Director Procurement

Terviva India Pvt Limited
Position: Director Procurement

CTC - Rs. 50,00,000/- to 60,00,000/-

Reports to: India Country Head

Job Type: Full-Time

A leading sustainable agricultural technology company, Terviva, provides patented high-yielding trees to growers and proprietary bean processing to food manufacturers to create sustainable food ingredients, capitalizing on the need for science to bring better plant-based options to consumers. Terviva is recruiting the Manager, Business Applications as they ramp up R&D operations, facilities, and staff to meet the increasing demand for sustainable plant-based proteins & oil.

About Terviva

Founded in 2010, Tervivais a rapidly growing food and ag-tech company that delivers tasty and nourishing plant-based food ingredients from the pongamia tree. The company provides patented high-yielding trees and offers proprietary bean processing to create the world’s most sustainable oil and protein food ingredients. Terviva believes that healthy foods need a healthy planet with thriving ecosystems and strong, resilient social structures to feed the rising global population in a climate-constrained world. The company is dedicated to helping growers feed people while taking care of the planet. Terviva produces plant protein and vegetable oil by growing non-GMO, sustainable Pongamia that is carbon negative and produces dramatically higher yields than other oilseed crops on farmland that can’t be used for traditional crops due to weather, disease, or market challenges. Using natural, proprietary food processing methods, Terviva creates a golden-colored, buttery cooking oil and highly soluble plant protein which is far more sustainable than other oilseed crops commonly used today, such as palm and soy.

Terviva is headquartered in Alameda, California and has offices in Florida, Hawaii, Australia and India. In 2021 May, the company raised $78.0MM in equity capital to commercialize its highly sustainable, new-to market culinary oils and plant proteins. Terviva additionally launched a collaboration with Danone that illustrates a shared vision to improve the environmental outcomes of the food system by supporting regenerative farming practices that improve soil health, water quality and biodiversity, while also improving social and market outcomes.

Learn more at [www.terviva.com](http://www.terviva.com)

OVERALL JOB PURPOSE

Primarily responsible for creating & executing the procurement strategy for sourcing of Pongamia/Karanja beans in India. The person will be responsible for program creation and field scale interventions with internal and external stakeholders in the domain of estimating & increasing availability, procurement & negotiations strategy, pre-crush processing of Pongamia beans in India. The primary focus of this position is to roll out interventions and build capacities of stakeholders – viz. Community resource persons, farmers, self-help groups, collection centers. The person will be responsible to manage and execute the forecasts for quantity & rate for feedstock procurement and ensure that timelines are effectively followed to meet the purchase requirements (traceability, quality, sustainability) of the business at international level. To efficiently manage supply of stocks in terms of volume and cost and manage risk associated with current market conditions to ensure security of supply. To maintain and improve quality, developing company’s reputation, and strengthening the link between TerViva and bean gatherers/ suppliers/ partners in all the potential states of India.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Procurement

• Manage the procurement of Pongamia beans, pods & other value added products.
• Identification of potential bean cluster area in different states with the historical procurement statistics.
• Planning, coordination & leading the field teams & partners for pre-harvest position of Pongamia beans through visits and updates from potential bean gatherers & suppliers.
• Work closely with the government departments like forest, tribal welfare and agriculture for facilitate the procurement and logistics planning of the produce.
• Develop & manage the regional procurement team, during and after the procurement season.
• Collaborate with the Impact, Quality, Supply-chain & Tree team to increase the total harvest, procurement market share with right quality, sustainability, traceability & food-safety standards,
• Manage and execute forecasts for feedstock procurement for each season based on the company's annual demand forecast, to ensure supply security and timelines.
• Monitor contracts/ purchase orders against requirements by product, quality, blend, by month, by Supplier Group, resolving any issues that arise.
• Developing rapport with the bean supply agencies and bean processing industries for achieving desired goals on a long term basis.
• Be commercially minded when negotiating quality differentials and price in order to obtain best deal for TerViva and suppliers.
• Support TerViva’s price risk strategy by providing timely and important market information.
• Proactively manage feedstock to ensure efficient stock levels at any time depending on latest supply and demand.

