Overview:
Our client is a prominent food manufacturing company based out of Vernon, CA. They have been in business for decades now and are looking to expand their organization and product portfolio.
Job Summary:
This Vice President of Purchasing position is a newly created role to enable the company's further growth, scale, and procurement sophistication.
The VP of Purchasing is responsible for leading procurement efforts to efficiently and effectively enable business units and functional partners to maximize the value they receive from suppliers to meet their objectives. You will work with business units to lead centralized sourcing and procurement efforts. This will include working with the internal stakeholder from initial need identification to final goods or service delivery. Specifically, this role will be responsible for the following process: demand management, supply analysis/strategy, supplier identification, sourcing execution, contract negotiation, delivery planning and monitoring, purchase execution, and ongoing performance management and improvement.
Job Expectations:
- Development of organizational procurement strategy and plans, including investment, resource, and skill requirements
- Serve as an authority on developing and interpreting procurement guidelines, policies, and procedures for a variety of procurement issues
- Provide advice to officers, management officials and subordinate staff to guide them in the creation of procurement strategies.
- Review and manage procurement, including complex bid processes for conformance with regulatory requirements, corporate policies, and procurement practice, ensuring fair and open competition and best benefit to the Corporation in purchasing; Assisting management with assembling and maintaining high quality lists of potential bidders.
- Direct the full range of actions required for the contract administration phase while partnering with Finance and Legal (review and consent, post-award conferences with bidders, establishment of work schedule, track progress, negotiate new/changed requirements, contract modifications, exercise contract options, remedial action, settle claims, contract termination, and requests for payments).
- Creation and management of short-, mid-, and long-term goals and objectives.
- Development of benchmarks and metrics including a routine scorecard to set baseline standards and review for improvement opportunities with a view towards reducing costs while improving the overall quality of purchased goods and services.
- Closely link Procurement performance with business needs.
- Creation and improvement of best-practice-based processes.
- Selection and management of procurement systems.
- Collaborates with business leaders to evaluate Technology investment plans.
- Management of procurement staff in (and across) sourcing, contracting, transactional purchasing, supplier management, and miscellaneous internal procurement support activities.
- Leadership of cross-functional teams to achieve company goals.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Proven record of initiating and carrying out cost reduction/productivity improvement programs.
- Working knowledge of finance and/or accounting in terms of budgeting, cost management, financial accounting, treasury, risk management, etc.
- Experience with a P&L business unit or division management. Experience with ERP & ERP implementation experience is a plus.
- Working knowledge of contract administration/law.
- Strong analytical skills.
- Great attention to detail, and the ability to thrive in a team based corporate culture.
- Demonstrate strength working cross functionally to drive issue resolution.
- Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communications, listening and presentation skills.
- A progressive, proactive approach that is eager to embrace technology and modern management principles.
- Experience in dealing with manufacturers and distributors.
- Must possess the ability to "sell" Procurement's value and to run Procurement as a services business like any other well-run professional services business.
- Excellent organization and time management skills to manage multiple tasks and deadlines in an environment with large volumes of data.
- Strong leadership and negotiation skills.
Experience Requirements:
- Generally requires a minimum of 15 years of food manufacturing experience, with a focus on packaging, ingredients, snacks, bakery items, confectionary, desserts
- At least 10+ years strategic sourcing and indirect spend experience supporting a matrix organization
- Previous procurement implementation experience a plus
Education Requirements:
Bachelor's Degree required. MBA preferred.
