NATÁLIA BERNARDI

• Procurement Lead for the Liquid I.V. Internal Production Program in Jefferson City, involved since project inception. Established procurement ways of working, partnered with cross-functional leaders, and ensured material readiness for the production ramp-up. Currently managing 600+ material codes, 31 contracts, and 26 suppliers, while supporting Master Data, invoice resolution, payment issues, and supplier management.
• Procurement Lead for international expansion projects across the Americas, including Mexico, Canada, and Brazil. Led raw material negotiations and procurement activities, driving gross margin improvement, lead-time reduction, supply resilience, and MOQ optimization to support on-time product launches.
• Responsible for the implementation and Lead the workstream of the Responsible Partner Policy (RPP) Program for WBC, covering a USD 1.4B+ supplier base and driving compliance with Unilever’s responsible sourcing requirements.
• Supported the Raw Materials Savings Program, ensuring accurate tracking and reporting across 38 projects representing USD 7M in savings.
• Led the Global Strategic Raw Materials Portfolio for Health & Wellbeing in 2024, managing USD 82M in annual spend. Delivered USD 15M in cumulative savings through strategic sourcing, negotiations, and cost optimization, with key impact across Gelatin and Stevia.

• Led global sourcing initiatives, aligning global strategies with local business needs and delivering competitive procurement outcomes.
• Presented market and price forecasts to Business Unit leadership, translating complex NMCI impacts into actionable insights to support forecasting and business decisions.
• Managed global and regional sourcing events for strategic commodities, including full ownership of the Citric Acid category, with a focus on market trends, pricing, and risk mitigation.
• Delivered USD 5M+ in savings through strategic sourcing, supplier negotiations, new supplier qualifications, packaging optimization, FX risk mitigation, and cost-neutral safety stock strategies.
• Partnered with key stakeholders across Home Care, Personal Care, and Beauty & Wellbeing, ensuring demand alignment, effective supplier management, and seamless procurement support.
• Managed critical supply disruptions, including force majeure events and material shortages, by implementing contingency plans, qualifying alternative suppliers, and strengthening supply resilience.

Led end-to-end Supply Chain operations for Ben & Jerry’s Brazil, overseeing demand planning, production planning, innovation, inventory, logistics, and store supply.

Demand Planning

• Managed the S&OP process, presenting monthly forecasts, risks, and business updates to senior leadership.
• Managed Bias KPIs and demand allocation across 12 distribution centers and 21 distributors, partnering with Trade Marketing to reduce slow-moving inventory and minimize waste.

Production Planning / MPS

• Led production planning in partnership with the global team in Vermont, USA, ensuring alignment between demand, production, and inventory.
• Ensured OTIF performance for scheduled production, working closely with international logistics teams to mitigate supply risks and optimize service, inventory, and costs.

Innovation Planning

• Developed business cases for innovation projects in partnership with Marketing, supporting global and leadership approvals.
• Managed projects from product code creation through artwork approval and launch readiness, ensuring product availability 15 days ahead of launch.

Ben & Jerry’s Stores

• Developed new suppliers and products based on business demand and Marketing forecasts.
• Delivered approximately R$500K in annual cost savings through supplier changes and strategic negotiations.
• Reduced ice cream losses by 80% from January to November 2019, improving gross margin and inventory levels.
• Managed warehouse operations and inventory availability to support Ben & Jerry’s stores.

• Led the end-to-end material transfer from the Rio de Janeiro factory to the São Paulo site, coordinating approximately 20 analysts and 3,000 raw material and packaging SKUs valued at USD 8M.
• Coordinated cross-functional alignment across Development, Procurement, Engineering, Master Data, IT, and Quality, ensuring accurate and timely material transfers while minimizing rework.
• Ensured material readiness for the start-up of 10 manufacturing lines, securing material availability 14 days ahead of production start-up.
• Coordinated with suppliers on billing and delivery changes, preventing disruptions during the transition to the new São Paulo plant.
• Led the phase-in/phase-out process for approximately 500 SKUs, including waste projections and financial impact reporting.
• Implemented continuous improvement initiatives to strengthen processes and operational efficiency.

• Responsible for materials planning at the Rio de Janeiro Plant.
• Managed a team of 6 planners, with 2 dedicated to chemical materials and 4 dedicated to packing materials.
• Oversaw the entire portfolio of 3,000 SKUs, from the initial order at launch to the management of delisted materials.
• Accountable for maintaining stock levels for all materials.
• Implemented various projects, including a 24% stock reduction resulting in over R$ 20 million in savings, collaborative work with the procurement team to optimize MOQ, enhancing production planning flexibility, establishing SLAs with suppliers, and implementing OTIF.
• Played a key role in eliminating outside storage through stock level adjustments.
• Developed a parameters strategy, including the classification of the ABC Curve, to optimize operations.
• Coordinated the team to achieve goals related to stock levels, parameters, stakeholder support, and supplier partnerships.