Are you a commercially driven category leader with strong negotiation skills within commodities and the ability to lead and develop a young, growing team?

If so, you might be the perfect fit as our new Global Category Manager – Waste Management at ABENA.

Driving a strategic category with global potential

At ABENA, we are looking for a Global Category Manager for Waste Management – a strategically important category with significant global potential and a clear commercial and operational development agenda.

The category plays an important role in supporting customer needs across markets and requires a strong commercial profile who can navigate global supplier markets, drive category performance, and strengthen ABENA’s competitive position. In particular, we are looking for someone who understands how to operate in a commodity-driven environment, with plastics as a key material, and who can turn market insight and negotiation capability into tangible business results.

As Global Category Manager, you will have end-to-end responsibility for the category at a global level. You will act on behalf of the entire group and work closely with sourcing, subsidiaries, suppliers, and your own team of currently 5 colleagues to ensure a strong category strategy, competitive sourcing setup, and continued business development.

This is a role for someone who thrives with ownership and is motivated by seeing the direct impact of their work on both performance and profitability.

Your role and responsibilities

• Own the global P&L and performance of the Waste Management category, driving revenue growth, margin improvement, and EBIT development.
• Lead the global category strategy and ensure a strong commercial direction across markets.
• Drive sourcing and supplier strategies with a strong focus on commodity management, especially within plastics, including price negotiations, supplier development, and risk mitigation.
• Monitor market developments in raw materials and commodities and translate insights into sourcing decisions and commercial actions.
• Support subsidiaries commercially with pricing, assortment decisions, tenders, and product positioning.
• Drive a harmonized and scalable global assortment, aligned with customer needs and market opportunities.
• Lead and develop a young, growing team by fostering structure, engagement, collaboration, and development of capability, ensuring continued progress in both maturity and performance.

We imagine that you

• Have solid experience from global category management, sourcing, procurement, or product ownership in an international organization
• Bring strong negotiation experience within commodities, ideally with plastics or similar raw material-driven categories
• Understand how commodity markets impact pricing, margins, supplier strategy, and commercial decisions
• Are a strong commercial profile, motivated by ownership, performance improvement, and measurable business results
• Combine strategic perspective with hands-on execution power
• Have leadership experience and a genuine interest in developing people, especially in a young or newly established team
• Know how to create structure, motivation, and momentum in a team that is still building its foundation
• Are confident in stakeholder management and able to influence across functions and markets without relying solely on formal authority
• Communicate clearly and professionally in English and Danish

Your Team, Our Culture and Values

At ABENA, you join a global company with a strong purpose: to make a real difference in the everyday lives of people around the world. We combine professionalism with a warm, people-first culture where collaboration, curiosity, and continuous improvement are natural parts of everyday life. We take pride in delivering high-quality work with integrity, guided by our core values of trust, fairness, and cooperation. These values shape how we lead, support one another, and create meaningful impact for our customers and communities.

You will lead a young and relatively new team with strong potential and a collaborative mindset. The team is characterized by openness, commitment, and a willingness to grow together. As leader, your task will be to develop the team further, create clarity and direction, and help build a strong foundation for long-term success. This is therefore an exciting opportunity for a leader who enjoys combining business responsibility with people development.

Your leader at ABENA will be Head of Procurement Nicko Rasmussen Olesen, who describes his leadership style as follows:

“I believe in an open and result-oriented dialogue, and I appreciate and respect the knowledge you bring to the table. Openness and trust are key values for me, as I delegate and trust that the freedom to choose the best approach is best governed by you – micromanagement is the last thing you should expect! You can expect that I strive to achieve transparency, straightforwardness and a genuine relation – no facade.”

Your workplace will be located at the ABENA Headquarters in Aabenraa, Denmark.

We look forward to receiving your application

If you are interested in the position, please send your CV as soon as possible. We review applications on an ongoing basis and will close the search once we have found our new colleague.

Read more about ABENA’s recruitment process here.

If you are curious to know more about the job, you are welcome to contact Head of Procurement Nicko Rasmussen Olesen on phone +45 6026 9822.