Global Category Manager - Vanilla H/F - Hubcycle

The company

30% of global agricultural raw materials end up as wasted resources. In other words, 6% of our global carbon emissions are generated for nothing. That's it.

At Hubcycle, we are reshaping the food industry by transforming overlooked by-products into competitive ingredients. Our approach hacks conventional supply chains, demanding boldness, peak performance, pragmatism, and collaboration. However, this does not prevent us from upholding and delivering the highest food safety standards.

We act as professionals, always.

Our culture

We believe a great workplace is about working alongside exceptional people who push us forward. We cultivate a culture of excellence, ownership, and impact, ensuring that each person at Hubcycle contributes meaningfully to our mission.

This requires creativity, resilience, and a hunger to challenge the norm. We are not here to play it safe; we are here to build a company that changes how the world sources food.
We move fast. We expect excellence.
We challenge each other constantly. We don't hide behind excuses. We don't tolerate mediocre standards, negligence, nor carelessness.
This environment is demanding and high-impact but deeply rewarding. Let's be clear:
Even if this sounds sexy, Hubcycle is not for everyone.

So please read on.

Our mission

We buy what others discard.

We spot and assess agri-food by-products, turning them into high-quality, competitive & sustainable ingredients.

We're not just avoiding waste, we're rethinking the supply chain, creating a fully upcycled ecosystem for tomorrow's food.

By connecting industry players to untapped resources, Hubcycle boosts circularity and food access, doing more, with less.You will be the Global Category Manager of Vanilla ingredients. We visited many manufacturing sites to confirm there is indeed something big to do. Now, it's confirmed that it is ready to grow, and grow big. We are now in the hunt for an expert to do it way bigger, way faster, and way better than us as beginners. So we want you to develop sales, sourcing, product management, as well as your team knowledge in this category.

We feel that we are at the beginning of something huge. This is a unique opportunity to take responsibility from the beginning, and push it with no limits.

Day to day will be more or less as follow :

- Own the sourcing, product development and sales of the Vanilla category globally, building, developing and managing directly a cross-functional team.
- Apply your industry knowledge & value chain expertise to source the right side-streams & sell the right ingredients at the right place, to the right clients.
- Manage own Sales, Sourcing, Product Management, and eventually quality (SDA) and orders delivery in the category.
- Own the category P&L, striving to deliver KPI
- Build the category strategy and be accountable for its growth globally
- Keep each stakeholder on its toes regarding sales strategy & market needs (shortages, trends, etc.) in this category.
- Support Product Managers and Quality department in developing relevant specifications to achieve the best market fit.
- You will be accountable for defining and executing strategies defined to achieve ambitious growth targets. This will come with an uncapped bonus, and management package incentive.

We expect you to manage & animate a strong sales & sourcing pipeline from the beginning. At first, we will provide clear targets to achieve. Later, we will expect you to guide us on what is achievable in this category & therefore strongly contribute to overall company strategy. You can count on us to push you to deliver the best version of yourself. And we expect you to push us to become a better version of Hubcycle. We will always care about your opinion & vision on the market.

The team around you

We expect you to build your team. At first you can count on the Product Manager, Sourcing Manager and Sales Manager who already explored this category to support your debuts. You will be guided into our specific model by our C level team, including the CEO.

Your reporting will go directly to the CFOO, with the CEO highly supportive in case of any technical need.

You will have close exchanges with the Head of Sourcing & Head of Sales to help you cope with specificities of sourcing & selling things based on side-streams.

Who You Are

- You like challenges and aim high!
- Flexible and agile, you know what it takes to be part of a startup, an ever-changing environment.
- Autonomous, dedicated, humble, rigorous, proactive, detail-oriented. You know what cut the crap means.
- You're efficient & business oriented -no BS, just solutions.
- Team player AND lone wolf: you own your projects but ask for help when needed.
- You are known for your interpersonal and customer service skills, even in highly stressful situations.

Must-Haves

- We believe that, at least 7 years of selling or purchasing vanilla products and derivatives is a must to achieve our goals.
- Perfect knowledge of the vanilla industry B2B value chain.
- Successful experience in Management
- Ability to anticipate quality & specification constraints of both clients & products.
- Experience in purchasing / selling internationally (not limited to one country). The wider the scope, the better.
- Great communication & listening skills : balance ego, clear points, always propose a solution when spotting a problem.
- Fluent in English. Any other language is great.

Nice-to-Haves

- Technical expertise on vanilla extraction and derivative products
- You have a circular economy mindset
- You have already worked on by-products

You embody our core values

- Discernment
- Boldness
- Dedication to performance
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Pragmatism
- Integrity

Salary and conditions

- Contract : Permanent full-time
- Based in Avignon. We could consider the remote in very specific conditions. But as a fast moving start up, we can see that being here with us is the best way to share emotions & celebrate.
- Home office : 2 days a week maximum.
- Salary: You can see we are looking for experts. We know that comes with a price, and we will value that. The package will be fine tuned based on your experience. Uncapped bonus, and management package included. The more you gain, the happier we are.
- Start ASAP

Process

- Interview with our Talent Acquisition Team
- Interview Deep Dive with CFOO and Head of Sourcing
- Interview with our C-suite
- On site meeting to run through our sample room and Q&A