Senior Manager, Strategic Category

Lactalis USA Inc. • Buffalo, NY

93d

About The Position

Ready for more than just a job? Build a career with purpose. At Lactalis in the USA, we’re committed to providing meaningful opportunities for our people to learn, grow, and thrive—whether you’re just starting your journey with us or looking to take the next step in your career. From day one, we offer the tools and support to help you succeed. As the world leader in dairy, Lactalis is a family-owned company with over 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals across the globe. Each day, we’re proud to produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together. In the US, we proudly offer an unrivaled house of beloved brands, including Galbani® Italian cheeses and ricotta, Président® specialty cheeses and butters, Kraft® natural and grated cheeses, Breakstone’s® cottage cheese, Cracker Barrel®, Black Diamond® cheddar, and Parmalat® milk. Our yogurt portfolio includes siggi’s®, Stonyfield Organic®, Brown Cow™, Oui®, Yoplait®, Go-Gurt®, :ratio®, Green Mountain Creamery®, and Mountain High®, along with a growing family of ethnic favorites like Karoun®, Gopi®, and Arz®. At Lactalis, we live by our core values—Ambition, Engagement, and Simplicity. We foster a workplace where innovation thrives, diverse perspectives are celebrated, and everyone’s unique background and ideas are valued. Even if you don’t meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply. We want to hear about your PASSION, your STORY, and how your EXPERTISE can help us shape the future of dairy.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree is required
• 6+ years of procurement function in a related field or category, preferably at a food company, is required
• Proficient with Microsoft Office products, SAP or similar business systems experience
• Experience in negotiating complex multi-year agreements through RFP/ RFQ bidding processes

Nice To Haves

• Packaging experience preferred

Responsibilities

• Prepare its Budget with input on the Budget Assumptions from the Senior director Procurement and the global Strategic procurement team
• Support all strategic procurement activities for all 7 different divisions in USA and Canada
• Develop and execute sourcing strategies for all category responsibilities. Present and support strategies to internal stakeholders
• Develop strategical partnership with key suppliers
• Identify and execute negotiation cost savings initiatives
• Cross functional support on global strategy & negotiation initiatives led by the global procurement team by providing information such as pricing specifications and vendor listings, market intelligence and negotiating at local level for finalization
• Support and manage company acquisition and work cross functional with the global procurement team and others company functions
• Through in-depth knowledge and analysis of key cost drivers, develop local sourcing strategies, qualify vendors, tender, negotiate, implement and manage all contracts for the category at the zone level and for all the various divisions
• Partner with and provide purchasing support and insight to the other functions within all Lactalis North American divisions as required
• Identify and execute value analysis and vendor transfer savings opportunities as a cross-functional effort to deliver cost reduction targets and optimize other performance measures
• Potentially lead and manage direct report by establishing goals and priorities, providing work direction, reviewing performance, providing work support with suppliers and providing feedback, and in conjunction with the Sr Director, determining training and development needs
• Perform administrative duties such as tracking cost savings initiatives and providing monthly status reports

Benefits

• Comprehensive Total Rewards Program with a variety of affordable benefits and coverage options
• Significant support for insurance costs
• Generous contributions to retirement plans
• Paid Time Off from day one
• Training and development opportunities, including Education Reimbursement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree