Senior Procurement Category Manager, Specialty Flavors

McCormick & Company, Incorporated; Cockeysville (MD); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Career growth opportunities

Flexibility and Support for Diverse St

Flexibility and Support for Diverse LI

Job summary

McCormick & Company, Incorporated is seeking a Senior Procurement Category Manager, Specialty Flavors to lead category strategy and supplier relationships for flavor ingredients at our Hunt Valley, MD HQ (Hybrid 50/50) or Geneva, IL site.

The role partners with R&D, Product Development, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and Finance to deliver cost savings, supply continuity, and innovative solutions while ensuring compliance and business objectives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Accounting or applicable field of study required.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in Procurement, Supply Chain, Strategic Sourcing, Category Management, or related field.
• Experience with category management for food ingredients, flavors, or similar ingredients.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of category strategies for assigned flavors categories.
• Manage supplier relationships, negotiations, and contract management.
• Support cross‑functional collaboration with R&D, Product Development, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and Finance.

Skills

Negotiation

Communication

Influence

Stakeholder management

Leadership without authority

Analytical ability

Prioritization

Business acumen

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

MBA preferred

CPM or APICS certification

Job description

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Senior Procurement Category Manager, Specialty Flavors

HUNT VALLEY, MD, US, 21031 Geneva, IL, US, 60134

You may know McCormick as a leader in herbs, spices, seasonings, and condiments – and we’re only getting started. At McCormick, we’re always looking for new people to bring their unique flavor to our team.

McCormick employees – all 14,000 of us across the world – are what makes this company a great place to work.

We are looking to hire a Senior Procurement Category Manager, Specialty Flavors immediately in a Hybrid (50/50) capacity at our Global Headquarters in Hunt Valley, MD or at the McCormick Flavor Solutions site in Geneva, IL.

What We Bring To The Table:

The best people deserve the best rewards. In addition to the benefits you’d expect from a global leader (401k, health insurance, paid time off, etc.) we also offer:

• Career growth opportunities
• Flexibility and Support for Diverse Life Stages and Choices

Position Overview

TheSenior Procurement Category Manager, Specialty Flavors is responsible for developing and executing procurement strategies for assigned categories. This role leads sourcing, supplier relationship management, negotiations, risk mitigation, and value delivery for categories in scope.

The role partners closely with R&D, Product Development, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Commercial, Finance, and regional procurement teams to ensure supply continuity, competitive total cost of ownership, supplier performance, innovation support, and compliance with McCormick quality and business requirements.

This position is an individual contributor role with significant cross‑functional leadership responsibility. The role may lead project teams, supplier initiatives, and category workstreams, but does not have direct people management accountability unless otherwise assigned.

Key Responsibilities

• Category Strategy, Supplier Management, and Value Delivery: Lead the development and execution of procurement strategies, including supplier selection, negotiations, contracting, supplier relationship management, and performance improvement. Deliver value through total cost of ownership optimization, cost savings, supply continuity, supplier rationalization, innovation support, quality and service performance, and risk mitigation. Partner with internal stakeholders and suppliers to ensure solutions meet business, technical, quality, regulatory, and commercial requirements.
• Cross‑Functional Business Partnership: Partner with R&D, Product Development, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Commercial, Finance, and regional teams to support new product development, reformulation, supplier qualification, specification alignment, service recovery, and business continuity needs.
• Market Intelligence, Risk Management, and Supply Continuity: Develop and document market, supplier, raw material, and supply chain insights. Monitor market trends, supply risks, capacity constraints, geopolitical impacts, regulatory changes, and supplier financial or operational risk. Recommend mitigation plans, including alternative sources and contingency strategies.
• Financial Planning, Forecasting, and Governance: Support budgeting, standard cost setting, price variance analysis, savings tracking, reporting, and category governance. Provide clear explanations of cost drivers, inflation, deflation, and supplier pricing changes to stakeholders.

Secondary Responsibilities

• Establishes and executes strategies for their categories globally.
• Leads supplier business reviews and supports performance management strategies to assure optimal value delivery across key metrics.
• Participate and lead change management efforts while creating true alignment & integration internally and externally
• Act as an internal subject matter expert for assigned categories.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Accounting or applicable field of study required

Minimum of 8 years of experience in Procurement, Supply Chain, Strategic Sourcing, Category Management, or a related business function.

Experience managing direct materials, food ingredients, flavors, seasonings, extracts, specialty ingredients, or other technically complex ingredient categories.

Demonstrated success leading supplier negotiations, cost savings initiatives, sourcing events, and cross‑functional projects.

Experience developing and executing category strategies for complex supplier markets.

Strong understanding of total cost of ownership, supplier performance management, price variance analysis, contract management, and supply risk mitigation.

Ability to work with technical, commercial, quality, regulatory, and operational stakeholders to resolve complex business issues.

Interpersonal Skills:

• Strong negotiation, communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to lead without direct authority across functions, regions, and supplier organizations.
• Strong analytical capability, including cost modeling, scenario analysis, savings tracking, and business case development.
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.
• Strong business acumen and ability to connect procurement decisions to cost, service, quality, innovation, risk, and customer impact.

Other Skills and HPO Competencies:

• Professional Project‑Management

Preferred Qualifications

• Level of Education and Discipline: MBA Or other equivalent Master's preferred
• Certifications and/or Licenses: CPM or APICS certification

McCormick & Company is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

As a general policy, McCormick does not offer employment visa sponsorships upon hire or in the future.

Base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, experience for this role, and/or internal equity of our current employees as part of any final offer. This position is also eligible to participate in McCormick’s Incentive Bonus (MIB) Plan. In addition to a competitive compensation package, permanent employees of McCormick are eligible for our extensive Total Rewards programs that include:

• Comprehensive health plans covering medical, vision, dental, life and disability benefits
• Family‑friendly benefits such as paid parental leave, fertility benefits, Employee Assistance Program, and caregiver support
• Retirement and investment programs including 401(k) and profit‑sharing plans

WHY WORK AT MCCORMICK?

As a McCormick employee you’ll be empowered to focus on more than your individual responsibilities. You’ll have the opportunity to be part of something bigger than yourself—to have a say in where the company is going and how it’s growing.

Between our passion for flavor, our 130‑year history of leadership and integrity, the competitive and comprehensive benefits we offer, and our culture, which is built on respect and opportunities for growth, there are many reasons to join us at McCormick.