Raw Material Developer - Agriculture/Animal Welfare

We are Purchasing Development! We purchase the materials and the production capacity needed to produce both home furnishing products and food. 

In Purchasing Development, our assignment goes hand in hand with the IKEA Business Idea, created 75 years ago, as we are responsible to produce the ‘wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them’. We produce and supply IKEA products and food with affordability, accessibility, sustainability and quality as our main priorities.

Within Purchasing Development, we are the Raw Material Area. We enable IKEA to influence responsible sourcing and business practices in the world. We secure accessibility of affordable raw material from responsibly managed sources through optimised supply chains and a positive social and environmental impact within and beyond our own needs. ​

We are currently looking for a Raw Material Developer in the Agriculture team.

The purpose of the Raw Material Developer in Agriculture/Animal Welfare is to create and lead the raw material agenda that enables compliance and traceability for your assigned raw materials.

Part of the work description:

1. You have a business background. You need to understand your volumes, your product applications, your costs, your supply chain actors, your sourcing regions (traceability), your market dynamics and the risks associated with people, planet and animals in the supply chains of your commodities; but also the opportunities to create a positive impact. In other words, you need to know your business.
2. Prioritize action plans among raw materials and geographies based upon risks, volumes, business and sustainability opportunities. Support the business teams in the categories to understand and secure compliance.
3. Develop together with the relevant categories a geographical and a commodity based roll out plan for the new IWAY Agriculture Section and IWAY Animal Welfare Section.
4. Together with relevant stakeholders, create long term action plans that go beyond compliance. How will IKEA create a positive impact? How to connect single commodities to a landscape approach and the total IKEA agriculture agenda?
5. Together with the crops and soil experts, understand the LCA of your raw materials to secure constant and updated science-based input to the Raw Material Directions. Taking in consideration the regenerative practices into the LCA.
6. Together with crops and soil expert, identify, evaluate and recommend potential supply chain setups to accelerate IKEA progress towards our strategic goals. In other words, contribute to improve our supply chains.

As Raw Material Developer in Agriculture/Animal Welfare, you will work closely together with category business teams, sustainability developers and leaders, material & innovation teams and supply teams around the different supply offices. You will need to motivate and use an assignments-based approach to capitalize on the competence, specific knowhows and locations of different stakeholders throughout the IKEA supply organization. Your leadership will be a very important attribute to mobilize and progress your agenda.

You will pursue numerous complex and rewarding tasks, building detailed plan to advance the Agriculture Raw Material agenda, contributing to develop responsible sourcing common methodologies for traceability set-up, risk assessment and data collection. Partnering with existing certification programs, industry associations and other organizations applicable for your high priority crops. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to work together with numerous stakeholders throughout the organisation connected to agriculture: developing close collaboration with Business, Material & Innovation and Sustainability matrix.

Overall, togetherness, leadership and love for challenges are key for this role!

To succeed & shine in this role, we wish that you have:

• Have a University degree in Animal Science or Agronomy. Have working food industry experience in business, innovation or sustainability is a benefit.
• Good understanding of legislation connected to agriculture and animal welfare. Knowledge of sustainability and supply chain management.
• Some project management and informal leadership experience 
• Experience from stakeholder engagement
• Ability to work in a changing environment with a level of flexibility
• Good communication skills. 

Who are you as a person?

• You are curious and persistent and have the courage to explore and navigate the unknown. 
• You are ready to stretch boundaries and see your work through a problem-solving lens.
• You have a passion for sustainability and business.
• You are strongly interested in leading and implementing change
• As you know, IKEA of Sweden is a global company, therefore we expect you to be fluent in written and spoken English!
   

Would you like to be a part of this exciting assignment?

If you have questions regarding the role please contact Raw Material Manager Eliza Pawlik-Rykaczewska  at eliza.pawlik-rykaczewska2@inter.ikea.com

If you have questions about the recruitment process please contact P&C Recruiter, Femina Karlsson at femina.ladhani.karlsson@inter.ikea.com

We are looking forward to your application! Please submit both your CV and motivational letter in English by 10th April 2025. We are reviewing applications as they come through so don’t wait to apply!