What are the responsibilities and job description for the VP, Strategic Sourcing position at Premier Nutrition?
Here’s what all the hype is about…
Premier Nutrition Company (PNC) is one of the fastest-growing companies in the convenient nutrition space showing clear leadership in the category of protein shakes and protein powders. We make the brands Premier Protein, Dymatize, and PowerBar, which is sold internationally, and we are part of our holding company, BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR).
We have a simple, yet powerful, formula for our success, which we’ve been nailing for over 15 years. We start off with an organization powered by our company purpose—Changing Lives with Good Energy. Then our purpose-driven people are given the support and autonomy to develop and grow. Next, we are super-intentional about designing a culture where everyone feels like they truly connect and belong, which is one of our five company core values. Purpose-driven, connected employees who are consistently mastering new skills deliver amazing business results. And winning companies with amazing people and thriving cultures attract and retain top talent, so the cycle becomes self-reinforcing or what we call our regenerative culture.
We don’t mind sharing our formula since, as people who we believe in the power of changing lives with good energy, we think the world would be a better place f more workplaces treated adults like adults and gave them the platform to do the best work of their lives—alongside some truly amazing colleagues. Why don’t more companies do this? It takes deep-in-your-bones conviction to your people, products, and purpose to pull it off. It also takes resisting the urge to try to control people, and instead trusting them to make the right decisions. The results of our vibrant culture speaks for themselves: We were certified as a Great Place to Work™ for the 8th year-running in 2024. And we currently rank #3 on Fortune Magazine’s Best Workplaces in our category, and in the top 12 for each of the last 6 years.
We have a long list of ways we take care of our people, but here are some crowd-pleasers that our employees often say they love most: Year-round ½ day Fridays, in-office massages, free lunches & snacks, dogs in the office, month-long cultural and diversity celebrations, monthly over-the-top in-office events like bring your kids to work day, 6% 401k match after 1 year, generous paid family leave regardless of gender, all positions bonus-eligible, company-wide volunteer days, company-matched charitable donations, no employee handbook, no dress code, coaching conversations instead of performance reviews, walking meetings, free exercise classes, and company-paid gym membership for Emeryville-based employees.
PNC seeks individuals who will flourish in this type of work environment and will add to our culture and help build this high-growth company for the next phase in our amazing journey. Does this sound like you? Then read on…#LI-HYBRID
The role you’re interested in…
The Vice President of Strategic Sourcing is responsible to lead a team of professionals, accountable for;
- Developing and executing sourcing strategies
- Effectively manage supplier relationships
- Lead PNC Margin program
- Negotiating contracts
- Create future vision for Strategic Sourcing and execute optimization of current process
- Lead Commodity Risk Management
- Develop talent capabilities for future succession roles
Other responsibilities will include, but not limited to executing RFP’s, developing risk mitigation strategies, supporting new product development initiatives, staying up to date on industry and market news and developing appropriate response strategies.
This role will lead the Commodity Risk Management Process and make strategic purchase recommendations in collaboration with senior management and stakeholders to ensure supply and price certainty. This person will have a team of direct reports including Commodity Risk Management, Margin Management, Ingredients, Packaging and Indirect Spend and will have buyers, sourcing managers, cost and spend analyst, and will work closely with the Operations finance team on roughly $1B spend. This role will report directly to the Chief Supply Chain Officer.
The work environment…
So, what’s it like to work here? If you’re based in the greater Bay Area, you’ll walk into our Emeryville office each Tuesday morning and start the in-person portion of our hybrid work week at our weekly all-company meeting and find close to 200 of your colleagues sitting on sofas, beanbag chairs, or the floor excitedly talking through the week ahead and watching a newer teammate tell their personal life and career journey followed by a quick update on any hot topics that might be relevant to the week ahead.
We are a dynamic, HYBRID workplace so every employee who lives within 100 miles of our offices is expected to come in each TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY. We aligned on those two common days way back in 2021 to be intentional about connecting in person for things like innovation, impromptu collaboration, having respectful challenges to get to better decisions, leadership role-modeling, and culture building. Great work cultures are built on stories about what great looks like in practice, and great stories on Zoom meetings are few and far between. The expected pay scale for this role is $265k to $275k, which may vary based on relevant experience, qualifications, geographic area (if applicable), and internal equity for the role.
Our modern 50,000 sq. foot headquarters straddles the border of the cities of Emeryville, Oakland, and Berkeley, California with free onsite parking and many transportation options.
You’re excited about this opportunity because your time will be filled with…
Developing and Implementing Sourcing Strategies: 25% of your time
- Lead the development and execution of sourcing strategies for ingredients, commodities, and packaging based on overall business strategy.
- Be recognized expert in external market in areas of dairy, packaging and ingredients related to PNC brands.
- Manage supplier relationships using tools such as QBR’s, supplier scorecards, contract adherence, risk mitigation strategies, and supplier forecasts.
- Conduct comprehensive market research to stay informed about industry trends, market conditions and supplier landscapes and identify potential suppliers.
Stakeholders Management: 20% of your time
- Understand and recognize business needs and challenges, building these into strategic sourcing activity.
- Support R&D and Marketing innovation projects to ensure optimal sourcing while meeting deadlines for new product launches.
- Advise leadership team on commodity markets, including price, availability and business continuity.
- Serve as the dairy protein market expert with a deep understanding of key market fundamentals and drivers, risks and advise the leadership team on overall sourcing strategy.
- For key proteins, serve as the company expert on all potential suppliers and ensure future demand can be fulfilled with qualified suppliers.
- Work closely with stakeholders to align category strategies with sustainability and regulatory needs.
- Provide information needed by Finance to prepare annual budgets/forecasts.
Strategic Sourcing Evolution: 25% of your time
- With internal and external partners, identify & execute next phase of strategic sourcing evolution.
- Lead Enterprise Margin Program to identify, execute, forecast and track cost savings with on-going maturity of the program and behavior/skill development of the organization.
- Develop cost models for current and future ingredients/packaging with deep understanding of cost drivers.
- Develop risk management strategies.
Team Leadership & Management: 30% of your time
- Set clear goals for the team, lead & manage towards high performance.
- Develop team members for future progression. This may include developing a successor to this role.
What are we looking for?
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, Finance, Accounting, or applicable field of study.
Experience:
- 15 years of relevant experience at a senior level within Procurement/Strategic Sourcing.
- Extensive track record of continued growth and career progression in similar or larger organization to PNC, with proven track record of success in procurement/strategic sourcing.
- Proven track record of building High Performing Organizations and developing talent.
- Deep understanding of Strategic Sourcing, Strategies & Tools.
- Able to identify, understand & evaluate multiple solutions and translate into compelling transformation programs (example – AI transformation/Margin Program).
- Able to work under tight deadlines with significant dollar impact and ambiguity.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills with ability to influence at all levels. Ability to pull material together to bring people along, and influence decisions, including senior leaders and functional colleagues.
So, if after reading through this long list you’re thinking—I’m not sure I meet 100% of these requirements, should I still apply? YES—if you embody a growth mindset, see challenges as opportunities to develop, and find innovative ways to get the real work that matters done, you sound like our kind of candidate!
The 5 capabilities or mindsets most relevant to this role:
- Be a builder by creating for the future
- Bring people along by providing context and cascading information; share openly and inclusively
- Enterprise strategic view—take the full company perspective over departments or channels
- Give guidance—share clear feedback & praise; remove obstacles; coach without micromanaging
- Inspire and influence—build trusting, win-win relationships; motivate those whom you lead and peers
You will thrive here and may just do the best work of your life if…
- You want to be an integral part of shaping an amazing work culture and being a culture-add
- You can be flexible in your approach and abandon past practices if they don’t make sense
- You can be both clear and kind—empathetic yet hold people accountable
- You can hold the tension of being both warm and self-deprecating, and also super credible as a professional
- You can do periods of focused, deep work on projects that drive the business forward
This may not be your ideal next career move if…
- You like a lot of structure, rules, and uniformity
- You like hierarchy, and command and control management
- You like things to not change much (we suggest the elevator business for that)
- Dealing with ambiguity or experimentation is not your jam
- You try to resolve challenging interpersonal situations over instant messaging
- You prefer engaging with your camera off, better yet, on mute, and demonstrating excellence through email
Here’s the deal with our not-so-standard, um…standard interview process because we know you are the curious type, which is why you’re still reading this…
- Quick 30 min phone chat with a high energy member of our Talent Acquisition team to do a quick overview of your background and answer any burning questions you have
- Team interviews are kept to a minimum to foster a more efficient, candidate-friendly process (too many interviewers yields little value and drags out the process for you—and who wants that, right?):
- A short series of in-person or video interviews in a 1:1 setting; these are usually with the hiring manager, one or two other team members, and a person from another team to get broader perspectives (note: we don’t do panel interviews because they don’t give interviewers a chance to ask you unique questions, and we assign interviewers different roles so we’re probing different capabilities)
- A case study or job task to simulate what you’d actually be doing in the role (since your job is not actually to be interviewed for a living, why is that the thing companies rely on so much?) Yes, there will be a small panel for this one so you don’t have to do it more than once, and yes, they might ask you some kind yet probing questions at the end after the raucous applause stops.
- Once your interview concludes, the team will meet for an in-depth consultative process to ensure we are hiring the right person for the right job. Interviewers must come in with a strong yes or no vote beforehand to avoid groupthink with supporting reasons. The collective thoughts on your candidacy will be discussed in an environment of safety to challenge ideas respectfully, debate. and be open to all important qualifications of the candidates. A trained, disinterested bias blocker will be present to help mitigate bias so the team can make a sound hiring decision. The moment of truth arrives when the hiring manager makes the big decision. If you nailed the interviews and the case study was brilliant, guess what? The offer is all yours! And the ball is in your court. Will you accept? We sure hope so because this place is the real deal, and don’t just believe us—just ask the 92% of our people who said this is a great place to work in our most recent employee survey.
We strive to create an equitable and inclusive environment to contribute to the success of our organization. Premier Nutrition provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, status as a covered veteran and any other category protected under applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.
Salary : $265,000 - $275,000
