Associate Director, Ingredients - Commodities

Kraft Heinz; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 164,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

Kraft Heinz seeks an Associate Director of Commodities Procurement to lead strategic planning and sourcing for Oils, Grains, Flour, Pasta, Sweeteners and Starches across the North American Zone. You will coach category managers, build category strategies, and drive negotiations with key suppliers to optimize TCO and financial performance.

You will manage internal stakeholders across Business Units, Operations, Finance, Quality, R&D and Global Procurement, ensuring alignment with global

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, finance, or business; MBA preferred or equivalent experience.
• 7–10 years of direct procurement experience, with 5+ years in commodities/ingredient experience.
• Proven ability to build high-performing teams and coach staff.
• Strong business acumen to explain results to non-procurement audiences.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Strategic thinker with organizational agility.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and source-to-pay tools.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement category strategies for Oils, Grains, Flour, Pasta, Sweeteners and Starches.
• Lead supplier selection and complex negotiations; manage high-level relationships.
• Coach and develop category managers; coordinate with internal stakeholders.
• Drive productivity, cost reduction, and Total Cost of Ownership optimization.
• Monitor market trends and communicate insights to senior leadership.
• Collaborate with global procurement and cross-functional teams.

Skills

Strategic procurement leadership

Category management

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Team coaching

Data-driven decision making

Communication

Excel / Office proficiency

Education

Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, finance, or business

MBA preferred (CPM/CPIM) or equivalent

Tools

SAP

Ariba

Workday

Job description

As the Associate Director of Commodities Procurement, you will be responsible for all strategic planning and sourcing activities for the assigned categories (Oils, Grains, Flour, Pasta, Sweeteners and Starches) across the Kraft Heinz North American Zone (U.S. and Canada) accounting for $1b annual spend. You will leverage your experience and knowledge to coach and develop a team of category managers to build comprehensive strategies at the category level and implement the strategy through the sourcing process. You will manage key supplier relationships and strategize and lead key negotiations. To succeed, the role requires a strategic procurement expert to be adept in the complexities of ingredient procurement to drive both financial and performance results. You will also manage key internal stakeholders, including Business Units, Operations, Finance, Quality, R&D, and Global Procurement teams. The role is ultimately responsible for the full financial performance of the Commodities portfolio, productivity development, and delivery.

Job Description

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

• Build and maintain excellent relationships with mid- to executive-level clients and suppliers continuously to ensure customer satisfaction and increase influence over total category spend.
• Develop new capabilities for Kraft Heinz through people by hiring the right talent, ensuring clarity on the vision and jobs to be done, and driving engagement through effective coaching, guidance, and people development.
• Develop a category and sourcing strategy for a comprehensive portfolio of complex and critical categories to Kraft Heinz.
• Establish and deliver performance goals for a portfolio of categories representing a significant amount of spend.
• Lead strategic sourcing projects for supplier selection and optimization to execute Category Management vision and strategies, deliver on business needs based on data and insights and leveraging external best practices.
• Manage supplier relationships, facilitating Supplier Business Reviews, and act as a high-level escalation point for performance and risk issues.
• Lead discussions with critical suppliers around long-term objectives and strategies, ongoing market trends, innovation, and technological advances.
• Identify the most crucial supplier relationships in collaboration with operations and commercial; create a roadmap for improving or changing relationships for improved value aligned with category strategies.
• Be a thought leader and enabler for continuously improving internal and external routines and business processes.
• Manage a prioritized portfolio of projects for the category in the near and long term.
• Led the supplier selection and RFx award process by executing highly complex contracts following policies and processes, applying expert-level negotiation techniques and tools in all situations.
• Actively understand category dynamics (current market, pricing, cost drivers, industry, and supplier variables) through trade groups, publications, etc., and communicate changes to business stakeholders.
• Own, build, and deliver productivity and cash targets aligned with overarching goals and objectives, focusing on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
• Manage total cost of ownership at the category level through collaboration with data analytics and be accountable for measuring and reporting value delivery.
• Enable continuous process improvement and cost reduction.
• Ensure the strategic sourcing process is robustly applied to all sourcing projects.
• Collaborates with global procurement peers to ensure support and alignment with the supported functions.

People Management Responsibilities

• Team (salaried): 2 directs, 9 team members

Expected Experience & Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, finance, business, or equivalent. MBA and advanced Procurement qualifications preferred (CPM, CPIM, etc.). Candidates with equivalent experience will be considered.
• 7 to 10 years of direct Procurement experience, with a minimum of 5 years of commodities or ingredient commodities experience.
• Experience building high-performing teams by setting clear direction and priorities, leaning into coach and guide, empowering the team, and driving accountability.
• Strong Business acumen with the ability to understand and explain Procurement results and variances to non-Procurement audiences.
• Results-oriented, adept at solving complex challenges and dealing with ambiguity; anticipates and adjusts to problems and obstacles in the team or the organization.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; proven track record of building effective business relationships.
• Effective negotiator and influencer with demonstrated examples with internal stakeholders and external suppliers/partners.
• Strong strategic thinker who considers various perspectives and impacts of issues and can project them into the future.
• Ability to quickly develop organizational agility, e.g., knows how to get things done through formal and informal channels and is an effective delegator.
• Ability to prioritize your time and others' time on what’s most important while eliminating roadblocks for the team, creating focus.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and have an understanding for source-to-pay tools (SAP, Ariba, Workday, etc.).

Work Environment & Schedule

This position is considered a normal office environment with moderate travel to customer locations, stores, manufacturing facilities, etc.; offices are open workspaces. To create a more agile and modern workplace, we allow Chicago/Aon Center-based employees to work virtually for up to two days each week and expect them to work in person during the defined core days at their assigned work location at least three days per workweek.

Our Total Rewards philosophy is to provide a meaningful and flexible spectrum of programs that equitably support our diverse workforce and their families and complement Kraft Heinz’ strategy and values.

New Hire Base Salary Range

$164,200.00 - $205,200.00

Bonus

This position is eligible for a performance-based bonus as provided by the plan terms and governing documents.

The compensation offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors

Benefits

Coverage for employees (and their eligible dependents) through affordable access to healthcare, protection, and saving for the future, we offer plans tailored to meet you and your family’s needs. Coverage for benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.

Wellbeing

We offer events, resources, and learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional, and financial well-being lifestyle for our employees and their families.

Benefits

You’ll be able to participate in a variety of benefits and wellbeing programs that may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors, for example:

• Physical - Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Screenings/Assessments
• Social - Paid Time Off, Company Holidays, Leave of Absence, Flexible Work Arrangements, Recognition, Training
• Emotional – Employee Assistance Program , Wellbeing Programs, Family Support Programs
• Financial – 401k, Life, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Disability

Location(s)

Chicago/Aon Center

Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Underrepresented Ethnic Minority Groups/Women/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and other protected classes. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for protected individuals, applicants that require accommodation in the job application process may contact [e-mail] for assistance.