Looking for Your Dream Job? Join Our Ice Cream Team!

Requisition id: R-14066

Title: Ice Cream Global BP&A Manager

Scope: Global

Reports to: Global BP&A Hub Director

Location: Pune

Terms & Conditions: Full time, local terms with possibility of relocation support

If you are in the Unilever Ice Cream business or are considering working for the Unilever ice Cream business, you will work for the global, leading Ice Cream player with €8bn Turn Over in 2023. The Ice Cream business is operating in a highly attractive category, as we are part of the 1 trillion snacking and refreshment industry, growing consistently at high pace. We have strong brands equities: 5 of the top 10 selling brands including Wall’s, Magnum, Ben &Jerry’s. We are investing to unlock the full growth potential of Ice Cream as a standalone entity, once we separate from Unilever, which is planned to happen by November 2025. Ice Cream has distinct characteristics from Unilever’s other operating businesses and the growth potential of Ice Cream will be better delivered under a different ownership structure.

We are committed to developing and nurturing talent within our Ice Cream company. You will have ample options for career growth and exploration, allowing you to explore roles and opportunities across the new organisation. Your career development will be a priority for us, and we are dedicated to supporting your growth journey within the new company.

We hope that you will want to build the new chapter of our Ice Cream history together with us.

Unilever Ice Cream is the largest global Ice Cream Company in the world, with over 100 years of experience delivering a diverse range of indulgent, yet responsible, craft food experiences and treats delighting consumers. Committed to innovation, quality, and sustainability we have 35 brands, including 3 one billion Euro brands (Magnum, Wall’s, Ben & Jerry’s), a strong presence in over 60 countries, generating annual revenue of €8 billion. All brands are driven to transform moments into memories through indulgent yet responsibly made and marketed products. We have a well-developed strategy to deliver growth and value creation which is clear on where to play and how to win.

We turn the ordinary into the extraordinary by designing unique and innovative Ice Cream experiences that make life taste better, creating joyful experiences. In our Ice Cream business, we’re crafting the future through innovation and imaginative minds, creating unique products. We spark moments of happiness for people and within the communities where we operate. However, it is not as simple as it may seem. As Ice Cream makers we are serious about happiness. With warm hearts, we create the coolest products.

Ice Cream Finance: Leading for a winning, trusted and investible global ice cream market leader

This is your chance for a ‘once in a lifetime’ career experience, playing a part in the creation of a fully independent, new Ice Cream organisation.in what will be the Ultimate Pleasure Food company.

We are seizing this unique opportunity to reset the role of Ice Cream Finance. Together we will become the best and most admired finance team in the world, and we’ll do this by focusing on value creation, trailblazing future-fit financial processes and technology, and by becoming a training ground for financial craftmanship that will be the envy of everyone. 

Just imagine the benefits of working within a single category, where everyone and everything is laser-focused on the same goal, where there's opportunity to develop deep and wide understanding of the business economics and international ecosystem of a single category, and to translate that into value creation.

The role of Ice Cream Finance in this momentous moment is staggering, exciting, and yes...a little daunting, which is why we are looking for empowered and accountable decision makers who are keen to take on end-to-end responsibility; if you are a self-starter who identifies opportunities, takes initiative, and innovates to create value, who is proactive, resourceful and comfortable with challenge and uncertainty, you will thrive with us. In return, you will be rewarded with a rich finance role, no matter where you are in your career, and within an environment that’s both fulfilling and fun...after all, life tastes better with Ice Cream!

JOB PURPOSE:

As the Global Business Performance and Analytics Manager for our newly created Ice Cream business, you will play a pivotal role in transforming data into deep insights that drive our success. This is a unique opportunity to establish and lead a cutting-edge finance analytics hub and a dynamic team, supporting the strategic and operational needs of our Ice Cream business as it embarks on an exciting journey of independence from Unilever.

You will help establish our FP&A data, tools, policies, procedures, ways of working and culture for the standalone Ice Cream company and report to the Global Business Performance & Analytics Director. The role will require close working with Global IC Performance Lead, ICFLT, Verdi project team, IC D&A and IT teams, S&OP team, Shared Services experts, and other Functional Leads.

We are seeking a dynamic talent with strong business acumen and leading-edge data & analytics skills to join the team. The successful candidate will be one who has a proven record within Data & Technology and/or finance and has a passion for change management, simplification, data & analytics, communication, and a desire to make a meaningful impact.

