Global Category Manager Ingredients at Oatly
Ready to spice up sourcing? Join us here at Oatly and lead global ingredient strategy with sustainability, innovation, and a dash of supplier magic. Let’s make sourcing exciting!
WHY OATLY?
Across the world people’s consumption habits and diets are evolving to be more plant-based. Enter Oatly, the #1 oat based dairy alternative producer in the world with products spanning multiple categories.
We’re determined on being part of the discussion on the long-term future of the food and beverage industry. To keep this movement going, we need more brilliant minds to come work with us to keep the momentum going and the Oatly flowing.
Our sole purpose as a company is to make it easy for people to turn what they eat and drink into personal moments of healthy joy without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources in the process.
Sustainability, nutritional health and trust are at the heart of what we do. We are building a culture that constantly upgrades each other so we can upgrade the planet. This is a company that shows great respect and a fearless approach to make positive change. Does this feel exciting? Well, this is where you come in.
WHAT WE NEED YOU TO DO
This is not just any role – it’s one of our most business-critical and technically advanced sourcing positions. You will play a key role in shaping Oatly’s global ingredient strategy, ensuring that our sourcing decisions align with sustainability ambitions, innovation goals, and operational needs. Your work will directly influence supplier performance, cost efficiency, and the integration of sustainability and quality across the entire ingredient supply chain.
In short: this role is pivotal to Oatly’s success and requires someone who thrives in complexity, innovation, and global collaboration. If you’re ready to take ownership of a category that impacts everything from product development to market growth, this is the challenge for you.
Here’s the main elements of the role...
- Set the global business direction and sourcing strategy for ingredients, applying a holistic Total Cost of Ownership approach with key stakeholders.
- Implement the strategy across the supply chain in collaboration with sourcing, operations, co-manufacturers, sustainability, quality, and innovation teams.
- Manage strategic supplier relationships, lead negotiations, and build the supplier structure.
- Drive the development of new ingredient materials and production technologies in collaboration with Product Development and Innovation.
- Ensure capacity to meet market demand and deliver cost savings aligned with business expectations.
- Define and track KPIs for cost, delivery, quality, sustainability, and innovation.
- Improve the sustainability performance of suppliers and support selection aligned with company values.
- Deliver insights on ingredient and supplier market trends, drive continuous improvement within the existing supplier base, and proactively expand and develop the supply market to maximize business value.
- Contribute to cross-functional innovation initiatives and develop sourcing operations toward a high-performance culture.
But, you know. These are just the things we can think of right now! This might be the job today, but tomorrow brings more change, so being light on your feet and willing to embrace the unknown is a verrrrrry big help.
In this role, you will report to VP Sustainable Sourcing, and the location for this role is Malmö HQ.
Before you scroll down to the bullet points...
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about managing suppliers. It’s about leading a global strategy that drives innovation, sustainability, and growth for Oatly worldwide. If you want a role where your decisions truly matter and you’re ready to tackle one of our most technical sourcing challenges, we’d love to hear from you.
WHAT WE NEED YOU TO BRING TO THE TABLE
We are looking for you who have a Master within Engineering, Business Economics, Supply Chain Management, Strategic Sourcing or other relevant field. In this role, you’ll define and execute strategies that balance cost, quality, sustainability, and innovation—while building strong, long-term partnerships with suppliers. You’ll turn insights into action, whether it’s negotiating critical agreements, driving performance through KPIs, or securing reliable supply for a fast-growing business. If you’re passionate about food safety, sustainability, and staying ahead of industry trends, this is your opportunity to make a difference.
Other key competencies & experiences:
- Minimum 5- 7+ years of experience in ingredient materials strategic sourcing, category management or procurement in a global organization.
- In-depth knowledge of ingredient, flavor, and enzymes materials, technologies, and trends, with direct experience managing innovation projects and supplier capabilities.
- Strong supplier market knowledge and a deep understanding of production technologies for the specific category.
- At least 5 years of working experience from BRC/ISO standards, and sustainability.
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BI system competence (Qlik, Power BI, or others) and knowledge within ERP system logic (Microsoft AX preferred).
- Proven experience in leading global sourcing strategies and managing complex categories, ideally within the food or FMCG industry.
- Demonstrated success in building and managing strategic supplier partnerships, including experience with supplier classification, performance tracking and long-term collaboration planning.
- Strong track record of negotiating commercial agreements that balance cost efficiency with sustainability, quality, and innovation priorities.
- Project management experience and experience working across functions such as Innovation, Operations, Sustainability, and Quality to align sourcing strategies and drive integrated supplier agendas.
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, enabling effective navigation of complex business challenges and driving the sourcing agenda within a multifaceted internal environment, while fostering trust through integrity and strong leadership.
WHO WE NEED YOU TO BE
We think your oatsomeness is built upon the following qualities:
- You are a passionate advocate for sustainability who strives to create societal shifts and drive the plant-based revolution.
- You have problem-solving skills essential for identifying root causes and implementing effective solutions.
- You are a self-starter who enjoys building from scratch and implementing sustainable processes, structures, and tools.
- You are highly collaborative and understand that our success as a company depends on our ability to work together to find innovative solutions.
- You are comfortable with ambiguity and chaos, energized by the challenge of building something lasting that benefits both the world and its people.
Finally, we hope that you share our values and have a great interest to carry out our mission in order to make the world a little bit better.
Another bulleted list felt redundant, so we made this page talking about all the benefits we offer to sweeten the deal of working with us before you apply – if you're curious, check out this fancy page right here!
YOUR APPLICATION
Phew! Well done if you’ve got this far. We’re glad we’ve still got your attention because we’ve got one last super important point to make.
As you can probably tell, we’re a norm-breaking company. For us, diversity and differences are an obvious asset. We know that amazing candidates can sometimes be put off applying for a job unless they can tick every box, and that makes us really sad. So please trust your gut and pop in your application if it’s feeling right. If you have the curiosity, passion, and collaborative spirit, let’s do this together! It will be fun!
Last day of application: 4th of December.
We treat all candidates equally: If you are interested, please apply through our application system - any correspondence should come from there. This will ensure that the candidate experience is smooth and fair to everyone!
Love Oatly XOXO
#LI-TA1
- Department
- Science & Technology
- Locations
- Malmö HQ
Malmö HQ
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