Purchasing Manager

Job Summary:

This position is responsible for providing Leadership for the Purchasing Department as well as being Medosweet’s Key Supplier contact (in accordance with Medosweet’s policies and procedures as well as industry standard professional best practices). The key responsibilities of this position are 1) Leadership of the Department, 2) Product Sourcing 3) Supplier Management & Interactions & 4) Spend Management (Supply Management Savings). The position requires both professional and industry expertise to independently identify and act on opportunities, service internal and external customer’s needs, and resolve Product/Supplier issues. The position requires a high degree of initiative and sound judgment to drive successful results.  This position reports to the General Manager.

Summary of essential job functions:

Department Management:

• Manage the Purchasing Department.
• Provide leadership and direction to the staff to ensure timely, efficient results.
• Establish Department goals, processes, and metrics to drive success (i.e., develop key strategies and plans to drive results for the company)

Sourcing Activities:

• Work with stakeholders to source new products and/or suppliers as needed to meet their requirements
• Ensuring the sourcing requirement meets best practices for delivering Quality, Service, Value and Strategic Relationships appropriate to the sourcing need
• Use best practices for supplier and product sourcing & selection (information gathering, bidding, product/supplier analysis, negotiations, cost analysis, supplier qualification & selection, etc.)
• Analyze sourcing requests to ensure all key information is identified and the process is approached to maximize opportunities for all stakeholders

Supplier Management:

• Continue development of Medosweet’s supplier base to increase efficiency and effectiveness
• Establish cost and pricing business rules and reporting by Supplier
• Develop supplier quality assurance capabilities
• Establish Master Supplier Agreements with key suppliers as necessary
• Resolve supplier issues related to availability, service, quality, pricing, etc.; to create a competitive advantage for Medosweet
• Work to create efficient processes and successful results in the process of issue identification and resolution
• Work with suppliers and internal stakeholders to meet Medosweet’s documentation and information requirements

Spend Management:

• Meet established annual profit improvement goals (ROI) by working with Medosweet’s Suppliers, Sales Department, & Stakeholders to identify and drive profit improvement results
• Develop efficient processes to routinely review and audit Medosweet’s purchasing expenditures and rebates to identify and achieve a competitive advantage for the company through cost savings and supply management operating efficiencies

Industry Knowledge:

• This position is responsible for monitoring and understanding the impact of Medosweet’s key commodity markets (Dairy, Eggs, Cheese)
• This knowledge is to be leveraged to making pricing recommendations as well as establishing cost formulas for key products and product lines designed to achieve both bottom line gains and ensure transparent supplier cost-based pricing

Purchasing Support:

• This position is responsible for establishing frequent and effective collaboration with Sales, Warehouse, Distribution, and all key stakeholders
• Routine professional communications regarding issues (identification/recommendations/status), opportunities (recommendations/implementation) and processes (training/awareness)
• Documenting key procedures designed to improve overall Supply Management operations and costs (SOP’s)
• Tracking cost savings and rebates achieved monthly (KPI’s)

Minimum Requirements:

• Deep knowledge of purchasing practices and procedures.
• Knowledge of Supply Management for perishable food products
• Knowledge of dairy, cheese, egg, & food products and their related commodity markets desired.
• Skill in preparing and analyzing specifications, requests for information, request for bids, conducting negotiations and qualifying suppliers
• Strong skill set both verbal and written communication
• Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships
• Strong skill set in the use of technology such as ERP , WMS Systems and Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel.

Abilities Preferred:

• Seven years purchasing experience for perishable commodities including sourcing and cost negotiations

Bachelor's degree in Business or Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) desired