Country Deployment Lead Arabia - ekaterra (Blossom)

Job Description

Who we are?and what we do:With an annual turnover of around ?2bn, ekaterra is the world?s largest tea business, with world-class, purpose-driven brands such as Lipton, Pukka, Tazo, T2 and PG Tips. ?eka? is a word taken from the Sanskrit language which means unity and one purpose, while ?terra? represents the earth and nature. As ekaterra we are truly united in one purpose: growing a world of wellbeing through the regenerative power of plants.In July 2022, CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII took over the full ownership of the ekaterra business from its previous owner, Unilever. As a standalone entity with a dedicated single-category focus, ekaterra is even better positioned to lead the tea industry, delivering higher growth and value, and a greater impact on the wider world. With 11 production factories in four continents and tea growing estates in three countries, ekaterra is a profitable and growing business whose brands reach hundreds of millions of consumers. It has a presence in over 100 countries.Under the ownership of CVC, ekaterra has an exciting future ahead with opportunities for increased investments in our iconic brands, our people, and our capabilities. Combining the strength and scale of our brands with a focus on speed and agility, ekaterra is brewing a corporate start-up mindset that?s opening-up new opportunities for its people to flourish every day.At ekaterra, we put consumer love at the heart of every decision. We celebrate diverse thinkers who take personal ownership to connect ideas and make impactful things happen; people who share our values around humanity and courage and give their commitment to nurturing the wellbeing of all. In return, we offer a working culture that gives our people freedom and flexibility, and where they can grow both personally and professionally to master their field.Be part of our amazing blend. Come and grow yourself and, in turn, help us to grow a world of wellbeing.Background of the Role: The foundations of our new ekaterra organization have been laid following our internal separation from Unilever and the stand-up of ekaterra Leadership and Management teams around the world. We have designed our end state operating model and related legal entity structure to become the world?s number 1 pure play Tea business.Now begins the most exciting phase of our journey, Project Blossom, as we seek to implement our end-state design, exit our Transitional Services Agreements with Unilever, and establish ekaterra as a fully standalone and independent business.Project Blossom requires ekaterra local market teams to develop and ultimately deliver the relevant local establishment plans with the Country Deployment (Project Blossom) Lead playing the lead role of ensuring successful stand up of business process, systems and ways of working across all functions upon full separation from Unilever.The Country Deployment (Project Blossom) Lead is ultimately responsible for successful deployment of ekaterra?s end state business processes, systems and transformation of ekaterra into a stand alone company within the local country. The Lead will serve as the country champion with the global project team to ensure all end state processes/systems are fit for purpose and hold local timelines.Job Type: Temporary ContractProject Period: 12 monthsWork Location: United Arab EmiratesKey Responsibilities:

• Own the on-time delivery and deployment of business processes, new system implementations and change management across all workstreams in the Arabia by working closely with local functional teams, global workstream leads and the system integrator to ensure all end state processes and systems are fit for purpose in Arabia and on track
• Overall responsibility for the coordination of Blossom Planning and execution activities for Arabia
• Lead weekly Country Deployment Meeting with the local Blossom functional leads and global workstream representatives to track progress and highlight project issues and risks
• Lean in to resolve cross-functional issues and risk mitigation for Arabia, escalating risks/decisions to regional lead as necessary
• Act as the primary point of contact for the Arabia GM, Leadership Team and Regional Project Lead
• Lead all Project Blossom communications for Arabia ensuring broad engagement and sharing of critical information
• Work collaboratively with the local leadership teams on change management.Understand employee morale and engagement over the course of the project and use communication and morale boosting tactics to ensure healthy morale is maintained and employees are being effectively guided through the change.Blossom should not be seen as a project that is happening to the employees, rather Project Blossom is the exciting opportunity of collectively starting up a new company that we are all a part of.
• Ensure successful tracking and completion of TSA exits in the local market through regular communication with the local Unilever separation TSA lead and regional/global Blossom TSA leads
• Liaise with the Regional Project Manager, Regional Project Lead and Blossom EMO to ensure relevant project information is shared on a timely basis with the right people

Stakeholder Management and key interfaces:

• Africa Middle East Turkey (AMET) Regional Blossom Lead
• AMET Regional Project Manager
• Country GM & Leadership team
• Functional Workstream project leads (and regional deploys where relevant)
• Local Systems Integrator Lead
• Blossom Establishment Management Office, People, Talent & Org (PTO) Workstream lead, and Global Deployment Lead.

Skills and Experience Qualifications:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in FMCG or relevant industries,
• Successful track record leading similar divestiture/ business separation, ERP implementation and/or acquisition projects in a similar large and complex environment an asset
• Cross functional experience in the areas of Finance, Supply Chain, Customer Development (preferably at Unilever)
• Extensive experience in project management, and risk mitigation
• Experience working with ERP system integrators and understanding of core business processes like Order to Cash, Plan to Forecast, etc.

Skills:

• Communication: Excellent communication skills and the ability to convey complex requirements and expectations in a simple way
• Organisation: Strong organizational skills with a demonstrable track record in successful project management and project delivery
• Risk Management: Experience in practical risk management and risk mitigation
• Leadership: Country Deployment (Project Blossom) Lead will set the tone for the overall engagement of local functional leadership with the project in the local market. Effective ability to lead and to motivate the personnel in the Project team
• Ability to perform in an environment of ambiguity and influence decisions
• Analytical thinking, creative problem solving ability
• Time consciousness, diligence, flexibility and interest to accept more responsibility, able to take initiative and give proper decisions timely

Ideal candidate would be:

• Self driven individual with excellent project management skills who is motivated to make a transformative contribution to ekaterra
• Ability to engage and influence a cross functional team of leaders both locally and globally
• Highly organized and action orientated with the ability to identify the critical path to success and take the necessary actions to achieve that
• High analytical intelligence and organizational awareness
• High endurance level in problem solving and difficult conditions
• Having the ability to work under pressure
• Having values ??of honesty, pioneering, responsible growth
• High passion for growth
• Strong leadership in crisis management and uncertain environments

ExcitedabouttheRole?Please apply online by clicking on ?Apply? below. Your application will be reviewed against our requirements. Should you not meet our immediate requirements, your profile will be registered in our talent pool system and we will match your profile to suitable future vacancies. You will be able to access your status update through the candidate tracking link. Thank you for your interest and application.ekaterra is an organization committed to equity, inclusion and diversityto drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. We are interested in every individual bringingtheir whole selfto work and this includes you! Therefore if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ?Whole Self? to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.

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