Procurement Manager - Direct Material Purchasing

*Direct Material Purchasing (Food product related Commodities, Ingredients & Packaging).

*Sole contributor role

#Role Summary#

We are looking for a Direct Material Purchasing professional with strong category knowledge in food commodities, ingredients, and packaging materials to support sourcing, supplier management, cost optimization, and uninterrupted supply to operations. This role will manage end-to-end procurement activities including strategic sourcing, contract negotiation, supplier performance, risk mitigation, and collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders (QA, R&D, Production, Planning, Finance).

Key Responsibilities:

1) Category & Sourcing Management (Food Commodities / Ingredients / Packaging)

•Manage procurement for direct materials including food commodities, ingredients and packaging.

•Execute strategic sourcing initiatives: spend analysis, RFQ/RFP, supplier benchmarking, should-cost/clean-sheet thinking, and award recommendations.

•Develop and implement category strategies aligned to cost, quality, innovation, and supply security.

•Track commodity and packaging market movements, translate trends into pricing strategy and negotiation approach.

2) Supplier Management & Performance

•Identify, qualify, and onboard suppliers; ensure suppliers meet food safety, Halal, quality, and regulatory standards.

•Manage supplier performance including OTIF, quality complaint rate, responsiveness, lead time adherence, and continuous improvement actions.

•Drive supplier collaboration for supply chain value engineering, packaging optimization, and cost-saving innovation (e.g., downgauging, yield improvement, alternate specs).

3) Cost Optimization & Negotiation

•Lead negotiations on pricing, rebates, payment terms, incoterms, MOQ, lead time, and service levels.

•Deliver measurable cost savings through Total Cost Ownership, process improvements, and demand management.

•Support budgeting, forecasting, and price variance analysis for direct material spend.

•Propose material hedging strategies.

•Recommend and prepare the financial budget.

4) Operational Purchasing & Supply Assurance

•Convert approved sourcing strategies into execution: PO management, expediting, delivery tracking for key materials, and issue resolution.

•Partner with Planning/Production to ensure continuity of supply and manage shortages, substitutions, and emergency buys.

•Maintain accurate master data: pricing, lead times, MOQ, suppliers, and contracts in ERP.

•Drive the company Sustainability Roadmap.

5) Governance, Compliance & Risk

•Ensure compliance with internal procurement policies, audit requirements, and ethical sourcing standards.

•Manage supplier risk (single-source dependency, capacity constraints, regulatory risks) and establish mitigation plans (dual-sourcing, safety stock, contingency suppliers).

•Support contract management and ensure documentation is complete and updated.

•Initiate the Tender Exercise for purchase above the tender threshold.

6) Cross-Functional Collaboration

•Work closely with QA on specifications, COA requirements, supplier audits, and non-conformance resolution.

•Collaborate with R&D and Marketing on new product development, packaging changes, and trial materials.

•Coordinate with Finance on supplier credit terms, cost control, and payment issue resolutions.

*Skills & Competencies*

•Strong knowledge of food ingredient and packaging specifications, supplier qualification basics, and quality considerations.

•Solid negotiation skills and understanding of contracting fundamentals (pricing mechanisms, incoterms, SLA).

•Analytical strength: spend analysis, cost breakdown, price variance, and savings tracking.

•Experience with SAP systems and strong Excel skills.

•Effective stakeholder management across Production, QA, R&D, Planning, and Finance.

•High ownership and growth mindset, structured problem-solving, and ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment.

•Preparing the ppt for annual budget and business review.

*Preferred / Advantageous*

•Experience working with Halal/Kosher requirements, food safety management systems, and supplier audits.

•Familiarity with BRCGS / FSSC 22000 / ISO 22000 environments (not mandatory).

•Exposure to packaging development, value engineering, and sustainability projects (recyclability, material reduction).

•Experience managing commodity price models (index-linked pricing, quarterly pricing, hedging exposure).

*Work Environment*

•Responsible for regional purchases in Cambodia.