Procurement Director - Real Estate

Earlier this year, Unilever announced an agreement to combine its Foods business with McCormick & Company, creating a scaled global flavour powerhouse. The proposed combination would bring together iconic Foods brands, including Hellmann’s and Knorr, with McCormick’s portfolio to create a global leader across spices, seasonings, condiments and complementary food categories, supported by strong retail and foodservice platforms. McCormick brings more than 135 years of heritage, a presence in 150+ countries and territories, and a portfolio of trusted brands. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, with completion estimated for mid-2027.

Salary range: € 100.800- € 138.600 gross per year, depending on experience and internal peer positioning.

JOB PURPOSE

This role exists to define and deliver the global procurement strategy for real estate, facilities management, workplace services and property-related investments, ensuring portfolio choices support business priorities, employee experience and long-term value. The role shapes sourcing and supplier strategies that optimise cost and capital, maximise value opportunities and balance operational, financial and property risk. Working across Business Groups, regional and local leadership, Finance, Legal, HR, IT, Workplace, Sustainability and external partners, the role enables integrated workplace and property solutions that create business impact and resilient service delivery.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead, develop and empower the Global Real Estate Procurement organisation of four FTEs, including this Director role, with three Managers reporting directly to the Director, responsible for approximately €150+ million managed spend globally.

• Lead portfolio optimisation through demand and utilisation analysis, market intelligence, location strategy, consolidation, lease optimisation and, where appropriate, acquisitions, disposals and asset repositioning.

• Partner with Finance, Real Estate and Workplace to establish commercial standards for leases, renewals, acquisitions, disposals, fit-outs and property investments, providing market benchmarks, total occupancy cost analysis, commercial risk assessment and negotiated value to support robust business cases and investment decisions.

• Set global service standards, performance scorecards and governance for facilities-management and workplace providers across cost, service, staffing, compliance, employee experience, sustainability and continuous improvement.

• Build strategic ecosystems of real-estate advisers, landlords, facilities-management providers and specialist partners to unlock innovation, market access, resilience and value opportunities.

• Build and land multi-year value creation programmes with Business Groups, regional and local leadership, Finance, Legal, HR, IT, Workplace, Sustainability and external partners, balancing cost, capital efficiency, employee experience, service resilience and business priorities.

• Provide senior leaders with transparent portfolio, budget, project, supplier and risk reporting, including early warnings, scenarios and commercial recommendations on property and investment decisions.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Extensive senior procurement and/or corporate real-estate leadership experience across complex, multinational organisations, covering office and industrial portfolios.

• Proven experience defining and delivering real-estate strategy, transactions, facilities-management and workplace-services sourcing with strategic partners, landlords and business leaders, at comparable spend and organisational scale.

• Strong commercial and financial acumen across total occupancy cost, transaction structures, benchmarking, contractual risk, service quality and property-related investments.

• Demonstrated capability to lead and improve third-party provider performance through robust governance, clear service expectations, escalation and outcome-based relationships.

• Strong stakeholder management, negotiation, communication, change-management, portfolio, project, budget, risk and performance reporting skills in a global matrix environment.

• Enterprise leadership mindset, with the ability to set clear priorities, lead through ambiguity and portfolio change, balance strategic thinking with execution, build trusted senior stakeholder relationships and develop high-performing procurement talent.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience integrating real estate, facilities, project management, change management and sustainability services into a coherent employee and business experience.

• Knowledge of workplace, HR, IT, sustainability and employee-experience processes and their interdependencies with real estate and facilities services.

• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, disposals or business transformations through due diligence, integration planning and property-related execution.

We welcome applicants from all walks of life and are committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive/succeed. All applicants will receive fair and respectful consideration, and we actively support the growth and development of every employee.  

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to provide a positive, barrier-free recruitment journey. Should you require additional information or reasonable adjustments to allow you to present your best self during this process, please contact your Talent Partner.