Global Sourcing Category Manager Fruits Upstream

Procurement

We are seeking a senior global procurement leader to lead the Fruit Upstream category within Global Food Ingredients Procurement. The role will develop and implement global sourcing strategies, lead key initiatives across regions, manage strategic supplier relationships, and drive KPIs related to productivity, innovation, quality and legal compliance, sustainability, responsible sourcing and supply resilience.

The Global Category Manager - Fruit Upstream leads a cross-regional sourcing organization spanning Europe, NORAM, Mexico and key fruit sourcing origins. It manages a complex agricultural supply network while driving category transformation, supplier partnerships, productivity programs, sustainability initiatives and business continuity.

This is a high-impact global role for a candidate who enjoys stakeholder management, relationship-driven procurement, team leadership and large transformation projects.

Key responsibilities:

• Develop and execute the global Fruit Upstream category strategy, including governance, transformation, and long-term category planning to support growth, innovation, sustainability, and profitability.
• Lead global sourcing activities across frozen fruits, purees, concentrates, and agricultural-derived ingredients, ensuring supply security and competitiveness.
• Manage and develop a global procurement team, fostering collaboration, capability building, succession planning, and a high-performance culture across regions.
• Build and maintain strategic supplier partnerships, leading executive-level engagement, performance management, supplier evaluations, and risk mitigation initiatives.
• Deliver value creation and financial targets through productivity programs, cost optimization, negotiations, market intelligence, and strategic sourcing initiatives.
• Drive sustainability and responsible sourcing programs, including regenerative agriculture initiatives aligned with Danone’s ESG commitments and compliance standards.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Quality, R&I, Sustainability, Finance, Legal, and Business Units to support innovation, compliance, and business objectives.
• Influence senior stakeholders and support strategic decision-making by developing business cases, driving transformation initiatives, and aligning global, regional, and local priorities.

About you

The ideal candidate brings extensive experience in managing complex global direct material categories and agricultural supply chains, with a strong focus on sourcing strategy, supplier relationship management, sustainability, and business performance. You are an inspiring people leader with exceptional stakeholder management skills, capable of driving transformation, navigating complexity, and delivering long-term competitiveness, supply security, and value creation on a global scale.

Futhermore, you have:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Procurement, Economics, Engineering, Food Sciences, Agriculture or a related discipline.
• Professional procurement or supply chain qualification is a plus.
• 10+ years of leadership experience in procurement, category management, supply chain, food ingredients, agriculture or FMCG.
• Significant experience managing complex global or multi-regional direct material categories, ingredients and agricultural supply chains.
• Demonstrated success leading transformation, productivity and supplier partnership programs.
• Experience with supplier quality, compliance, responsible sourcing and sustainability programs.
• Strong people leadership, talent development and coaching capabilities.
• Ability to lead and inspire multicultural, geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong stakeholder management and ability to influence without direct authority.
• Strong networking, relationship-building and executive communication skills.
• Comfortable dealing with ambiguity, transformation and fast-changing business priorities.
• Driven for results with strong execution discipline and business ownership mindset.

About Danone

At Danone we are committed to our mission “bringing health, through food to as many people as possible”. Working together to make sure that our brands, like Hipro, Nutricia, Alpro, Activia, Nutrilon and Evian, create real benefits for people, communities and the planet. You will be part of one of the largest Certified B Corps™ in the world.

Cycles & Procurement is right at the heart of making the Danone vision One Planet. Through what and how we source, we shape the world in which we operate & we build the future for Danone. With our Cycles we protect and secure our key resources (Milk, Water and Plastic) & we take a strategic approach to Procurement to support the business and social agenda of Danone. We secure competitive, sustainable resources, seek innovative solutions, and partner up with suppliers aligned to our vision.

We offer:

All Danoners receive a complete package of benefits. This includes a competitive salary and yearly bonus, a premium free pension, 30 days of annual leave (with the opportunity to purchase more) and you will receive a monthly health care allowance. In addition, you can get discount on your gym membership, and we offer initiatives focused on nutrition, physical, and mental health. We provide continuous learning opportunities through workshops, online courses and training sessions.