Partnership with Bean Gatherers/Suppliers/ Partners

• Lead and organise pre-season Pongamia market survey and business updates for all gatherer/ supplier/ partner groups prior to season’s harvest
• Demonstrate an understanding of the challenges faced by the pod gatherers, gather systematic supplier feedback, and represent their interests
• Meeting with bean gatherers/suppliers/ Partners regularly in their locations and ensure high quality information flows between their organisations and TerViva
• Constantly assess harvests, demand in origin from other markets, and local knowledge, including significant environmental, political and economic factors which may impact the planning process

Technical Support

• Deeploy quality enhancement programs for bean gatherers/suppliers/ partners in order to achieve consistent quality, reliability in supply (continuity), in the context of forest/ environmental sensitivities
• Leverage the TKS network to ensure adequate harvesting in collaboration with the Impact team
• Undertake mobilization training session with the bean gatherers and support staff and be responsible for implementation procurement policies on traceability, sustainability, etc.
• Seek requisite technical inputs and understanding from technical specialists (Technology & Tree R&D) of TerViva Inc. to promote best practices for procurement, handling and processing of beans in India.

Creating Positive Environmental Impact

• Drawing experience at origin and at point of feedstock procurement, encourage environment friendly and efficient methods of procurement of Pongamia pods/beans.
• Work with villagers to encourage environmentally sustainable production, support suppliers to strengthen the positive impact they have on the environment, and to use these actions to bolster their livelihoods.

Other responsibilities

• Perform any other task assigned by the line manager as per company’s requirement.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Skills and Knowledge

• MBA from a premier Business School
• Deep understanding of Procurement of Agricultural & Forest produce which includes farmer level interventions.
• Experience of working in a large project and as part of a diverse team is desirable.
• Experience in supporting and handholding farmers in adopting and adapting to best practices and new products.
• Familiarity with all the agro-climatic conditions of India.
• Strong facilitation/ training and communication skills
• Willingness to learn from and replicate best practices from elsewhere.
• Strong commercial orientation & understanding of edible & non-edible oil sector.
• Price Risk Management
• Experience working with Smallholder producers, suppliers, and wholesalers, at origin
• Project management skills

Personal Qualities

• Passion for Sustainability, Social Upliftment, Agriculture, Forestry.
• Understanding of tribal/rural development and gender dimensions within climate smart agriculture and MFP procurement domains.
• Ability to work in a team and build capacity and connect to community stakeholders.
• Commercially Minded – keen to grow business (purchase, market share, profits)
• Ability to deliver innovative, creative solutions
• Communicates with impact
• Compassionate and respectful of all people
• Comfortable operating in a changing world, without clear structures, policies, and procedures
• Challenging - of business/partners to secure what we need to deliver
• Dynamic – relentless in pursuit of KPI delivery, acting with pace and urgency
• High level of integrity and honesty.
• Adaptable and flexible
• Results-focused – Proactive-Takes the initiative-

Personal Characteristics

• A role model who exerts positive influence on those around him/her.

• Self-motivated and curious with a bias for action.

• Comfortable driving excellence and learning new approaches.

• A passion for Terviva’s mission.

• Competitive annual salary, commensurate with experience

• Potential 10% annual bonus

• Medical and insurance coverage

• Generous leave package

Our Job Descriptions are not intended to be a complete detailed account of all activities. We’re a small business operating in a fast-moving and competitive global environment and so we need employees to be flexible about their Roles, Responsibilities and flexibility in place of working.

Working at Terviva offers you:

Hybrid work model that supports a blend of in-office & remote Five day work week

Potential Global Exposure

Autonomy to work

• The opportunity to make a difference in a fast-growing, mission-driven company that intends to make an impact on sustainability, climate change and inequality by partnering with farmers to plant millions of trees to feed billions of people!

COVID-19 Recruiting Process in Place:

• Remote interview process will be followed.
• Personal protective equipment will be provided according to current safety guidelines
• Temperature screenings will be required for all in-person interviews
• Social distancing guidelines will be implemented.
• Sanitizing, disinfecting, or cleaning procedures are in place.
• Terviva requires all new employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before reporting for work.

Next Steps

• To apply, please respond to the company position below.

• Please include your resume and a great cover letter telling us about yourself, your experience and why you are well suited for this job with Terviva.

Terviva is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), gender, gender identity, and gender expression, disability or handicap (mental and physical) including HIV and AIDS, medical condition (cancer and genetic characteristics ), genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, military and veteran status, denial of family and medical care leave, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. Our executive team is dedicated to this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities and general treatment during employment.