Strategic Sourcing Manager

Overview

The Strategic Sourcing Manager plays a critical role as an individual contributor responsible for the comprehensive management of co-manufacturing strategies and commodity portfolio direction for direct spend categories. This role involves integrating procurement, finance, and operations to impact profitability and ensure supply chain resilience by leveraging market intelligence and supplier partnership management.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and oversee strategies related to co-manufacturing, including sourcing, supplier contracts, and performance assessments.
• Formulate long-term commodity strategies for assigned direct spend categories, utilizing multi-year cost models, scenario analyses, and aligning with annual operating plans and forecasts.
• Continuously monitor commodity market trends through sources like CME futures, USDA data, and industry reports to translate price fluctuations into clear financial impacts for leadership.
• Lead supplier negotiations focusing on pricing, contract conditions, and cost-saving initiatives while ensuring contract coverage standards and escalating critical issues when necessary.
• Create and maintain detailed commodity cost models and purchase price variance tracking tools that connect procurement results with financial planning and analysis teams.
• Identify supply chain risks concerning supply continuity, supplier financial stability, and price volatility, and develop documented contingency plans.
• Conduct sourcing processes such as RFQs and RFPs, evaluating total cost of ownership and collaborating across departments for supplier selections.
• Manage strategic supplier relationships via structured business reviews to drive responsibility in cost, quality, service, and innovation outcomes aligned with yearly objectives.
• Utilize advanced AI and machine learning platforms to enhance cost transparency, uncover savings potential, and improve forecasting precision.

Requirements and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Finance, Business, or a related discipline; Master’s degrees are advantageous.
• Minimum of five years’ experience in procurement or commodity management, preferably in food or consumer packaged goods industries. Priority given to those with at least two years managing categories such as dairy, oils, produce, grains, or packaging.
• Proven capability in developing and communicating commodity cost models, inflation analysis, and variance reports directly to senior executives.
• Proficient in interpreting commodity market intelligence resources and articulating their impact on financial performance.
• Advanced skills in Excel for financial modeling and scenario planning alongside experience with SAP purchasing/reporting modules and data visualization tools like Power BI.
• Experience implementing AI/ML solutions (e.g., Claude, GPT, Gemini) within procurement to enhance market research, data consolidation, and reporting is a strong advantage.
• Excellent negotiation and communication skills to advocate data-supported decisions, foster cross-departmental collaboration, and maintain professional supplier relationships under pressure.
• Specialized expertise in sourcing and managing dairy commodities is highly desirable.