Director of Procurement

What You’ll Do

As the Director of Procurement for our N.A. Trading operations, you will be responsible for leading the company’s end-to-end supply chain and procurement strategy across forecasting, sourcing, inventory management, replenishment, and supplier performance. This role will oversee the planning and procurement functions to ensure product availability, optimize inventory investment, manage imported supply timelines, and support overall business growth.

You will serve as a strategic business partner to Sales, Operations, Finance, Logistics, and executive leadership while driving operational efficiency, cost savings, supplier performance, and long-term supply chain scalability across the organization. This position plays a critical leadership role in balancing service levels, working capital, procurement strategy, and operational execution in a fast-paced imported food distribution environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and lead the company’s overall supply chain and procurement strategy to support operational performance and business growth objectives.
• Oversee demand planning, inventory management, sourcing, procurement, replenishment, and supplier management functions across the organization.
• Establish departmental goals, KPIs, and performance standards aligned with company objectives.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on inventory optimization, procurement efficiency, forecasting accuracy, and cost reduction.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration between Supply Chain, Sales, Operations, Warehouse, Logistics, and Finance teams to improve service levels and execution.
• Build scalable processes and infrastructure to support company growth and operational complexity.
• Lead strategic sourcing initiatives, supplier negotiations, contract management, and vendor performance programs.
• Develop strong relationships with domestic and international suppliers, manufacturers, freight partners, and service providers.
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times, service agreements, and cost-saving opportunities to improve profitability and supply continuity.
• Evaluate and onboard new suppliers to support business expansion, risk mitigation, and product diversification.
• Monitor global market conditions, commodity trends, tariffs, freight costs, and geopolitical risks impacting procurement and supply chain operations.
• Oversee forecasting and replenishment strategies using historical demand, seasonality, promotions, market trends, and business initiatives.
• Ensure inventory strategies align with customer demand, warehouse capacity, shelf-life requirements, and working capital objectives.
• Lead initiatives to improve forecast accuracy, reduce excess inventory, and minimize stockouts and obsolete inventory.
• Develop contingency planning strategies to address supply disruptions, long lead times, and operational risks.
• Oversee inventory health metrics including inventory turns, days of supply, aging inventory, and fill rate performance.
• Own and monitor supply chain KPIs including service levels, forecast accuracy, inventory turns, supplier performance, fill rates, freight spend, and procurement savings.
• Analyze operational and financial data to identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities.
• Partner with Finance leadership on budgeting, inventory investment planning, cost controls, and forecasting initiatives.
• Ensure data integrity and process consistency across ERP, MRP, and planning systems.
• Present supply chain performance updates, business insights, and strategic recommendations to executive leadership.
• Lead, mentor, and develop supply chain, planning, and procurement team members across multiple functions.
• Build a high-performance, data-driven culture focused on accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Support organizational development through coaching, succession planning, and employee development initiatives.
• Establish clear priorities, workflows, and performance expectations for the department.

Required Skills & Competencies

• Proven leadership experience managing supply chain, procurement, or planning teams within a fast-paced distribution, food, manufacturing, or import environment.
• Strong strategic thinking and decision-making abilities with a focus on operational execution and long-term business growth.
• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders across multiple levels of the organization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex operational and financial data.
• Advanced Excel skills required; experience with BI tools such as Power BI or Tableau strongly preferred.
• Hands-on experience with ERP, MRP, forecasting, and inventory planning systems (SAP, Dynamics 365, NetSuite, JDA, Logility, or similar).
• Deep understanding of procurement, strategic sourcing, inventory optimization, demand planning, and global supply chain operations.
• Experience managing imported products with long international lead times strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with food industry operations, shelf-life management, lot tracking, and regulatory compliance (FDA, FSMA preferred).
• Strong supplier negotiation and contract management experience required.
• Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to translate operational data into actionable business insights.
• Proven ability to partner effectively with executive leadership, operations teams, suppliers, and external business partners.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving environment while managing multiple priorities and deadlines.