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European External Affairs Manager

Who are we?

At Unilever, we share one simple purpose: Brighten Everyday Life for All. Through our powerhouse brands such as Dove, Axe and Knorr, we want to achieve our Growth Action Plan 2030 – and you can be part of it! Our goal is to deliver best-in-class performance with market-making and unmissably superior brands.

Business context and main purpose of the job:

Unilever is looking to recruit a European External Affairs Manager for our Brussels office (work level 2) to focus on our Foods Business Group and possibly others. You will:

Work closely with colleagues within the European and Global External Affairs team to help develop and deliver the European business and External Affairs priorities as well as driving our progressive agenda in Brussels. This includes delivering flawless issues management and outstanding execution of tasks.
Work mainly with the Foods Business Group (but also potentially others) and the European region through external affairs and advocacy interventions.
Help to drive our progressive agenda in Brussels on Unilever’s agenda both in terms of driving growth and mitigating risks by creating the right regulatory environment to help land our Growth Action Plan 2030

This will involve building/supporting multi-functional campaigns and advocacy strategies on topics covering the EU’s agriculture policy, food, sustainable food systems, food waste and more broad topics such as packaging, green claims and unfair trading practices. In addition, possible involvement in chemicals, detergents and cosmetics could also be foreseen depending on how busy the team is.

To do so, the European External Affairs Manager is required to have a good understanding of and experience with the EU Institutions and processes, knowledge of the EU agriculture, food and chemical related legislation, and excellent advocacy and campaigning skills.

Main Accountabilities:

You will be working with the European External Affairs team to:

Provide input, guidance and proactively draft and help shape positions/perceptions of external audiences as part of business strategy.
Draft and implement communications and social media material, position papers and stakeholder outreach programmes.
Represent Unilever in external contact building and networking with relevant European institutions including the European Parliament, European Commission and Council of Ministers.
Represent Unilever in key European trade organisations.
Build and maintain relationships with other key stakeholders such as NGOs, think-tanks and academics.
Act as a subject matter expert to the groups and to the Communications, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability teams in the capitals to help support Member States with creating the right regulatory and legislative environment to help land our Growth Action Plan 2030

Who are you?

Relevant Experience:

5-7 years’ experience in an external/public affairs role (in-house, consultancy, trade association) or relevant experience in one of the EU institutions.
A team player with a global mindset who is willing to work across public affairs, advocacy and communications disciplines, geographies and functions.
Ability to summarize how certain regulatory and reputational issues can impact the business and to help create unlocks.
Ability to translate complex, technical topics into clear, easy-to-understand messages for a political audience.
Knowledge of the EU legislation on agriculture, food and nutrition
Knowledge of the EU legislation on fairness in the supply chain, in particular on unfair trading practices.
Experience in the agri-food sector.
Network of established European external affairs contacts with the European Institutions, NGOs, and industry stakeholders.

Desirable:

Knowledge of the FMCG sector, including on other areas such as detergents, cosmetics, chemicals, packaging, green claims, due diligence, sustainable reporting.

Key Skills:

Have business acumen and understand how the business operates
Understand and advise on how external affairs can help drive business priorities
Stakeholder management and knowledge
Strategic Issues Management expertise
Lobbying and Advocacy campaigning
Able to get to absorb information and come to the essence with novel point of views for the business
Flexible and adaptable to fit into the EU external affairs environment
Perfect command of written and spoken English. Any additional language is a strong asset

EXCITED ABOUT THE ROLE?

To apply, please send your CV and a motivation letter by 4 July. Your application will be reviewed against our requirements and we will be in touch shortly after the closing date to provide you with an update on the status of your application.

Please note that the position is based in Brussels, Belgium.

We look forward to meeting you!

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.

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