BE - Ardo Headquarters
Procurement
Permanent contract
Ardo supplies its continuously growing markets around the world with high quality frozen vegetables, herbs, and fruit with 3300 employees and 16 production, packing & distribution sites in 7 different countries. The family business sells in more than 100 countries and has a turnover of more than 1.4 billion euros. The close proximity of our factories to our crops is one of our key strengths and ensures that only minutes are lost between harvest and locking in the product’s natural goodness in our freezers.
Ardo’s mission is to preserve the gift of nature for future generations by providing fresh frozen, plant-based food while minimising our impact on the planet. Ardo achieves this goal thanks to an integrated network of growing areas, production units, freezing units, packaging equipment, appropriate logistics and thorough quality control. The group’s know-how and flexible structure ensure that it can respond quickly to new trends and that innovative product can be brought onto the market quickly.
Your Scope
For the Ardo group, we are looking for a Sourcing Manager Fruits within the central Group Procurement department. Group Procurement is responsible for strategic sourcing and purchasing of a large portfolio of (frozen) food and raw materials, services, ingredients and packaging for all Ardo factories and locations. The Sourcing Manager Fruits reports to the Group Procurement Director.
In this role, you will be part of an international team that is working end-to-end in sourcing externally purchased frozen foods, vegetables, ingredients and fruits. The Sourcing Manager Fruits will conduct the sourcing of the category across the Ardo Group in Europe. The Sourcing Manager Fruits will be responsible for executing the category sourcing plans, contingency plans, Group contracting, manage supplier performance and the sourcing results in Fruits for the Group in line with the overall strategy for the Group, our Fruits strategy and the Group Procurement Strategy of Ardo.

Manage Frozen Fruits as a share of the company’s Group sourcing portfolio and ensuring supply, contracting, cost and transparency of spending, vendor quality and service, contracting and supply agreements
Leading the Fruits sourcing team with the Purchasing Manager Fruits Europe and the Operational Buyer
Manage vendor selection and supplier strategies on Group level with multiple vendors globally. Regular travel in Europe and globally will be an important part of the role
Optimize sourcing procedures and processes for the Group to attain maximum efficiency
Perform cost and scenario analysis and use benchmarking and make-buy analyses and methods
Maintain contracts in applicable systems including SAP, support the deployment of SAP in the Group.
Generate plan costings for the category and control spend vs financial planning through the year
Develop clear financial reporting with regards to (future) pricing
Determine quantity and timing of contracting in close collaboration with Supply Chain and/or the business / sites / Agro / Group Procurement team etc.
Collaborate closely with Ardo North America to align sourcing strategies and synergies
Build and maintain ownership and deep expertise in defined fruit materials
Work closely with Ardo’s Sustainability Team to develop sustainable sourcing strategies and -actions for Fruits
Be a go-to-person and category expert in Fruits within the Ardo Group
Work closely together with all stakeholders in Fruits including Sales to support category and innovation strategies for Fruits
Develop category innovation-, vendor assurance- and quality- assurance strategies in close collaboration with Group QA/VA to assure compliance and long-term advantages for the Group
Work with business and finance leaders to identify and drive savings, value and quality improvements and control cost improvements, focusing on total cost of ownership.
Your profile
Proven work experience as a Lead Buyer, Strategic Buyer or Procurement Manager
Experience with strategic sourcing, vendor management and relevant systems
Multi experience in (frozen)foods, preferably Fruits. Customer focused and team player
Passion for innovation, processes and sustainability solutions, creating a positive impact
Understanding of market dynamics and sound business judgement
Strong project management skills. Strong analytical and problem solving skills
Strong skills and ability to negotiate and sustaining networking relationships
MS degree in (food) engineering, supply chain, agronomy, economics or business administration
Excellent communication skills and ability to produce clear and well-organized documents
Strategic thinking and creative problem solving
Flexibility, adaptability, hands-on mentality and ability to work on multiple tasks and projects simultaneously
Willingness to travel globally (appx 20-30%) depending on the year/seasons
In-depth experience in procurement practices (category management, bench-marking, cost models, contracting, category management, commodity risk management etc.).
Certified Professional in Supply or Procurement (CPSM, CPP, CIPS or equal) preferred
Experience in sourcing/procurement (ERP) systems, preferably SAP
Language skills : Minimum native language + English (L4 – full professional proficiency), preferably Spanish as second foreign language (L2-4)
We offer
We offer you the opportunity to be part of an authentic and sustainable international company, with real growth opportunities and the freedom to actively participate in shaping the business and the opportunity to develop professionally. You will receive a full remuneration package in line with the level of this position. We care for our people and create family-friendly surroundings by offering you the flexibility to work 2 days/week from home