Supply Chain Management Trainee

Based: White City

Duration: 18 months 

Start Dates: July 2025 / January 2026

Application Deadline: Friday 25th October 2024

Annual Salary: £35,000 per annum

Real Opportunities in Supply Chain 

L’Oréal Supply Chain is the beating heart of our business and if you want to learn about how to run an effective supply chain process from some of the best in the business then this is the place to do it. 

Every year, L’Oréal manufactures 4.6 billion units and it is quite a feat making sure that our products hit the shelves of our customers at the right time and the right price with is why an effective supply chain process is so important to us. 

By liaising with our various factories across Europe, you will get the opportunity to work closely with the Marketing and Commercial teams to accurately forecast the potential of our products and maximise service levels to our customers, all the while endeavouring to reduce costs and keeping to budget. 

From the beginning, we would expect you to display curiosity and innovation to come up with ideas to improve processes.  You may also get the opportunity to complete a rotation in one of our Distribution Centres in Nottingham or Manchester to see how things work first hand or even within our direct or indirect Sourcing teams. 

You will need to be analytically minded and a logical thinker who’s capable of providing clear solutions to often complex problems.  Strong networking skills are also essential as you’ll need to interact effectively with all areas of the business. 

Real Responsibility 

Some of our recent supply chain grads have been given a broad range of responsibilities, including: 

• Working collaboratively with one of the UK’s biggest retailers to improve supply chain distribution  
• Helping to co-ordinate some of our most exciting brand launches, by working closely with our factories across Europe and working with our international teams in Paris 
• Working as a Team Leader responsible for the day to day management of a section of our Distribution Centre in Manchester 
• Developing and implementing key strategic projects with major suppliers 
• Organising corporate events and delivering these with professionalism 
• Leading Finished Good tenders and Value Reengineering projects 
• Supporting the activities of the Sourcing team  
• Working cross functionally to develop an understanding on different departments, business priorities and strategy  

Out of our 2024 graduate intake: 

• The majority of our graduates had demonstrated leadership whilst at university 
• All had tangible achievements over and above the norm 
• Many of them spoke a second language and were keen to have an international career 
• All had strong analytical skills 
• Many had previous relevant work experience or had completed an internship 
• All had managed complex projects whilst at university or at work 
• All were curious and enthusiastic, and looked to be challenged on a daily basis 

You are... 

• Either in your final year of University graduating in 2025 or have graduated in the last 2 years
• Able to join either of the start dates advertised

Next steps...

Once you click apply you will be asked some questions to check you are eligible for this role. These will questions around your current situation, whether you’re happy with the salary, location etc.

If you are eligible to apply you will then be sent a link via email to a Competency Assessment. In this we would like you to answer three competency questions, two written and one via video. Although there is no time limit on this the quicker you get it finished the quicker we can continue to move you through the process! The video element of the assessment is translated into a text and scored, so please don’t worry what you look like, just worry about what you’re saying!

If you have met our benchmark we will then send you some cognitive tests to complete. These will be sent via an email link and will give us a great idea on your numerical ability as well as testing you in a few other areas. Remember practise makes perfect so make sure you’re prepared when you give these a go!

We will then do a final review of your entire application and if successful, invite you to an Assessment Centre. Please be patient with us as we receive a high volume of applications and want to spend time going through each of them. 

Our Assessment Centres this year will all be in person; they will be running from when applications open until the roles are filled. These Assessment Centres are specific to function, so please be patient if you don’t get invited straight away – it might just be because your function’s Assessment Centre date isn’t until later on in the recruitment period

Please note, if you apply for more than one role you will be put forward for the one we deem most suitable for you. If you have a strong preference, please only apply to that one role to ensure you are considered for the correct role.