EMEA Recruitment Podcast #150 - Diversity in Procurement – Marika Lindstrom

We are delighted to welcome Marika Lindstrom, Head of Indirect Materials and Services Procurement at Phillip Morris International, onto the EMEA Recruitment podcast.

“Have confidence in your abilities and the ability of your team, because we are never doing these roles alone.”

To begin the episode, Paul and Marika discuss how relocating for career opportunities can help individuals in a leadership position. Marika explains that taking these chances can make you much more aware of the world. It also gives you the understanding of different realties, which can help drive a global agenda. If you are considering relocation, have confidence in yourself, she adds. 

We look into the challenges currently facing Procurement, touching on the availability of energy and volatilities in commodities. Marika’s Procurement role is not only market-facing, but also stakeholder-facing. This requires the ability to try to mitigate all risks and costs, educate stakeholders on long-term strategies and opportunities, and - ultimately - provide a robust financial forecast that includes inflation and commodity cost increases, together with mitigation.  

Paul asks Marika to share the reasons behind her discipline of choice. When she graduated from university, she interviewed at Nokia and was given two choices: Marketing or Procurement. She, of course, chose the latter – humorously, the reasons for this are unknown to her. 

In her present role at Philip Morris, Marika is happy and finds it refreshing to be on the indirect side of Procurement again.

We learn about Marika’s passion for the discipline, focusing on two parts: the impact and influence Procurement can have, and the ability to see people become business partners and grow into their roles. 

Her advice for people wishing to join the function is to consider the versatility of Procurement and the opportunity to develop a diversity of skills. The individuals who inspire Marika include women in leadership within Procurement. 

We explore the effect of business intelligence and data on the function. Although thought to be a widely positive thing, the need for people to extract relevant data and make it actionable still prevails.

Listen to the end of the episode to discover how Marika hires great people and the advice she would offer her younger self.

 

If you’re interested in a particular part of the episode, use the timestamps below:

01:35: The last thing that made Marika smile
02:50: How relocating has impacted Marika’s career
04:20: The opportunity of relocation
05:25: Current challenges in Procurement
07:30: How Marika started her Procurement career
08:55: Her current role at Philip Morris
10:45: Marika’s passion for Procurement
14:50: Advice for those considering a career in Procurement
19:05: Why Procurement is a good career choice for women
21:00: The people who inspire Marika
22:15: The effects of BI & data on Procurement
25:20: Hiring great people
27:25: The advice Marika would give her 18-year-old self

If you’d like to reach out to Marika, connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marika-lindstrom/

 

EMEA Recruitment is a proud partner of Operation Smile, an international medical charity that provides life-changing surgery to children and adults with cleft lip and palate. If you can help raise awareness or vital funds for this cause, find out more: https://www.operationsmile.org.uk/donate-to-operation-smile/donate-to-operation-smile-emea-recruitment/

 

The podcast is hosted by Paul Toms, Founder of EMEA Recruitment, and Rose Jinks, our Marketing Manager.

More information regarding our professional services recruitment – including Procurement & Supply Chain roles – is available on our website: https://www.emearecruitment.com/ 

You can also keep up to date with our positions on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/ 

If you’d like to get in touch with Paul, please reach out to him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/ 

You can also follow Paul on Twitter: https://twitter.com/paul_toms 

 

Do you have any feedback for us? Please contact Rose: [email protected] 

 

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