Senior Buyer and Sourcing

Cafe Valley, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Bonus incentive

Paid time off

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Job summary

Cafe Valley, Inc. is seeking a hands-on Purchasing professional to own the front half of sourcing, run RFQs, and qualify new materials for production.

You will work directly with our SVP of Supply Chain on commodity positions including wheat, eggs, dairy, soy, palm, and chocolate, analyzing quotes and building strong supplier relationships. This role focuses on supplier selection, price negotiation, and setting up vendor records, with 10% travel.

Qualifications

• 3 to 7 years in purchasing, sourcing, or supplier management.
• Experience in food, beverage, or food-contact packaging manufacturing.
• Experience running a competitive sourcing process from RFQ to award.
• ERP experience (Syspro) and strong Excel.
• Ability to defend sourcing recommendations in front of leadership.
• Willingness to travel 10% to Phoenix, AZ and Marion, IN.

Responsibilities

• Run RFQs for ingredients and packaging, analyze quotes, and decide where to buy.
• Find and qualify backup suppliers to prevent line stoppages.
• Negotiate pricing and terms, and justify recommendations.
• Get new materials through R&D and Food Safety approval and set up records.
• Track commodity markets and provide coverage views for SVP and Finance.
• Own supplier scorecards and the purchase price variance story.

Skills

Purchasing experience

Supplier management

Excel

Education

Tools

Syspro ERP

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Since 1987, Cafe Valley has been baking smiles one cupcake, muffin, cake, and croissant at a time-putting care and craftsmanship into every product we make. Our people are the heart of our success. We’re committed to fostering a positive, team-focused workplace where collaboration, innovation, and respect are part of everyday operations—because the best baked goods come from people who love what they do. Our employees are our special ingredient. With more than 1,700 team members baking a difference every day, we operate state-of-the-art production facilities in Phoenix, AZ and Marion, IN, where quality, safety, and teamwork rise together.

This role owns the front half of purchasing: finding the suppliers, running the competitive process that sets what our ingredients and packaging cost, and getting new materials qualified and approved so production can use them.

It is a hands-on job. You run your own RFQs, work your own quotes, and carry your own specs through R&D and Food Safety. There is no team underneath you and no analyst to hand things to. You will work directly with our SVP of Supply Chain on commodity positions in wheat, eggs, dairy, soy, palm, and chocolate.

What You Will Do

• Run RFQs for ingredients and packaging, analyze the quotes, and make the call on where we buy.
• Find and qualify backup suppliers so that one supplier problem never stops a line.
• Negotiate pricing and terms, and build the case behind every recommendation.
• Get new materials through R&D and Food Safety approval, and set up the vendor and item records yourself.
• Track commodity markets and build the coverage view our SVP and Finance rely on.
• Own supplier scorecards and the purchase price variance story for the materials you buy.

What You Will Not Do

We have a separate Purchasing Operations team that handles the daily buying. You will not be cutting POs, running MRP, expediting trucks, or chasing deliveries. If your background is replenishment, inventory planning, or order management, this is not that role, and we would rather tell you now.

Who You Are

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 3 to 7 years in purchasing, sourcing, or supplier management, with real ownership of supplier selection and price negotiation.
• Experience in food, beverage, or food-contact packaging manufacturing. This one is firm. You need to already understand what changing a material or a supplier does to a specification, an allergen statement, and an approval.
• Experience running a competitive sourcing process start to finish, from RFQ through award.
• ERP experience (we run Syspro) and strong Excel.
• The judgment to build a sourcing recommendation and defend it in front of leadership.
• 10% travel to Phoenix, AZ and Marion, IN.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bakery, snack, dairy, or co-manufacturing background.
• Syspro specifically.
• Exposure to agricultural commodity markets or booked positions.
• Supplier scorecards, purchase price variance, or total landed cost modeling.
• Support of new item and packaging launches from the supplier side.
• Spanish.

Where You Will Work

• This is a remote position

What You’ll Enjoy

• Competitive base salary and bonus incentive
• Paid time off programs
• Comprehensive benefit offering including medical, dental, vision, life, disability and ancillary programs
• Working with a great team of dedicated professionals focused on a common mission

Cafe Valley is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity in the workplace. We encourage applications from qualified individuals regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.