International Head of Food Industry & Retail

ProVeg has prioritized the food industry as one of our main focus areas within the theory of change model to achieve our vision of a world where everyone chooses healthy and delicious food that is good for all people, animals and the planet.

By 2025, ProVeg’s goals are to:
Increase the proportion of people eating less or no animal foods (stimulate demand)
Influence retailers, the food industry, public institutions, companies, policy and relevant decision-makers to offer more plant-based products and other alternatives to animal products and decrease any animal products on offer (change supply)
Influence policy-makers and other relevant stakeholders to create a fit-for-purpose regulatory, socio-economic and educational environment to enable a significant global transition towards a sustainable plant-based and cultivated meat, eggs, dairy and seafood marketplace
Influence investors, the food science and related research community, and other relevant stakeholders to increase investment and research funds for research and development, and promotion/upscaling of sustainable plant-based products and cultivated meat, eggs, dairy and seafood.

The scope of the International Head of Food Industry & Retail includes leading the food industry & retail work of ProVeg to influence the availability and quality of plant-based products. This role will provide inspirational leadership of a highly motivated small team and effective coordination with different ProVeg departments and countries. The post holder will build on and expand a diverse external network, engaging in strategically important relationships within the food industry. This will include representing ProVeg and the Corporate Engagement team through delivering insights at speaker engagements and interviews.

Responsibilities: 

1. Lead the Food Industry & Retail teamRepresenting ProVeg internally and externally
Guiding and inspiring the team to achieve ProVeg’s vision and objectives

• Overseeing the EU Smart Protein project and supporting the team members
• Planning and budgeting, setting up processes, organizing and staffing, problem solving, analyzing results
• Managing workflows and priorities
• Developing the team members’ skills and potential, and assuring staff satisfaction and team effectiveness
• Supporting internal communication and coordination between teams in regards to food industry matters
• Working closely with the ProVeg International Country Directors and Corporate Engagement staff to support the growth of plant-based and cultivated food on a global scale.
• Working with fundraising and other colleagues to develop integrated income generation approaches to corporate engagement, and actively pursue opportunities for partnerships, sponsorships and corporate giving.

2. Lead the creation of the department’s strategy and ensuring effective implementation and impact measurement

• Smoothly navigating a bottom-up and top-down strategy development process while shaping organizational and corporate engagement strategies
• Aligning with other departments and ProVeg countries to most effectively utilize resources and internal knowledge
• Collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Manager to assess effectiveness and impact

3. Establish and maintain connections with, and educate strategically important private sector entities on the future of plant-based and cultivated food, including international companies and brands, and retailers

• Expanding ProVeg’s business network  and engaging with key strategic partners that help us to achieve our goals, by speaking at or attending events (fairs, conferences or other fora)
• Engaging in and supporting in the delivery of our most impactful consultancies
• Building a list of high-priority global companies and conducting proactive outreach to these companies to make the case for producing, investing in, or otherwise participating in the market for alternative proteins.
• Overseeing the implementation and dissemination of relevant consumer and market research on plant-based and cultivated food with startups, investors, and corporations.

4. Raise the profile of ProVeg and influence the influencers in the food industry

• Delivering compelling presentations to inspire food industry actors to transition to more and better plant-based products
• Providing thought leadership and insights/expertise on plant-based sector developments for B2B and B2C media