Strategic Sourcing Manager at Mars, Incorporated in Saint Charles, Missouri

Job Description:

The individual in this role is the resident expert for the category and is responsible for both strategy execution and supplier relationships within North America. Within Commercial North America, the role works closely with SQA and Operations to assure adherence to specifications and continuity of supply. The role also collaborates with a broad range of stakeholders across Quality & Food Safety, Formulation, Marketing and Supply Chain to deliver on business needs and consider total cost of ownership.

Job Responsibilities:

Sourcing Strategy

• Create, deliver, and execute the sourcing strategy for assigned ingredients for Royal Canin North America in collaboration with global category team.
  
  


• Analyze market trends, identify market developments and conduct category reviews to drive business understanding of these markets and how best to utilize the capabilities of suppliers and industry developments to deliver a competitive advantage to Royal Canin North America.
  
  


• Identify and implement novel and creative means for reducing costs, improving quality, or otherwise improving total value for money.
  
  


• Challenge specifications to ensure that we are creating a fit for purpose specification
  
  


• Create Business Allocation Recommendations and contracts, once approved, to be signed based on the Limits of Authority.
  
  

Price & Budget Management

• Create the annual operating plan for the portfolio & submit periodic forecast updates
  
  


• Achieve competitive price advantage through knowledge of material cost structure and external markets, including the relevant domestic and international economic factors.
  
  


• Identify and propose opportunities to hedge various commodities in order to provide a competitive advantage and price stability to the business when available.
  
  


• Champion the total cost of assigned raw materials by identifying and maintain a list of potential cost reduction opportunities through the DIB process and monitoring of COGS
  
  


• Maintain material pricing to sites and blanket order volume coverage in alignment with MRP within Octopus platform to ensure accurate pricing and supply availability.
  
  

Supply Management

• Ensure the demand of required material volumes for all regional sites are secured and accounted for, including future growth considerations
  
  


• Ensure supply of materials and contingency plans to meet business needs by identifying potential areas of risk, recommending proposed solutions and executing once aligned with necessary stakeholders.
  
  


• Forecast and report on market movements to manage business risk and material availability
  
  


• Support SQA and Operations on Corrective/Preventive Actions to reduce frequency of late, rejected, and derogated loads, maximizing factory service targets
  
  

SPRM: Supplier Performance Relationship Management

• Identify and develop suppliers capable of delivering products that meet or exceed our requirements, including upcoming innovation and sustainability commitments
  
  


• Act as the key point of contact for Supplier Relationship Management within region to drive enhanced communication and performance.
  
  


• Segment and focus efforts on critical suppliers to leverage their capabilities to achieve continuous improvement and bring innovation to the business
  
  


• Measure and communicate standardized KPI's (EVA) to strategic suppliers in order to facilitate data driven, objective evaluations
  
  

Support Innovation & Sustainability

• Support efforts to leverage supplier resources to bring new ideas and products/ commodities/services, including new ingredients to enable our growth and sustainability aspirations.
  
  


• Work in conjunction with Sustainable and Responsible Sourcing Leads at Mars/Royal Canin to protect the reputation of Mars and its brands as it relates to our supplier base
  
  

Education:

Minimum: Bachelor's Degree preferably in business or science related discipline

Knowledge/Experience:

Minimum 5 years of experience in Sourcing role; Direct raw material experience; Animal Proteins experience strongly preferred

Experience working in diverse teams and matrix organizations

Knowledge and experience with Strategic Sourcing process with the ability to implement the framework in a new product category

Proven leader who has demonstrated the openness to act as a team player, and situational leadership within peer group to influence business strategy.

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; both verbal and written including the ability to communicate effectively with all levels of the organization.

Excellent analytical skills for financial assessments and issue identification, along with flexible thinking to adapt to changing markets.

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