Reporting to: Head of Country Vietnam / Project Apollo Executive Sponsor
Location: Vietnam
Assignment: Full-time Project Apollo role
Main Purpose of the Role
Lead the end-to-end Project Apollo program for Unilever Vietnam, ensuring successful internal separation of the Foods business at Day 0, legal separation and transfer to MKC at Day 1, and an effective transition towards Day 2 - standalone operations.
Act as the single integration point across all Apollo workstreams, driving pace, accountability, cross-functional alignment, risk management and business continuity throughout the separation.
Key Accountabilities
• Own and drive the integrated Project Apollo master plan, critical path, milestones and dependencies across all Vietnam workstreams.
• Lead overall readiness for Day 0 – Internal Separation, ensuring Foods operates as a standalone business within Unilever with appropriate governance, strategic control and internal TSAs.
• Lead overall readiness for Day 1 – Legal Separation, ensuring the Foods business and factory are ready to transfer to MKC with no material disruption.
Integrate delivery across Legal & Licensing, Finance & Tax, HR & People, Supply Chain & Củ Chi Factory, Commercial, Procurement, IT/Data, Contracts/Assets, TSA and Change & Communications.
• Drive the Củ Chi factory separation as a critical component of Apollo, working with SC/Factory leadership to ensure factory, licensing, EHS, infrastructure and dependencies are addressed.
• Coordinate the transition from internal TSA at Day 0 to external TSA at Day 1, ensuring all critical services are identified, operationally ready and have clear ownership and exit plans.
• Actively manage cross-workstream dependencies, ensuring decisions in one function are translated into required actions across other functions.
• Establish and run effective Apollo governance, including workstream reviews, PMO integration meetings and SteerCo.
• Maintain one clear source of truth for overall programme status, readiness, risks, issues, decisions and dependencies.
• Identify critical risks early, drive mitigation and contingency plans, and escalate decisions requiring senior leadership intervention.
• Manage key interfaces between UVN, Global Apollo teams and MKC, ensuring effective coordination, information flow and handover.
• Lead integrated Day 0 and Day 1 cutover planning, readiness reviews, rehearsals and command-centre governance.
• Coordinate post-Day-1 hypercare, outstanding separation activities and the roadmap towards TSA exit and Day 2 standalone operations.
Key Deliverables
• Apollo Integrated Master Plan and Critical Path
• Day 0 and Day 1 Readiness Dashboards
• Integrated Risk, Issue, Decision and Dependency Management
• TSA Service & Readiness Tracker
• Củ Chi Factory Separation integrated plan
• Integrated Cutover and Business Continuity Plan
• Apollo SteerCo Dashboard and executive reporting
• Post-Day-1 Hypercare and Day 2 transition roadmap
Key Interfaces
• Head of Country Vietnam / Apollo Executive Sponsor
• UVN Leadership Team
• Global / Regional Project Apollo team
• MKC separation and integration teams
• Foods Business Leadership
• Supply Chain & Củ Chi Factory
• Legal & Regulatory
• Finance & Tax
• HR
• IT
• Commercial
• Procurement
• External advisers as required
Critical Skills & Experience
• Strong program/project leadership experience in complex business transformation, M&A, separation or integration.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect commercial, operational, people, legal, financial and technology implications.
• Experience in FMCG and/or manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to lead complex programmes through influence across multiple functions, without direct line authority.
• Strong senior stakeholder management and ability to work effectively with both internal and external parties.
• Excellent problem solving, risk management and decision-making capability.
Strong ability to simplify complexity, prioritise critical issues and maintain pace under tight deadlines.
• High ownership, resilience and bias for action.
• Strong executive communication and ability to constructively challenge senior stakeholders.
Measures of Success
• Day 0 achieved with Foods successfully operating under the agreed internal separation model.
• Day 1 achieved with successful legal separation and transfer to MKC.
• No material disruption to people, customers, supply, factory operations or business performance.
• No unmitigated critical legal, regulatory or licensing gaps.
• TSAs operational and effective at the required transition points.
• Củ Chi factory split delivered safely and effectively.
• Clear post-Day-1 roadmap towards Day 2 standalone operations and TSA exit.
Role mandate: One Apollo plan. One source of truth. Drive Day 0. Deliver Day 1. Enable Day 2.Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.
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