COE Procurement IM&S Buy Desk Team Leader

Ready to lead a high-impact procurement team supporting business continuity, operational excellence, and value creation across the EMEA Scent business?
Job Description
IFF is a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, health & biosciences, and specialty solutions. We combine science, creativity, and innovation to create products that enrich everyday life.
Procurement: Enabling business success through strategic sourcing, supplier partnerships, operational excellence, and sustainable value creation.
We are seeking a Scent Buy Desk Team Lead to lead our EMEA Buy Desk team and provide procurement support across urgent supply requirements, commercial initiatives, process improvements, and business projects. This role combines people leadership, operational coordination, commercial oversight, and digital transformation while serving as a trusted business partner across the organization.

IFF is a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, health & biosciences, and specialty solutions. We combine science, creativity, and innovation to create products that enrich everyday life.

Procurement: Enabling business success through strategic sourcing, supplier partnerships, operational excellence, and sustainable value creation.

We are seeking a Scent Buy Desk Team Lead to lead our EMEA Buy Desk team and provide procurement support across urgent supply requirements, commercial initiatives, process improvements, and business projects. This role combines people leadership, operational coordination, commercial oversight, and digital transformation while serving as a trusted business partner across the organization.

Where You'll Make a Difference

• Lead, coach, and develop the Buy Desk team, ensuring effective workload management, service continuity, and high performance.
• Oversee procurement support for urgent supply needs, spot buying, and sourcing activities across the EMEA region.
• Act as a key procurement partner to Manufacturing Sites, Planning, Procurement Operations, Category Management, Finance, and suppliers.
• Support business and cross-functional projects through procurement expertise, market insights, supplier engagement, and commercial analysis.
• Manage selected distributor and tail-spend categories, driving sourcing strategies, supplier optimization, cost savings, and risk mitigation.
• Lead negotiations and contracting activities aligned with category strategies and governance requirements.
• Drive process improvements through automation, digital tools, and data-driven solutions, leveraging platforms such as SAP, ServiceNow, Power BI, and workflow technologies.
• Establish and monitor KPIs, ensuring compliance with procurement policies, delegated authority requirements, and documentation standards.
• Provide actionable reporting and insights to Procurement leadership on performance, risks, value delivery, and improvement opportunities.

What Makes You the Right Fit

• Bachelor's degree in Procurement, Supply Chain, Engineering, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field.
• Relevant experience in procurement or supply chain supporting regional or global operations.
• Experience with sourcing, supplier management, negotiation, procurement processes, and urgent supply support.
• Proven people leadership or team coordination experience.
• Hands-on experience with SAP or similar ERP and procurement systems.
• Strong analytical, stakeholder management, and communication skills.
• Professional fluency in English.

How Would You Stand Out?

• Experience with ServiceNow, workflow tools, process automation, AI solutions, or Power BI.
• Knowledge of distributor management, tail-spend management, and category management practices.
• Additional European language skills.
• Experience leading process improvement or digital transformation initiatives.

 

Why Choose Us?

• Opportunity to lead a highly visible regional procurement team.
• Exposure to cross-functional and international stakeholders.
• Ability to drive meaningful business impact through sourcing, transformation, and operational excellence.
• Collaborative environment that encourages innovation, continuous improvement, and professional growth.

We are a global leader in taste, scent, and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of the ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex, or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic self to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability.

Visit IFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more