Indirect Strategic Sourcing Specialist

Lactalis USA is currently seeking candidates to join our Procurement team in Buffalo, NY.

Lactalis, the world leader in dairy, is a family-owned business with more than 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals worldwide, committed to nurturing the future by providing healthy and delicious dairy products that bring people together every day. We produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together every day. We offer an enviable range of dairy brands including Galbani, President, Kraft Natural Cheese, Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond, Parmalat, Siggi's, and Stonyfield Organic in addition to several brands imported from our affiliates in Europe.

At Lactalis, our core values of AMBITION, ENGAGEMENT, and SIMPLICITY are at the heart of everything we do. We are dedicated to building a safe, diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace and we know that our candidates come from many different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job posting, we still encourage you to apply and share with us your STORY, your PASSION, and your EXPERTISE! You may be just the perfect candidate for this or other roles within our company.

Lactalis is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities.

The Strategic Sourcing Specialist, Indirect manages a portfolio of indirect categories and projects. They will be responsible for stablishing strong collaborative relationships with senior leaders in Programs and functional areas to align around category strategies and project requirements, scopes, and timelines. Develops or updates a sourcing strategy for each category as appropriate. Partners with global and regional Programs and offices to drive procurement through the supply chain team and eliminate unmanaged spend. Establishes long-term agreements where feasible to reduce transactional work and obtain optimal quality, service, price, and other terms. Advises and enables Country Programs in their sourcing projects as appropriate. Develop beneficial partnerships with global and regional suppliers and other organizations. Indirect sourcing categories may include Marketing Services, IT and Telecommunications, Consulting Services, Financial Systems and Services, Human Resources, Travel, Fleet and other indirect categories as determined to support the business needs.

From your EXPERTISE to ours

Key responsibilities for this position include:

* Activities will include facilitation of sourcing initiatives and projects with Programs, development of category strategies, supplier negotiation with suppliers, establishment and maintenance of supplier relationships, and leadership of business reviews with suppliers and internal stakeholders.

* Establish strong collaborative relationships with internal groups including Programs, regional/country offices, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, IT, Legal, and others

* Will evaluate and ensure that all plants are following proper purchasing procedures. Will also be responsible for communicating changes in purchasing policies and procedures.

* Monthly reporting on progress and achievements regarding Savings -Value Analysis - Negotiations completed.

* Will be responsible to implement a Yearly Saving Program, defined with Director, and will have to be followed every month with comments to Director. Will be responsible to implement pricing and % inflation for elaborating Budget for next year (July- August)

* Activities will include sourcing and qualifying Suppliers. This will include site visits. Set-up procedures for evaluating potential suppliers.

* Additional activities will include compiling, organizing, and maintaining all detailed Supplier information used to evaluate new and existing Suppliers.

* Responsible for the research and compiling of all purchasing information including price history, quality, and service etc. for bid proposals.

* Analyses market and delivery conditions to determine present and future material availability and/or pricing. Prepares market analysis reports with recommendations regarding alternatives.

* Will continually assess Suppliers to ensure that our company receives competitive pricing, quality, and service.

* Responsible for additions & maintenance of all nonproductive resources. Will be responsible to provide to assistant Administrative all data (#resource, pricing ,quantity) in order to update SAP/PRISM .

* Point of contact for North American purchasing any requests, changes, and new product developments. Responsible for schedule of completion dates of the process in question for purchasing group.

* Will work close with all North American Purchasing employees to make sure that overall Purchasing groups goals are achieved

* Travel may be required up to 25% monthly.

* Extended hours may be necessary depending on the project needs.

* To fulfill these responsibilities, tools such as a computer, phone or, and / or allowance(s) may be provided.

* Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential duties and responsibilities.

* This position requires physical presence in the office, in accordance with the guidelines of the Hybrid Work Policy.

* Demonstrate commitment to a safe working environment that promotes the health and well-being of all employees and that will further contribute to the Company's overall performance and success.

From your STORY to ours

Qualified applicants will contribute the following:

Education & Experience

* Bachelor's degree from four-year College in business or a business-related field

* 2 years purchasing experience (minimum of 2 within indirect purchasing categories)

* Prior CPG industry experience preferred

Specialized Knowledge

* Knowledge of Laboratory Supplies purchasing a plus

* Industrial and/or Supply Chain Purchasing experience preferred

Skills / Abilities

* Excellent Microsoft Office capabilities are a must

* Project management skills

* Strong negotiation & presentation skills

* Strong planning, project management, leadership skills and execution skills

* Rigorous data driven/analytical capability and ability to present data to a leadership level

* Ease of presenting in front of small to medium size groups and leadership

* Bilingual (French/English) is an asset

* Ability to operate in a team environment with the ability to motivate others

* Ability to adapt in a changing work environment