- Own supplier strategy across dairy, nutritional ingredients, and packaging categories.
- Lead negotiation of multi-year and master supply agreements.
- Qualify and onboard new suppliers, weighing lead time, cost, and FDA/IFN regulatory risks.
- Build a formal supplier qualification process and scorecard system.
- Develop cost accounting and purchase price variance (PPV) reporting processes.
- Oversee the use of ERP for planning, MRP, purchase orders, and item costing.
- Manage and develop the purchasing team, shifting focus to proactive category strategy.
- Partner with Quality, Regulatory, and Science on specifications, audits, and clearance timing.