In this role, you will build robust AI first data solutions, implement advanced analytics, and foster a data-driven culture that empowers strategic decision making. You will collaborate with IT, D&A, BUs and Markets and hubs to ensure data integrity, accessibility, and security, turning data into a strategic asset that fuels innovation and growth.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This role will be responsible for the successful enablement of a standalone Ice Cream company that is geared for future success as with ‘the best FP&A team in the industry’. The role will be part of a dedicated, multi-disciplinary team led by the Ice Cream Performance Controller and will report to the Global Business Performance & Analytics Director with the following responsibilities:

• Work closely with the Global Performance Lead for the implementation of the new performance framework including what can be done whilst under TSA and beyond
• Work with the Ice Cream Performance Control and the Ice Cream team to ensure all FP&A requirements are appropriately fed into the Ice Cream data and technology strategy in a timely manner to ultimately ensure we have the right finance information model and broader performance analytics hub fit for purpose
• Work hand-in-glove with the Ice Cream D&A team to define, design, structure and implement the Global Performance & Finance teams needs and ambitions.
• Support the design and set up of a Global BP&A hub and new consolidation engine working with a couple of lead markets to test all the above with a few pilots
• Customer & Channel Performance: Help unlock customer and channel reporting to ensure consistent tracking and reporting of performance across specific sales channels to support data-driven decision-making.
• Cabinet Performance: With a large and growing fleet of cabinets essential to reaching consumers, this role will deliver clear, actionable insights into cabinet performance to support optimal resource allocation and footprint expansion.
• Innovation Tracking: As innovation is a key growth driver for the ice cream category, this role will lead the consistent monitoring and evaluation of innovation performance to maximize impact.

• Performance Management & Reporting: Proactively identify and implement opportunities for process improvement and automation to enhance overall operational effectiveness of Ice Cream performance reporting. Help implement performance management reporting & analytics suite, which enables one interface reporting & insights. Work with the IC Group Controller to align FR and MR consolidation to enable faster, accurate & fit for purpose performance management.

• Team Leadership:
  • Build and lead a high-performing BP&A team.
  • Provide mentorship and professional development opportunities for team members.
  • Foster a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and innovation within the team and partnership ecosystem
• Collaboration and Communication:
  • Work closely with other executives to integrate data and AI initiatives with an overall business strategy.
  • Communicate data insights and recommendations to stakeholders at all levels.

• Project Management: 
  • Oversee projects from conception to completion, ensuring they are delivered on time, within scope, and budget
• Vendor Management: 
  • Manage relationships with external vendors and service providers to ensure high-quality service delivery.
• Budget Management: 
  • Develop and manage the data/AI budget, ensuring cost-effective solutions and resource allocation
  • Track and report on the financial performance of all AI/automation and data initiatives.

WHAT YOU NEED TO SUCCEED:

Experiences & Qualifications

The preferred candidate would have 8+ years in Data & Analytics with at least 3 years in a leadership role with experience in Finance, Performance Management with D&A / FET/ Market Finance and following key skills:

• Ice Cream Experience: Direct working knowledge of Ice Cream business with knowledge of Performance Management, Analytics & Reporting. Hands-on understanding of how Ice Cream business and its needs are different from other Business Groups.

• Systemic and strategic thinking: Being able to consider longer term implications for the business, elevating the conversation to business, society, and ecosystems. A deep understanding of the business and levers to pull, engaging others to prioritise and pursue opportunities that deliver significant growth for Unilever and have a positive impact on the world. 
  
• Owner’s mindset: Using financial acumen, data, and insights to inform their thinking that both makes the complex simple for others, creating a sense of urgency with a business edge and can show how those insights have created impact and delivered business value.
  
• Functional, Business and Commercial Acumen: Understanding of various business and functional models, industry dynamics, and market trends is crucial, combined with a deep understanding of how Ice Cream serves consumers and correlatedly creating a FP&A function poised to create a sustainable competitive and effective operation.
  
• Change Leadership and Communication prowess: Leading and landing transformative change, comfortable experimenting with new approaches, pushing themselves and others to achieve outstanding outcomes. Crafting communication narrative that is inspiring and compelling to drive change.
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, computer science, statistics, or a related field. A master’s degree is preferred.
• Experience in managing a large and complex set of stakeholders
• Experience in presenting to and communicating with senior Finance and non-Finance stakeholders
• Experience in driving P&L improvements (e.g. closing gaps vs. target) and holding others accountable (particularly peers and senior leadership)
• Finance Business partnering
• Experience in establishing and running Business Intelligence & Analytics operations at scale
• Experience in digital transformation programs with an understanding of respective organisational efficiency proposition.
• Experience in managing large-scale data projects and budgets & in developing and implementing data and analytics strategies.
• Experience in leading global teams and managing cross-functional projects.
• Proven track record of delivering data-driven insights that drive business value.

• Proven ability to establish, lead and develop high-performing teams.

Skills Required

• Ability to present complex information in a simplified manner
• High degree of flexibility and ability to quickly understand new topics
• Resilience (ability to cope with time pressure and challenges)
• Courage to drive change
• Strong analytical skills, Excel modelling skills and attention to detail
• Strong engagement, presentation and communication skills
• Financial academic level or equivalent experience.

Must have competencies

• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills.
• High level of integrity and professionalism.
• Strategic thinker with a proactive approach.
• Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex data insights to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.

REPORTING STRUCTURE

The role will report to the Global Business Performance & Analytics Director.

ARE YOU EXCITED TO CRAFT THE ICE CREAM FUTURE?

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. 

Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume and cover letter detailing their relevant experience and qualifications to Unilever's career portal.

All official offers from Unilever are issued only via our Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Offers from individuals or unofficial sources may be fraudulent—please verify before proceeding