Strategic Sourcing Manager

Lactalis LHD • Chicago, IL

5d

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. From your PASSION to ours The Strategic Sourcing Manager US Comanufacturing, is an active member of the Purchasing Team North America (NA), participates in sharing purchasing excellence and strategies, supporting teamwork, joint learning and development initiatives. The incumbent will lead the North American sourcing strategy initiatives for an assigned Category. Under the guidance of the Associate Director procurement – US Comanufacturing, will assist in the execution of a supply strategy for managing Lactalis’ US Comanufacturing network and will provide local support to Yogurt Business units across USA and Canada . This position will be expected to provide a high level of service and support for internal stakeholders by developing a deep understanding of affiliate business needs, providing detailed analysis of spend data and financial results, playing a key role in supplier relationship and performance management, and by providing necessary support for new product innovation and supply chain sustainability. This position will also be responsible for ensuring connectivity between Lactalis Yogurt business units’ functions (Supply Chain, R&D, Quality, Finance, PMO, Marketing, etc.) and the broader Lactalis North America Purchasing organization. The focus of this position will be primarily in support for yogurt -related co manufacturing activities in the United States.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Procurement or another appropriate discipline
• Five (5) to ten (10) years’ experience in a Procurement function, preferably at a food company
• Industrial and/or Supply Chain Purchasing experience preferred
• Initiative, and strong interpersonal skills.
• Strong negotiation & presentation skills
• Able to positively influence others
• Ability to operate in an open and collaborative team environment with the ability to motivate
• Highly focused and proactive
• Ability to prioritize and meet deadlines within specified time constraints
• Strong planning, project management, and execution skills
• Ease of presenting in front of small to medium size groups and leadership
• Consultative and customer centric approach that nurtures interest, engagement, and the sharing of ideas.
• Rigorous data driven/analytical capability and ability to present data to a leadership level
• Proficient with Microsoft Office including advanced proficiency MS Excel and MS PowerPoint
• Ability to prioritize and meet deadlines within specified time constraints
• Ability to adapt in a changing work environment
• SAP or comparable business systems solutions knowledge
• Ability to travel within the United States, with occasional travel to Canada and internationally, approximately 30% of the time
• As required provide support for other categories within Purchasing

Nice To Haves

• Bilingual (French/English) is an asset

Responsibilities

• Develops local /regional sourcing strategies for the Category managed, using detailed analysis of historical & current spend data, combined with sourcing and research of new suppliers.
• Achieve budget objectives by identifying, developing and supporting North American sourcing strategy initiatives for the assigned Category or the North American Sourcing.
• Leads the implementation, and management of the strategy for Category, making sure the needs and specifications of each Business Unit are considered.
• Take ownership of the bid process, through in-depth knowledge and analysis of key cost drivers, qualify vendors, tender, negotiate, implement, and manage all contracts related to the category.
• Support global negotiation initiatives led by Lactalis senior global procurement team by providing information such as pricing specifications, vendor listings and negotiating at local and global level. As well as providing information as a subject matter export on the Category being managed.
• Lead cross-functional teams with internal stakeholders in the design and implementation of sourcing strategies
• Identify and execute negotiation cost savings initiatives.
• Participate as a subject matter expert in working with cross-functional teams, providing insight to key functional areas of the business for effective project execution such as process optimization. The scope includes pricing, as well as process improvements ideas provided by the vendors, and insights into the portfolio.
• Develop supplier relationships to optimize supplier quality and performance, including continuous improvement, innovation, and reduction in total cost of ownership to add value to North America region.
• Responsible for supplier quality and supplier contract compliance with respect to the category managed.
• Perform administrative duties such as tracking cost savings initiatives, providing monthly status reports vs. objective targets reviewing and validating pricing and communicating the pricing to master data for upload.
• Responsible for providing insights on the market for LE & monthly risk & opportunities forecast reports to the divisions
• Participate as an active member of the Strategic Sourcing team, sharing purchasing strategies, supporting teamwork, joint learning and development initiative.

Benefits

• At Lactalis, we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards Program with a variety of affordable benefits and coverage options. We support insurance costs significantly, contribute generously to retirement plans, and offer Paid Time Off from day one. We are committed to your professional growth, providing training and development opportunities, including Education Reimbursement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level