Director Strategy

FrieslandCampina is a global dairy leader that leverages its position to contribute to a better society thanks to nourishing dairy products and through sustainable, long-lasting relationships with its farmers. The Corporate Strategy team assures that the company is future-proof and the Director of Strategy will work on cross-group projects and M&A directly for company leadership.

About FrieslandCampina

FrieslandCampina is an FMCG and B2B company producing and selling consumer products such as dairy-based beverages, infant nutrition, single ingredients, cheese and desserts across over 100 countries. Well-known consumer brands include Campina milk, Mona desserts, Chocomel, Fristi, Milner cheese, Friesche Vlag coffee milk and Optimel drink yoghurt. The company covers the supply chain ‘from grass to glass’, also serving businesses in the hospitality industry and food producers, such as restaurants, hotels and (industrial) bakeries.

As a cooperative, the 16,000 dairy farmers that supply the company with their milk are not just suppliers; they have an ownership stake in the business. Therefore, both parties are closely intertwined and focused on mutual long-term success.

The company is one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the world, employing just short of 24,000 people and achieving a turnover of more than €11 billion in 2019. It has offices in 34 countries, with a central office in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. Its four business groups are focused on Consumer Dairy, Specialized Nutrition, Dairy Essentials, and Ingredients.

“Within FrieslandCampina, we value our culture. That means we look for people that are purpose driven and share our values. Who are commercially obsessed and want to move ahead with speed and decisiveness. And people who display an owners’ mindset, focus on what’s good for FrieslandCampina as a whole.” – Hein Schumacher, CEO

Vacancy: Director of Strategy

The Director of Strategy focuses on the strategic priorities of the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board, and the Executive Leadership Team, working in a team of four other strategy professionals, ex-consultants from top tier firms (i.e., Kearney, McKinsey, Bain). Together they make up the core strategy team of FrieslandCampina. The team is the center of excellence in terms of strategic capabilities and sets the standard for the rest of the organization.

When working on projects, the Director of Strategy can leverage resources from the broader organization to create a dedicated team with the right mix of capabilities and expertise for a particular initiative. Other times, he/she will have a more supporting and steering role, with the organization doing the work. The Director Strategy has the flexibility to manage different teams and different people and to add value in a hands-on and hands-off way of working.

The Director of Strategy reports directly to the Corporate Director of Strategy and has significant exposure to the entire senior leadership on a regular basis, e.g. Business Group Presidents, Corporate Director R&D, Corporate Director HR, and Corporate Director Supply Chain. The expectation is that the Director of Strategy can play an important role as sparring partner for its leadership both at the Executive Board level and at the ELT level.

Strategic projects at executive board level
Overall, the team works on long-term strategic opportunities, in essence assuring the company is future-proof. The Director Strategy deals with projects at multiple levels and across several areas of focus, working closely with the Executive Board and Executive Leadership Team on projects of the highest strategic importance.

The Director Strategy is also involved in cross-Business Group projects that require additional support and a holistic, company-wide perspective. On those projects, he/she works with the four Business Group Presidents, responsible for Consumer Dairy, Specialized Nutrition, Ingredients, and Dairy Essentials. Another element of putting the strategy into action is supporting, monitoring and reporting on the company-wide implementation.

Another example of areas of focus is M&A. The Director of Strategy works closely with the Corporate M&A team and the relevant Business Group stakeholders to identify and analyze M&A opportunities.

“Because of the wide variety of topics, a Director of Strategy will get to know a lot of people in our organization and become familiar with all the aspects of our business. That makes this role an ideal landing spot to get to know the company and the industry, before transitioning to the business.” – Giacomo Tortora, Corporate Director Strategy

FrieslandCampina works with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
Contact Roland Vetten at roland.vetten@topofminds.com for more information.