When you get the call, you don’t say no. Especially if you’re being headhunted for the role of global CPO tasked with bringing about the kind of transformational change that creates a truly world class procurement function. Even if it is the height of the COVID pandemic. That’s because if you’re a leader like Evgeny Trushin, who cares less about negotiation and operational tasks and more about change leadership, people, relationships, and inspiring others, things like COVID disruption, a pressing need for business continuity, and overhauling a procurement organisation to support strategic development are opportunities, not challenges.
Since March 2020 Trushin has overseen a vast procurement transformation at world leading coffee and tea producer JDE Peet’s, designed to create a globally engaged and strategic function. Centred around four pillars, the programme – dubbed ‘Journey to World Class Procurement’ – has aligned team members and the wider business around one common set of values, goals, and vision, driven greater strategic acumen and empowered talent, brought business continuity, sustainability and ESG into focus, and harnessed digital tools to improve outcomes.
“One day I can probably sit down and write a book on how to onboard during the pandemic,” laughs Trushin, reflecting on the initial challenges he faced when joining the business. “My learning curve was very steep and different to what I expected, but the disruption of COVID and the impacts of things related to it helped cement my priorities and decision making for the immediate future at that point, particularly around how to hone procurement to deliver greater business continuity, improving transparency, and mitigating risk.”
In Trushin JDE gained a vastly experienced procurement professional well versed in leading and scaling procurement functions, improving performance and culture in organisations, driving change in mindset, capabilities, and organisational design, and using the power of relationships to maximise value creation. Prior to joining JDE as Chief Procurement Officer, Trushin has close to 20 years’ experience in a variety of roles with Mars and Unilever including, with the former, working across numerous categories in both direct and indirect procurement, and managing teams and regions internationally.
Over this career, he says, the function and its role in the organisation has evolved significantly, influenced by market evolution and internal stakeholder expectations and, more recently, by disruption, geopolitical instability, and greater complexity.
“When I started my career, procurement was very much centred around the magic triangle of cost, quality, and service, which drove most of the expectations we faced,” recalls Trushin. “Things have evolved significantly since, with procurement now expected to play a far more strategic role as a viable internal business partner rather than a mere purchasing organisation. We need the ability to bring innovation and ideas into the company, to create new business propositions, and deliver far greater value in areas like productivity, sustainability and traceability.”
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