Unilever Future Leaders Programme – Supply Chain and Procurement

Our Future Leaders Programme will ignite the leader in you. This unique programme is designed to develop Unilever’s Future Leaders (UFL) by providing challenging and purposeful opportunities that accelerate their readiness to take on business leadership roles.

Unilever Future Leaders Programme – Supply Chain and Procurement – Netherlands

The Unilever Future Leaders Programme, or as we call it “UFLP”, is a 3-year traineeship programme that gives you the opportunity to develop yourself into an experienced future-fit professional. Bring your enthusiasm, curiosity and innovative ideas to the table and start your learning journey at Unilever as a UFLP.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) businesses. We reach 3.4 billion consumers a day and we have 128.000 employees globally.

We make products that people love – and that make a difference, Nutritious foods, Household care essentials, Luxurious shampoos... and many more. Shoppers buy them in more than 190 countries. That means you’ll find at least one of our products in seven out of ten households on the planet. And we want every one of those products to make a positive impact on the lives of the people through our brands, our commercial operations and relationships, through voluntary contributions, and through the various other ways in which we engage with society.

Requirements for application

• Eligibility to work in the Netherlands before the start of the UFLP programme (employment) per 1st of September 2025. *
• You have obtained your Master’s degree at the start date of the UFLP per September 1st, 2025.
• A WO master’s degree is required at the beginning of the Supply Chain & Procurement track.
• Intermediate level of Dutch is preferred but not required.
• We recommend that you only apply with a maximum of 5 years of experience to get the best out of the traineeship. **
• Our Discovery Center Days take place at our Rotterdam office and will be heldbetween April 1st – April 20th. It is not possible to join this day online.

What will you be doing as a Supply Chain & Procurement UFL?

The Unilever Supply Chain and Procurement involves everything from buying the raw materials to delivering a finished product to a customer.

You could be responsible for setting up the supply chain network for a product innovation or designing a more efficient distribution network to enable us to store and deliver our products more sustainably to our customers.

In another rotation, you could be joining Procurement. There you can become a part of our diverse parts of procurement organization. You could be buying the best vanilla with the right agreements for workers and Unilever, understanding brand needs to bring supplier innovations, drive financial value through competitive buying, building expertise in sourcing the most sustainable packaging materials, and working on regenerative agriculture and plastic sustainability. Furthermore, it is about optimizing the cost and quality of what we buy through the intelligent sourcing of materials, packaging and non-production items. The team explores new ways of working with suppliers and plays an important role in technology innovation.

When you work at Unilever you will have the opportunity to make a big impact every day on a local, regional, and global level. There is always a new challenge to take on. The limitless opportunities at Unilever ask for your innovative entrepreneurship. For example, in one rotation you could be working on the launch of a new food product, you will be the one that is responsible for the end-to-end supply chain activities such as ensuring all plan, source, make and deliver activities are completed in time in full. You would collaborate with all departments involved in such a project.

You could also be building partnerships with a wide range of our customers, which may include supermarkets, drug stores, discounters, online retailers, ice cream Parlors and even theme parks. You will be managing the customer relationship, represent Unilever SC to the customer, and work on structural improvement projects and innovations in the SC together with our customers.

Overall, joining Unilever as a Supply Chain & Procurement UFL will empower you to make a significant impact while embracing limitless opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and personal growth. Every day will present a new challenge, enabling you to shape the future of supply chain management at a global level.

What do we look for?

Whichever area you work in –Planning, Customer Service, Manufacturing, Logistics, Innovation or Procurement – you’ll need to be ambitious, an excellent analytical thinker with a drive for getting things done and a real talent for delivering through others. While we are open to applications from all disciplines, typically (but not exclusively) a technical education or background in Engineering, Supply Chain, Logistics, Operations Management, Science or Math’s can be an advantage.

What will the programme involve?

The programme is designed to give you the ability to grow. You will develop your individual leadership skills by working on projects which offer you the experience you need to be ready for your first management role. Over 3 years, you will take on a variety of roles across our businesses. You will gain experience both in financial and management accounting and you will be business facing, communicating with key contacts within the brand teams.

• We sell millions of products to consumers every day. That is why every UFL will start their career joining our Field Force team. You will learn all about our consumers and customers, in retail (Supermarkets), in Food Solutions (Chefs in Restaurants) and in Out of Home (all other outlets like gas stations & theme parks). It is a great opportunity to really get to know the other “Future Leaders”.
• Following your stint in the Field Force team, you will cover rotations in several parts of our Supply Chain organization to build a broad understanding and experience as Supply Chain professional. This can be in the local Go- to-Market organization, in a Sourcing Unit, one of our biggest global Procurement hubs in Rotterdam where you will work with colleagues all around the world to source one of the so many ingredients, packaging, raw materials or services that Unilever buys
• Your rotations could be based at different business units across Europe, and you will need to be flexible about where you are based during your time in the programme.
• Support and empowerment: We will support you every step of the way to senior management, but much of your progress will be up to you. You will need to be focused and ambitious to get where you want, find opportunities and take responsibility for your own development. You will be linked to a mentor, who is a senior SC leader, who can support and advise you.
• During the three years of your programme, you will be learning and developing in the rotations you will be doing, having real responsibility and impact. This development is supported with a learning roadmap full of internal and external training focused on developing your individual leadership skills.
• We have a proven tradition of developing our own purpose driven leaders and encourage innovative thinking. Future focused feedback and challenging goals drives innovation and ambition within a performance culture and an inclusive and informal environment. We will push you to achieve your potential and make a big business impact where you learn from the best. Firsthand experience – it is the fastest way to learn.