Manager, Commodity Strategy and Procurement

Supply Leadership Administration & Management LLC; Spartanburg (SC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

SLAM Supply Leadership Administration & Management in Spartanburg, SC is seeking a Manager or Senior Manager to translate commodity market conditions into commercial decisions while directly managing an assigned portfolio of food categories. The role blends market analysis with hands-on sourcing, negotiations, contracts, and supplier management.

The position reports to the Chief Procurement Officer and requires travel up to 15%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in Economics, Finance, Agricultural Economics, Supply Chain, or related field.
• Typically seven or more years of experience in commodity procurement, food sourcing, risk management, or related commercial role.
• Strong forecasting, financial modeling, communication, and judgment under uncertainty.

Responsibilities

• Track and interpret food commodity markets, crop conditions, livestock cycles, energy, freight, FX and other cost drivers.
• Develop short- and long-range forecasts, ranges, and scenarios for budget and category decisions.
• Recommend contract timing, duration, index structures, and pricing approaches to category managers and the CPO.
• Quantify commodity exposure and present monthly risk/opportunity assessments.
• Evaluate supplier cost change requests, index selections, conversion costs, yields, freight, and margins.
• Own assigned categories including sourcing, negotiations, contracts, supplier performance, savings, and continuity of supply.
• Partner with the Pricing Analyst on data and with category managers on approved actions.
• Establish governance before any hedging; do not trade or take financial positions.
• Help leadership understand commodity economics and market implications.

Skills

Forecasting

Financial Modeling

Negotiation

Supplier Management

Data Interpretation

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Economics, Finance, Agricultural Economics, Supply Chain, or related field

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

SLAM Supply Leadership Administration & Management

Spartanburg, SC|Full-Time|Up to 10-15% Travel

SLAM is seeking a Manager or Senior Manager, Commodity Strategy & Procurement to translate commodity market conditions into commercial decisions while directly managing an assigned portfolio of food categories. This procurement role combines market analysis and recommendations with hands-on sourcing, negotiation, contracts, and supplier management. The position reports to the Chief Procurement Officer.

Key Responsibilities

• Track and interpret food commodity markets, crop conditions, livestock cycles, energy, freight, foreign exchange, and other relevant cost drivers.
• Develop short- and long-range forecasts, ranges, and scenarios that inform SLAM's budget and category decisions.
• Recommend contract timing, duration, index structures, and fixed versus floating pricing approaches to category managers and the Chief Procurement Officer.
• Quantify commodity exposure and present monthly assessments of risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.
• Evaluate and challenge supplier cost change requests, index selections, conversion costs, yields, freight, and margins.
• Own assigned categories, including sourcing, negotiations, contracts, supplier performance, savings, and continuity of supply.
• Partner with the Pricing Analyst on reliable data and with category managers on approved actions.
• Establish governance before any financial hedging is considered; do not independently trade or take financial positions.
• Help category managers and leadership understand commodity economics and the commercial implications of market changes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Economics, Finance, Agricultural Economics, Supply Chain, or a related field; advanced degree a plus.
• Typically seven or more years of experience in commodity procurement, food sourcing, risk management, or a related commercial role.
• Demonstrated ability to negotiate and own procurement results beyond producing market research.
• Strong forecasting, financial modeling, communication, and judgment under uncertainty.

Success in this role will be measured by the quality and timeliness of recommendations, visibility into budget exposure, mitigation of cost increases, improvements to pricing formulas and contracts, savings in directly managed categories, effective evaluation of supplier proposals, useful forecasts, and adoption of recommendations by category managers.

Location and Travel

• This exempt position is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with travel of approximately 10-15% at most. The role has no supervisory responsibility initially.