possibilities!</li> </ul> <h2><strong>Are you up for the challenge?</strong></h2> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Please submit your complete application below including your salary expectations and earliest starting date.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">After submitting an application our team will review this and get back to you within 5 business days.&nbsp;</span></p>

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