Commercial Operations Manager

Mars•Creve Coeur, MO

About The Position

This role is responsible for executing inbound supply chain strategies for assigned raw and packaging materials that support Royal Canin North America manufacturing facilities. The Operations Materials Manager is accountable for reliable supply to factories by translating sourcing and supply strategies into operational execution, supplier performance improvement, inventory optimization, and issue resolution. The role acts as a key interface among Sourcing, SQA, Planning, Manufacturing, Regulatory, Trade Compliance, Finance, suppliers, and factory teams to ensure materials are available on time, in the right quantity, and with the required quality and compliance standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required; business, economics, supply chain, engineering, procurement, or related discipline preferred.
Fluent English required; French is a plus.
3-5+ years of experience in Commercial Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement Operations, Planning, Manufacturing, Logistics, or a similar environment.
Experience with raw and/or packaging materials, inbound supply chains, supplier performance, factory service, and inventory management preferred.
Ability to analyze issues quickly, define root cause, and drive cross-functional resolution in urgent or ambiguous situations.
Experience working across regional, factory, supplier, and global stakeholders to execute strategies and improve performance.
Demonstrated capability in crisis management, conflict resolution, project management, and continuous improvement.
Strong working knowledge of standard business systems, data integrity, and performance reporting.

Responsibilities

Serve as the regional Commercial Operations expert for assigned materials/categories and co-pilot with Sourcing Managers and SQA on supply risk evaluation, mitigation, and execution.
Translate regional sourcing and supply strategies into clear operational priorities for assigned factories, materials, suppliers, and stakeholders.
Develop and implement inbound pipeline strategies with Manufacturing, Planning/Flow, Logistics, SQA, Regulatory, Trade Compliance, Finance, and suppliers.
Ensure execution of agreed materials strategies, including service, cost, quality, inventory, data integrity, and compliance requirements.
Support operational buying and day-to-day material availability needs where required for the region.
Act as a single point of contact for assigned factory/material scope, enabling timely, high-quality delivery of direct materials and packaging to production sites.
Lead 0-12 week supply issue resolution and crisis management for assigned categories, including escalation, concession/reformulation requests, recovery plans, and stakeholder communication.
Partner with Flow, Planning, Manufacturing, SQA, and suppliers to solve and prevent material shortages, supplier bottlenecks, ATS/downtime risk, and service disruptions.
Participate in relevant S&OP and factory governance routines, including Factory Service Reviews, factory TLTs, daily JTM, and daily CMOS as applicable.
Use data and periodic reviews with manufacturing facilities to improve supplier performance, OTIF, inventory health, and execution discipline.
Serve as the primary operational contact for suppliers and internal teams on assigned materials, supporting forecasting, logistics, supplier-owned inventory/floor stock programs, and issue resolution.
Collaborate with suppliers and cross-functional partners to drive continuous improvement, technology adoption, process excellence, and competitive advantage.
Own supplier logistics interfaces for supplier-owned transport material, including requirements communication, transport specifications, performance management, and corrective actions.
Partner with Sourcing, SQA, and strategic suppliers to bring innovative ideas, products, and process improvements back to Royal Canin.
Establish, monitor, and act on KPIs for assigned materials and suppliers, proactively addressing performance gaps and escalating risks as needed.
Identify and implement VCO and logistics cost-reduction opportunities while protecting service, quality, and compliance requirements.
Support claim processes and cost-recovery activities related to supplier service or material failures.
Champion process excellence, data accuracy, EDI/consignment or related rollouts, and future Target Operating Model deployment as assigned.
Maintain adherence to governance standards, regulatory requirements, quality controls, and Mars/Royal Canin commercial practices and policies.
Partner with SQA to manage quality-related material issues and crisis response in order to minimize business impact.
Demonstrate a quality and safety culture in actions, words, and spirit.
Perform other duties as assigned to support Commercial Operations and broader Royal Canin business priorities.