Wasquehal, Hauts-de-France, France
A results orientated and performance driven entrepreneurial business leader with over 25 years of in-depth experience in the B2B food ingredients space, with a proven track record in the areas of Sales and Customer Relations Management, General Management, Product Line Management and Strategy. A major part of my career has been in sales and commercial leadership positions both on a local and international scale. I have extensive experience in negotiating complex multi-year agreements at both large key customer accounts and also with major suppliers and industry players. A strategic thinker with strong analytical skills, a keen sense of priorities and a solid business acumen. Accustomed to leading large, multi-disciplinary teams, I am a change agent having created and executed on many business transformation strategies and M&A deals. Structured and process minded I have led the design and deployment of several large-scale business processes and continuous improvement plans, as well as leading major capital investment projects. With a multicultural background I have lived and worked in many different countries. Much of my experience has been in challenging global settings and I have spent an important part of my career working abroad in The Netherlands, Belgium and India.
Head of Food Specialities Business Unit for EMEA and Americas. Responsible for all Commercial, Marketing and Technical support activities as well as designing and leading the BU strategy.
Reporting into the Sr Vice President for the Core Ingredients business the role is accountable for defining and executing the Product and Asset strategies across the globe, as well as managing key operational topics such as Product pricing and life cycle management. The function is structured as follows: - A team of Global Product Line managers accountable for defining and executing the Product strategies and managing the operational topics related to their portfolio. - Project leaders that manage the execution of the CAPEX projects. - An asset management team that defines the long-term industrial footprint and the site strategy plans. - A Strategic Partnership team that leads negotiations with partners for long term commercial deals such as supply agreements and Over-the-fence. - The Competitive Intelligence group that monitors and identifies insights related to the competitive landscape.
Leading Strategy, Innovation and Capex investments for the respective Product Lines.
The role reports into the Managing Director for the Texturizing business and is part of the EMEA Senior Leadership Team. The role strongly influences the executive team for the Texturizing Businesses Enterprise. Main responsibilities are: • Global Leadership of Cargill’s Food Starch and Maltodextrin P&L. Accountable for reaching a growth target of $245M EBITDA from current $117M (over 10 years). • Manage the global team of Product Line Directors and supporting functions. Responsible for the Talent management plan including engagement, development, coaching and succession planning. • Developing and executing the product line strategy, game board, M&A and financial plan. • Owns the Capital Investment project pipeline and sponsor for major projects (current approved projects: $450M). • Senior sponsor at key global Food Starch accounts and major suppliers. • Define, jointly with Marketing, the global communication plan, launch targets and innovation plans. • Sponsorship of Global supply chain and quality management improvement processes.
As part of the Senior leadership team for EMEA and reporting to the Regional Managing Director for the texturizing business the role owns the P&L and leads the local teams for the Pectin and Locust Bean Gum product lines. With production sites in France, Germany, Italy and Morocco total annual revenues stand at $160M with an EBITDA exceeding $35M. Main responsibilities were: • Define and execute the Product Line strategy. • Manage the commercial teams and product line managers setting individual and team goals. • Sponsor the major capital investment projects and manage the gate review stakeholders. • Lead M&A projects for the Product Line. • Lead negotiations with the most significant raw material suppliers and with Large Key Account. • Set pricing policies and commercial tactics globally. • Manage innovation and product launch plans. • I was also responsible for leading the commercial teams for France, Spain and Portugal. Accomplishments: Three record earnings years and major transformation of the asset footprint and business capabilities with the successful acquisition of the FMC Pectin business.
Whilst in my role as Product Line Director for Hydrocolloids I also held the position of Commercial Director for Spain and Portugal. I was responsible of managing the local team and the comercial strategy for the Texturizing business, as well as over seeing the local supply chain team and customer service desk for all activities in the local market.
International business focused on functional blends primarily for the meat industry with a turnover of more than €50M. Manufacturing plant in Rubí (Spain) with 100+ employees and a smaller asset in Poland (26 people). As General Manager I was responsible for the P&L and for leading the local Management Team. The business also managed distribution activities for other Texturizing product lines on site. Accomplishments: Transformation from a declining earnings trend to a positive projection business. Following a strategic recommendation to divest, successfully sold the business to MANE at a multiple significantly above market.
Working closely with the Senior Leadership Team I was responsible for the design, deployment and continuous improvement of major business processes and key projects. Accomplishments: I led the design, building and deployment of, amongst others, the following key business processes and projects: • Starches & Sweeteners Europe Strategy (2009 & 2010): Successful strategy design and implementation working closely with the Managing Director of one Cargill’s largest Food Ingredients business’s. • Sales and Operations Planning Lead (2007-2009): Design and deployment of an Integrated Business Management (IBP) process, based on the Oliver Wight methodology, with input and ownership from all core functions of the business. • Asset Footprint Management (2008-2011): Recommended several major asset re-structuring projects to streamline the network and drive improved cost competitiveness. • Capital Investment projects (2009-2012): Leading and project managing major capital investment projects in India and South Africa. These were Enterprise sponsored and in excess of $200Million: • Starches & Sweeteners facility in Karnataka (South-West India) (2009-2011). Spend: Approx. $150M • Greenfield facility for sweetener products in Johannesburg (South Africa) (2011). Spend: Approx. $80M
Reporting to the European Commercial Director for the Food & Pharma Specialties Business I was responsible for the Spanish and Portuguese markets. The job entailed setting the strategic and tactical goals for the region and managing all commercial activities through direct management of the local commercial organization.