VP of Procurement - Commodities

Flowers Foods•Thomasville, GA

9d•Onsite

About The Position

Flowers Foods, Inc. is a leading producer of packaged bakery goods in the United States, with sales of $5.1 billion in 2024. The company offers a variety of well-known brands and fosters a culture of Honesty & Integrity, Respect & Inclusion, Sustainability, Passion, and Humility. Flowers Foods is committed to innovation and community. This role will lead the Commodities tower and the direct procure-to-pay (P2P) function, with full accountability for sourcing, commodity risk management, and the supply of raw materials. The position involves managing commodity and ingredient spend, governing SAP contracting, Master Data, and SOX-compliant contract entry. Hedging commodity price exposure through market exchanges is a key aspect of the role. The leader will manage a team of category and SAP contracting managers, setting sourcing and coverage strategies to ensure consistent supply, drive productivity, and support growth initiatives. This includes integrating commodities and ingredients into new plants, new product lines, and added capacity, while developing talent within the function.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Ten to fifteen or more years of progressive procurement experience, with significant time in direct materials and commodity procurement.
Proven people leadership — building, leading, and developing a team of category managers or sourcing professionals, and setting goals, metrics, and development plans.
Deep expertise in commodity risk management and price hedging, including futures, options, and index-based or forward physical contracting to manage exposure across an annual coverage program.
Track record developing and executing category strategies across agricultural and/or energy commodities — managing major supplier relationships, leading complex negotiations, and delivering measurable savings, total-cost-of-ownership reduction, and value creation.
Experience owning commodity cost assumptions and inflation/deflation outlooks within an annual operating and financial planning cycle.
Working knowledge of direct Procure-to-Pay operations and governance — SAP contracting, Master Data, and SOX-compliant controls.
Demonstrated ability to influence executive leaders and cross-functional partners across Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Legal, Quality, R&D, and Brand.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree is preferred.
Consumer packaged goods experience; food and beverage or bakery sector strongly preferred.
SAP contracting, Master Data, and SOX-compliant controls.

Responsibilities

Lead the strategic sourcing function across all commodity categories, ensuring strategies align with corporate objectives, business priorities, and bakery operations.
Direct the development and approval of category strategies across a number of commodity and ingredient categories addressing growth, productivity, risk, and continuous improvement.
Serve as the commodity subject-matter authority to the Procurement Leadership Team and senior stakeholders, translating market conditions into business implications and recommended actions.
Own the commodity risk management program — set coverage strategy and execute price hedging through futures, options, and index-based or forward physical contracts within approved policy and delegation-of-authority limits.
Serve as a standing member of the Commodity Risk Subcommittee / SLT Dashboard reviews, presenting market conditions, current coverage positions, and financial-plan impacts.
Direct the team's market intelligence on agricultural commodities and feedstocks and advise leadership on emerging risks and opportunities.
Oversee supplier contract negotiations — price, volume, service, and payment terms — personally leading the most strategic agreements and ensuring risk-management terms that protect raw-material quality and food safety.
Drive the productivity agenda that improves total cost of ownership and efficiency, with the team executing through RFPs, alternate supplier development, specification and/or formula optimization, and supplier relationship management.
Ensure uninterrupted supply of raw materials to bakery locations across the category portfolio, including business continuity and contingency planning for critical suppliers and materials.
Oversee qualification and development of new suppliers, maintaining a robust and competitive supply base.
Own the commodity cost assumptions for the annual planning cycle — raw-material and feedstock inflation/deflation and productivity offsets — and partner with Finance on the resulting plan.
Establish performance goals and metrics for the tower, and report results against savings, coverage, and service targets.
Provide leadership for the Direct P2P team, ensuring accurate SAP contract entry, Master Data integrity, and SOX-compliant controls across the direct-materials book.
Ensure business processes support accurate, timely data entry into SAP at all levels of the organization, and partner with plant inventory and fulfillment teams so materials can be ordered, received, and paid for accurately and on time.
Sponsor and support ERP/Digital (SAP) integration efforts.
Hire, develop, and lead a team of five (5) category and SAP contracting managers, building capability, bench strength, and a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
Lead or sponsor cross-functional special projects on behalf of the Procurement Leadership Team.
Build and maintain a positive image of the company through ethical dealings and personal involvement in business-related activities.
Practice and comply with all Company policies and procedures (EEO, Harassment, Safety, Sarbanes Oxley, etc.)
Perform other duties which are deemed by management to be an integral part of the job, including but not limited to fulfillment of work schedules, adherence to attendance policies, and other applicable operating rules, policies and procedures.