Business Development Project Leader

We believe that you are a person with lots of positive energy, entrepreneurial drive, passion for business and people, mindset to be always looking for better ways and you are committed to high standards in everything you do.

To succeed in this role you have a sound business understanding and background and extensive skills and experience in managing and delivering large projects in complex and global environments across multiple industries and business segments. You have an outstanding capability to identify business opportunities and to create, develop and anchor business cases, and you have a proven record of high and successful performance in leading and developing businesses in the areas of Purchasing, Supply Chain, Finance, Sales or other relevant role.

You have excellent communication and people skills combined with tact and diplomacy, and you have a strong ability to work closely- and build strong relationships- with senior leaders as well as to influence and challenge in a constructive and professional way, always with a positive twist.

You have remarkable analytical and problem solving skills and you deliver results through involving and engaging people, who may be in remote locations, and you adapt your leadership approach to specific situations and individuals.

We believe that you are passionate about being part of a business that is the leader in life at home, contributing to a better everyday life for the many people. The Business Development Project Office is a global function for delivering strategic business development projects by leading, supporting, and coaching across business units where fact-based analysis and strong project management bring value add.

The primary stakeholder scope of the Office are Purchasing & Logistics and New Business & Innovation organizations, and the typical types of projects that the Office leads and supports spread from strategy, value chain optimization, supplier and production concept development, business transformation and organizational development to industry and market studies, complex competitive biddings, and innovation deployment.

The team consists of more than 30 enthusiastic project management professionals and problem solvers based in 9 different countries (i.e., USA, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, India, Indonesia and China).

About the job

The role of a Business Development Project Leader consists of

• managing complex, short- to mid-term strategic business development projects, always towards full delivery and on time or faster;
• supporting business stakeholders, senior managers across business units, in strengthening and accelerating strategic business development at IKEA; and
• contributing to continuous development of the Business Development Project Office as a competence center for Project Management and Strategic Business Development.

As a Business Development Project Leader you are simultaneously managing several complex projects in a truly global environment with project teams, functional team members, and business stakeholders all over the World. You play a pivotal role in leading the overall project from the initial assignment through the completion/implementation, securing a fact-based and objective approach.

You secure delivering excellent performance in every project (always full delivery and on time or faster) by managing time, cost, scope, risks, stakeholders, scenario planning, communication and changes, and you secure fact-based objective leadership throughout the project life cycle. You coach and support the project members and stakeholders from different unites, businesses and cultures to form high performing project teams and manage dependencies.

You adapt your leadership and communication approach when needed to always maximize value creation for IKEA. At any time you act as an ambassador of IKEA values and a role model for fact-based business leadership. Do you want to work at the heart of IKEA, where needs and dreams turn into smart home furnishing solutions to make the everyday life better for the many people?

IKEA of Sweden is responsible for developing the IKEA range and making it available to our customers all over the world. IKEA of Sweden is based in Älmhult – the heart of IKEA and the center of IKEA Range development and Supply chain. At IKEA of Sweden you will work in a company with opportunities to develop in different operational areas and countries.

We seek a Business Development Project Leader to join us on our journey to strengthen and accelerate strategic business development at IKEA!