Business Developer - Paper

  • Full-time

Company Description

 

IKEA Purchasing Services cooperates with furniture and home furnishing manufacturers in Europe and distributes it worldwide. Our task is to find and develop suppliers to produce furniture with perfect design and quality for as many people as possible. There are about 150 of us in Prague, a team made of over 20 nationalities.

YOUR OPPORTUNITY

At IKEA, we see things a little differently. We onboard our suppliers as partners with whom we create long-term relationships. We want them to grow with us, become more efficient and achieve lower prices.

  • You can have the confidence and freedom to do things your own way, including organizing your time. Your well-being is our priority.  A variety of rewarding work awaits you, which you will be able to combine alongside your hobbies or family.
  • Use opportunities for learning and growth working with suppliers! You will be able to travel to look at various manufacturing companies, understand new and different technologies, people and cultures.
  • Everybody is seen as a talent. In regular informal talks with your manager you can explore your development and carrier opportunities. We will support you on the way by internal and external trainings. We embrace making mistakes and learning from them.

Job Description

 

You will be an informal leader directing the steps and activities of a 3-member micro-team in the Paper team consisting of a Production Engineer, who takes care of the production process and quality, and a Supply Planner, who handles logistics. Based on the analysis, you will draw up an action plan once a year to reduce production costs or develop a better design for customers, all within the framework of sustainability and ethical business practices. You also can expect to:

  • Develop partnerships with suppliers – the business micro-team regularly travels to the field to solve issues first-hand production from the ground up, and provide suppliers with feedback and help with the implementation of action plans.
  • Create cost break down analyses – you will look for price saving opportunities for existing products and demand the production of new ones, especially from existing suppliers.
  • Operation – regular communications with suppliers, management and team meetings, project implementation, and data entry.
  • Responsibility for the best possible sourcing setup, including price negotiations with suppliers.

Mirka has been working at IKEA for 3 years as a Business Developer and says about her work:

“My assignment in IKEA is to maintain and improve business relationship with suppliers who are manufacturing the products IKEA sells in stores. In my daily job I am in close contact with supplier and together we are working on many areas - from new products start up, to pricing or sustainability. This brings a lot of responsibility but also amazing opportunity to learn something new every day, travel and see things from the inside. What I appreciate the most is my team - we really are one IKEA, everyone is available to help and the atmosphere is great. We have a lot of trust for each other, which allows us to work flexibly (home office, flexible hours when needed) and still deliver best results”.

Qualifications

 

Please read what you need for the role:

  • You are aware of economics and finance – understanding of a company financials like cash-flow, P&L, income statement etc., able to work with cost breakdown, the price is alpha and omega for us.
  • Passion for business and the end-goal, both will come in handy when negotiating with suppliers, you must be strict but fair, solution-oriented person, concentrating energy on fixing all the normal business issues.
  • You will use the art of dealing with people, empathy, and good communication skills, in coordinating your small micro-team and in dealing with suppliers and many other stakeholders in the IKEA supply chain.
  • Analytical skills that are necessary for working with numbers, when negotiating prices, or when setting priorities for your work, which is usually high paced and demanding.
  • An interest in production and discovering the latest technologies in home furnishing.

Additional Information

 

Sounds interesting?

Please send us your application in English – CV and letter of motivation until January 21, 2022 at the latest. Please note that we will be interviewing continuously, which means that we may close the application process earlier than stated if we find the right candidate.   We really want to get to know you, so make sure you tell us why you would be a good fit. We are looking forward to receiving your applications!

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