# Lead International Category Manager - PHF \(all genders\) - Company: [Hellofresh]() - Location: Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands; Berlin, Berlin, Germany; London, England, United Kingdom; Paris, Paris, France - Team: Supply Chain Management & Operations - Posted: September 10, 2026 ## Job description ## **The role** As a Procurement Teamlead, you will report to the Procurement Director and own the strategy, performance, and people development for your category cluster. 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. 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. ## **What you’ll do** **Strategy & Category Leadership** * 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. * Translate market intelligence (commodity dynamics, seasonality, geopolitical risk, supply constraints) into actionable procurement decisions and communicate them with clarity and confidence. * Lead cross-category standardisation and process improvement initiatives, identifying leverage across the broader portfolio where applicable. * Own the NID (New Ingredient Development) governance pipeline for your cluster, ensuring robust cross-functional coordination between Procurement, Product, FSQA and Supply Chain. **Supplier Relationships & Partnerships** * Build and steward the most strategically important supplier relationships in your cluster, including joint investment plans, multi-year contracts, and structured partnership governance. * 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. * Act as the senior escalation point for supply disruptions, quality issues, and commercial disputes, resolving with a mix of supplier accountability and operational pragmatism. * Develop new or alternative suppliers to strengthen resilience and competitiveness across your category network. **Performance, Data & Commercial Delivery** * Take full commercial accountability for your cluster's cost performance, savings targets, and COGS variance — ensuring outcomes are tracked, explained, and acted upon. * 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. * Contribute to seasonality planning, static pricing rounds, and volume S&OP processes with the rigour and cross-functional coordination those forums require. * Oversee cost reporting, invoice validation and supplier database quality for your cluster. **Team Leadership & Development** * 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. * Shift progressively from doing to enabling: your job is to build the capability of your team, not to be their best individual contributor. * Own team capacity planning, workload prioritisation, and performance development — including calibration, promotion cases, and succession thinking. * Foster a culture of continuous improvement, clear communication, and accountability without micromanagement. **Stakeholder & Cross-functional Leadership** * 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. * Represent PHF Strategic Procurement at Director-level planning and governance meetings as appropriate, contributing with the strategic perspective expected at that level. * Manage upward effectively — keeping the Procurement Director informed, flagging risks early, and bringing well-framed recommendations rather than unresolved problems. ## **What you’ll bring** **Experience** * 6+ 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. * Demonstrated track record of building supplier relationships at a strategic level, including contract negotiation, partnership governance, and managing through disruption. * Experience setting and executing category strategy across a meaningful portfolio — ideally managing a cluster of subcategories or a team. * 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. **Skills & Mindset** * 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. * Data-driven: comfortable building investment cases, analysing COGS variance, and driving evidence-based decision-making within your team. * 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. * Coach rather than doer: you instinctively look to develop the person next to you rather than solve the problem yourself. * Operationally resilient: you stay focused and solution-oriented in a fast-paced, supply-volatile environment, and you bring that steadiness to your team. * Proactive and accountable — you take ownership, raise risks early, and bring solutions rather than problems. ## **What we offer** Elevate your lifestyle! Join one of Europe's fastest-growing tech powerhouses in a dynamic phase of expansion. * Immerse yourself in a diverse global community of 90+ nationalities. * 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. * Elevate your lifestyle with exclusive discounts on your weekly HelloFresh box and office meals. * Invest in your growth with an annual learning & development budget, German language learning budget, and access to the HelloFresh Academy. * 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! ## **Are you up for the challenge?** Please submit your complete application below including your salary expectations and earliest starting date. After submitting an application our team will review this and get back to you within 5 business days. ## Apply [Apply on Hellofresh]() Canonical job page: