Manager, Supplier Management

KeHE Distributors, LLC; Naperville (IL); On-site; USD 87,000 - 128,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health/Rx

Dental

Vision

FSA/HSA

Supplemental life insurance

401(k)

Paid time off

Paid sick time

STD/LTD

ESOP

Holiday pay

Job summary

KeHE Distributors, LLC in Naperville, IL is seeking a Supplier Manager to maximize supplier profitability and performance. You will lead negotiations, monitor metrics, and collaborate with Category Management, Supply Chain, Finance, Pricing, and Freight to improve processes and supplier experiences.

The role requires a 4-year degree, 3+ years in food or distribution, strong Excel/PowerPoint skills, and willingness to travel about 20%.

Qualifications

• 4-year bachelor’s degree in business or related field.
• Experience within the food and/or distribution industry with 3+ years.
• Successful negotiator with ability to drive influence and change.
• Articulate and persuasive communication skills.
• Ability to synthesize information and make clear recommendations.
• Strong relationship management with senior stakeholders.
• Ability to analyze and manage profit drivers (gross margin, spend, spoilage).
• Proficiency in PowerPoint, Excel and other tools to transfer product knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Identify, monitor, and track supplier profitability and performance opportunities for a subset of supplier partners.
• Lead negotiations and improve supplier profitability and performance; manage policies and deductions.
• Ensure timely processing of supplier questions and disputes with performance metrics.
• Hold suppliers accountable for terms, spoilage, value-added programs, and on-time delivery.
• Educate suppliers on policies, routing guides, and dispute resolution.
• Lead regular business reviews outlining profitability vs. actual performance and opportunities.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to improve supplier administrative processes.
• Lead a small team supporting supplier partnerships.

Skills

Supplier negotiations

Relationship management

Data analysis

Communication

Strategic thinking

PowerPoint

Budgeting

Presentation skills

Time management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business or related field

Tools

MS Excel

MS Word

MS PowerPoint

Job description

Why Work for KeHE?

• Full-time
• Pay Range: $87,230.00/Yr. - $127,897.00/Yr.
• Shift Days: , Shift Time:
• Benefits on Day 1
  • Health/Rx
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • Flexible and health spending accounts (FSA/HSA)
  • Supplemental life insurance
  • 401(k)
  • Paid time off
  • Paid sick time
  • Short term & long term disability coverage (STD/LTD)
  • Employee stock ownership (ESOP)
  • Holiday pay for company designated holidays

Overview

At KeHE, we’re obsessed with creating solutions, unboxing potential, and serving others – and it all starts with you. As an employee-owned distributor of natural and organic, specialty, and fresh products, we’re committed to making a positive impact and scaling our success together. With a culture that fosters development and opportunity, you’ll be embarking on a career that’s moving forward. When you join KeHE, you’re becoming part of a team that is a force for good.

Primary Responsibilities

The Supplier Manager is responsible for monitoring, measuring, and maximizing supplier profitability and operational performance, identifying areas opportunity, and managing the business relationship with a subset of our supplier partners. The teams’ overall goal is to establish strategic connections with our supplier partners and ensure supplier partner success and a positive experience around ease, cost, and speed of doing business with KeHE.

The Supplier Manager is responsible for collaborating with Category Management, Supply Chain, Finance, Pricing, and Freight to optimize business processes and positively impact their supplier relationships from an administrative perspective.

Essential Functions

• Identify, monitor, and track supplier profitability and operational performance opportunities for a subset of our supplier partners:

• KeHE brand scorecard improvement
• Inbound and outbound service standard compliance
• Supplier Policies & Procedures execution and negotiation
• Supplier Inbound Routing Guide expectations
• Administrative aspects of supplier partnership

• Manage and improve supplier profitability and operational performance negotiations, Policies & Procedures execution, deduction management, dispute resolution, on time delivery and delivery quality compliance.
• Ensure timely, accurate, and efficient processing of supplier questions and disputes, while providing performance metrics and facilitating processes and supplier business improvement initiatives.

• Hold suppliers accountable for key profitability and operational performance indicators: terms, spoils, value-added programs, inbound fill-rate, on-time performance, delivery quality.
• Proactively educate new and small suppliers on Supplier Policies & Procedures, Supplier Inbound Routing Guide, deduction management and dispute resolution.
• Host regular business reviews with subset of supplier partners that clearly outline profitability and performance expectations in comparison to actual experience, areas of improvement, and areas of opportunity.
• Create and foster a supplier friendly, relational environment of continuous improvement, accountability, and innovation.
• Lead a small team that supports suppliers with root cause research and resolution on administrative aspects of supplier partnerships.
• Collaborate internally, in a cross-functional manner, to improve business processes that impact suppliers in their administrative and support activities with KeHE.

Minimum Requirements, Qualifications, Additional Skills, Aptitude

• 4-year bachelor’s degree in business or related field of study.
• Experience within the food and/or distribution industry with 3+ years.
• Successful negotiator and ability to drive influence and change.
• Articulate and persuasive communication skills. Excellent written, oral and presentation skills.
• Ability to synthesize information and make clear, concise recommendations on course of action.
• Strong relationship management skills and ability to guide at senior management level both internally and externally.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze, budget and proactively manage profit drivers such as gross margin %, promotional spend, spoilage, fees, and other program expenses.
• Demonstrated skills transferring information gained through analysis to fact based, action-oriented presentations for delivery to both internal and external stake holders. Need to provide examples of PowerPoint, Excel and other tools used to transfer this product and program knowledge.
• Proficiency in MS Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Possess a sense of urgency and attention to accuracy and detail.
• Ability to effectively manage a wide variety of tasks simultaneously and often with minimal direction or time conflicting pressures.
• Willingness to travel domestically, occasionally over weekends (about 20%).

Requisition ID

2026-29788

Equal Employer Opportunity Statement

KeHE Distributors provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, religion or faith, sex, gender, age, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability or medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training as well as the administration of all Human Resources and Talent Acquisition processes.