Meat Procurement Manager at Carl Buddig & Company

Summary:

Reporting to the Director of Meat Procurement, the Meat Procurement Manager will be a key player on the protein procurement team. This role will have a direct impact on sourcing strategies, supplier relationship management, and delivering a competitive advantage through procurement The manager will facilitate both strategic and tactical actions including; sourcing, price negotiation, purchase order and inventory management. This role will look to optimize the protein supply chain while collaborating across all functions to drive value and productivity. The ideal candidate will possess a continuous improvement mindset, with a passion for identifying opportunities both in process and specifications.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Market Discovery and Weekly Execution:

• Responsible for maintaining optimal meat inventory levels, for assigned protein categories, at all sites (plants, warehouses, 3PL).
• Execute aligned sourcing strategies, purchase orders, and manage inbounds to ensure timely delivery to plants.
• Actively survey the market for price discovery, proactively identify supply/demand imbalances, communicate and act.

Supplier Relationship Management and Development:

• Responsible for managing supplier quality and service. Proactively collaborate with suppliers to improve quality and service.
• Communicate issues and/or claims with suppliers and drive resolution of claims, root cause identification, and meaningful/measurable corrective actions.
• Lead/contribute in periodic business reviews with strategic suppliers, covering historical performance and future opportunities.
• Build/Enhance trust, developing a mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers making the company a preferred customer.
• Actively surveying the market for opportunities with in specifciations and new sources of supply.

Market Intelligence/Performance/Sourcing Strategies:

• Monitor key market drivers, analyzing price/supply data to identify market trends, risks and opportunities for assigned categories.
• Actively communicate promotions, cost advantages, product availability, market trends, and supplier item changes to keep key stakeholders informed.
• Key contributor in the process of understanding market trends, seasonal buying practices and forward buying opportunities and the development of financial models to drive procurement decisions and cross functional alignment.
• Lead formal and informal communications

Internal Stakeholder Collaboration:

• Develop and maintain strong cross-functional relationships with R&D, QA, Operations, and Finance.

Qualifications:

• 5-7 years of supply chain experience in procurement, planning, logistics, and manufacturing with financial responsibility, preferably in perishable food products
• 1-3 years of experience developing cross-functional category sourcing strategies, ideally in raw meat.
• Experience in the buying/managing of agricultural, perishable commodities with strong knowledge of domestic and international agricultural supply systems of perishable commodities.
• Category expert who can translate identified opportunities into specific, actionable plans that can be executed by the appropriate teams.
• Demonstrated experience building business models, with multiple data sources, to analyze potential decisions and measuring business performance daily, weekly, and monthly.
• Demonstrated ability to understand and think big picture, connect pieces of information and data to formulate strategies.
• The ideal candidate has prior purchasing experience in meat purchasing and is highly organized.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Analytic capacity and problem-solving skills
• Knowledge of commodities, agricultural products, markets, 1-3 years of relevant industry experience
• Previous physical commodity trading experience highly desired
• Skilled negotiator and influencer, striving for mutually beneficial solutions.
• Skilled communicator, verbal and written, ability to break down and communicate complex situations to less familiar audiences.
• Exceptional people skills; proven ability to collaborate across both internal and external stakeholders and be known as a trusted advisor.
• Strong organizational skills: ability compartmentalize, prioritize, and manage multiple activities.
• Strong in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook
• Self-starter, driven individual focused on continuous improvement
• Excellent oral and written communication skills

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred in Agricultural Business, Animal Science, Business Administration, Economics, or related field

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

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