Senior Purchasing Manager
4 days ago
Stockton
The Senior Purchasing Manager is a strategic leader responsible for developing, executing, and optimizing sourcing and procurement strategies across protein commodities (chicken and beef), ingredients, and packaging materials. This role manages volatile commodity markets, negotiates complex agreements, mitigates supply risk, and leads cross-functional initiatives to ensure continuity of supply and long-term value creation. This leader partners closely with Marketing, R&D, Operations, QA, and Finance to support innovation from concept through commercialization—translating consumer insights into sourcing strategies, qualifying differentiated suppliers, and accelerating speed-to-market. The Senior Purchasing Manager drives cost savings through total cost of ownership (TCO) management, maintains strong supplier performance, and supports business growth through effective category management and team leadership. What You’ll Do: • Develop multi-year category strategies for proteins, ingredients, and packaging aligned with business goals., • Analyze commodity markets (e.g., USDA data, feed costs, live cattle/poultry, resin and pulp indices) and model impacts on standard costs., • Create should-cost models and TCO analyses that include yield, conversion, freight, packaging line efficiency, and waste., • Identify alternate materials, suppliers, and qualification paths to improve cost, service, quality, and sustainability., • Own category playbooks (risk maps, sourcing roadmaps, supplier segmentation, and governance)., • Lead RFI/RFQ/RFP processes; define specifications and evaluate bids using scenario and sensitivity analyses., • Manage end-to-end procurement lifecycle from requisition through contract execution and change control., • Select optimal pricing mechanisms (indexed, fixed, formula/hybrid) by category dynamics; manage forward buys and hedging alignment as applicable., • Establish dual-sourcing and continuity plans for high-risk materials and sites., • Ensure ethical sourcing and compliance with corporate policies and documentation standards., • Negotiate commercial terms including pricing, volumes, service levels (OTIF), lead times, payment terms, and escalation/de-escalation clauses., • Draft, review, and administer supply agreements, statements of work, and amendments in partnership with Legal and Finance., • Monitor contract compliance and implement corrective actions and continuous improvement measures., • Embed quality, food safety, regulatory, ESG/sustainability, and traceability requirements into agreements., • Build strategic relationships and conduct quarterly business reviews with key suppliers across proteins, ingredients, and packaging., • Implement supplier scorecards covering cost, quality, delivery (OTIF), innovation, service, and sustainability., • Resolve escalations (capacity constraints, quality deviations, food safety or labeling issues, logistics disruptions)., • Drive innovation and value engineering with suppliers (spec optimization, right-weighting, mono-material designs, alternative inputs)., • Partner with demand/supply planning and operations to align forecasts, MPS/MRP signals, and inventory targets., • Support S&OP with market outlooks, risk assessments, and mitigation strategies; communicate impacts to Finance and Operations., • Proactively manage supply risks (e.g., animal health events, tariffs, weather/drought, labor shortages, transportation bottlenecks)., • Coordinate new product introductions, reformulations, and packaging changes with R&D, QA, and manufacturing., • Develop detailed cost models for proteins (yields, trim values), ingredients (actives, concentration), and packaging (materials, conversion, scrap)., • Track and communicate market indices (grain, cattle, poultry, resins, paper) and inflationary/deflationary trends., • Build and deliver annual productivity pipelines (VA/VE, specification rationalization, supplier consolidation, logistics optimization)., • Own annual procurement budgeting and standard cost setting; report variances and mitigation actions to leadership., • Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of buyers/category specialists and analysts., • Set objectives, manage performance, and build capabilities in negotiation, analytics, and SRM., • Champion process discipline and adoption of tools (ERP, e-sourcing, contract repository, dashboards)., • Foster a culture of safety, ethics, inclusion, and continuous improvement., • Partner closely with Marketing to support innovation roadmaps, brand renovations, and product launches from concept to commercialization., • Source ingredients, proteins, and packaging aligned with consumer trends, claims (e.g., clean label, sustainability), and brand positioning., • Participate in stage-gate, concept reviews, and commercialization meetings to ensure supplier/material readiness and timelines are met., • Identify and qualify suppliers that provide unique capabilities (innovative ingredients, sustainable packaging, proprietary processes) that enable marketing-led differentiation., • Perform feasibility and should-cost analyses during early concept phases and provide market outlooks to guide pricing strategy and margin targets., • Coordinate with Regulatory/QA to validate claims, labeling, certifications, and compliance implications early in the development cycle., • Other duties as assigned or necessary. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): • Productivity savings ($ and % of addressable spend) and TCO improvements, • Cost avoidance and variance vs. budget/standard, • Service and quality: OTIF, ppm/defects, corrective action closure time, • Contract coverage and policy compliance, • Innovation impact: time-to-market adherence, launch OTIF, supplier-enabled innovations, sustainable material adoption What You’ll Need: Required: • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Operations or a related field., • 10+ years of progressive procurement/strategic sourcing experience with direct ownership of ingredients, and packaging categories., • Demonstrated mastery of supply chain planning fundamentals, purchasing contract management, best purchasing practices, SRM, TCO, cost modeling, and negotiations., • Proven success leading teams and cross-functional initiatives (including Marketing, R&D, QA, Operations, Finance) in fast-paced environments., • Advanced analytical and financial acumen; proficiency with Excel/Sheets and data visualization., • ERP/MRP experience (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Infor) and familiarity with e-sourcing tools., • Onsite ability required; fast-paced environment with shifting priorities and tight deadlines., • MBA or advanced degree in supply chain or related discipline., • Professional certifications such as CPSM, CSCP, CPIM., • Experience in food manufacturing, CPG, foodservice/QSR environments., • Strategic thinking and category management, • Advanced negotiation and influence, • Supplier relationship management and governance, • Financial acumen and data-driven decision-making, • Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder engagement, • Innovation mindset; ability to translate consumer/brand insights into sourcing strategies, • Project management and stage-gate commercialization support, • Risk management, problem solving, and resilience, • Operational excellence and process discipline, • Leadership and talent development Healthy, Diverse Teams Breed Innovation: Kevin’s Natural Foods is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We deeply believe that diverse backgrounds and experiences make better teams, and we seek to attract talent from all walks of life. The team at Kevin’s is smart, humble, and passionate and we value a work environment that fosters personal development and opportunities to move within our small, but quickly growing organization. More About Kevin’s Natural Foods: Kevin's Natural Foods is a line of refrigerated and frozen meals, sides, soups, and sauces on a mission to empower even the busiest people to eat clean without sacrificing flavor. Co-founded by Kevin McCray who battled an auto-immune disorder for years, Kevin's Natural Foods was born from his desire to make clean eating seamlessly fit into any lifestyle. Shockingly delicious and made with clean ingredients, Kevin’s products are ready in minutes and always free from gluten, soy, and refined sugar. In 2023, Kevin’s Natural Foods joined the Mars Food & Nutrition family, allowing us to expand our reach, accelerate innovation, and bring our mission to even more households while staying true to the quality and integrity that define our brand. A true market disruptor, Kevin's is the first clean refrigerated entrée brand working to prove every day that proper nutrition can be as delicious as it is healthy. Kevin's Natural Foods uses E-verify to confirm employment eligibility. For more information, please see the links below: