Senior Transportation Procurement Manager

Darigold; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 109,000 - 192,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k match

Medical, dental & vision benefits

Life & disability coverage

Paid time off & holidays

Parental leave (8 weeks)

Job summary

Darigold is seeking a Senior Transportation Procurement Manager to lead liquid bulk transportation, drive cost efficiency, and ensure compliant and timely milk movement across the network. The role requires strategic and operational leadership, team management, and cross-functional collaboration with Planning, Operations and Commercial teams.

The candidate will source haulers, negotiate contracts, and oversee daily transportation planning activities, including root-cause analysis and process

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, supply chain, logistics, engineering or equivalent.
• 10+ years in dairy, transportation, logistics or related field.
• Knowledge of Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and related dairy regulations preferred.
• Experience with Oracle Transportation Management or similar TMS.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and Power BI.

Responsibilities

• Manage relationships between regional bulk milk haulers and plant operations for an efficient transportation network.
• Source and negotiate contracts with bulk haulers for interplant and commercial activities; manage claims, accruals, payments and audits.
• Oversee daily operations and tactical execution of the Bulk Milk Hauling Transportation Planning Team.
• Serve as primary contact for escalated operational issues between haulers and plants; provide on-call support.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Problem solving

Travel flexibility

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Business Admin / Supply Chain / Logistics / Engineering

Tools

Oracle Transportation Management

Excel

Power BI

Dairy.com

Job description

Darigold is seeking an experienced and motivated Senior Transportation Procurement Manager to join our growing team! The Senior Transportation Procurement Manager leads Darigold's liquid bulk transportation, ensuring cost-effective, timely and compliant movement of milk while maximizing processing capacity. This critical role provides strategic and operational leadership, manages a high-performing team and collaborates across Planning, Operations and Commercial teams. Leveraging expertise in milk supply, processing and logistics, the Senior Transportation Procurement Manager drives efficiency, profitability, sustainability and continuous improvement across the network.

Darigold is the fifth largest dairy cooperative in the United States based on milk volume and one of the largest privately held organizations headquartered in the state of Washington. Since 1918, our producers have taken pride in producing dairy products with unsurpassed quality. Today, we are one of the nation's largest agricultural cooperatives, producing over 8.5 billion pounds of milk every year. Through innovative technology and our efficient and flexible production capabilities, we deliver value-added products and customer-driven solutions. Darigold is now known throughout the world for bringing fresh, wholesome dairy products and ingredients from the Northwest to people all around the globe.

What You Will Do

• Manage relationships between regional bulk milk haulers and plant operations to ensure an efficient and balanced transportation network.
• Source and negotiate contracts with bulk haulers to support Darigold's bulk milk interplant and commercial activities, including managing freight claims, accruals, payments and audits.
• Manage the daily operations and tactical execution of the Darigold Bulk Milk Hauling Transportation Planning Team.
• Serve as the primary contact for resolving escalated operational issues between freight haulers and delivery plants, providing on-call support, as needed, for unexpected disruptions, tanker investigations and related matters.
• Develop innovative solutions to rebalance the network during unplanned downtime events
• Investigate hauler-related issues such as weight discrepancies, paperwork errors, process inefficiencies or SOP deviations and develop improvement plans to enhance operational performance.
• Act as SME to haulers and plant personnel on proper procedures for safe and efficient milk pickup and delivery at farms and processing plants.
• Support NDA Field Staff with producer and hauler issues, producer requests and farm milk quality issues and reroutes.
• Collaborate with Operations and Planning teams to develop short-term (0-2 months) operational plans for Darigold's processing and transportation network.
• Support daily and weekly fluid balancing for Darigold plants, factoring in planned maintenance, current market conditions and production schedules.
• Oversee root cause and corrective action investigations to address business questions related to bulk fluid supply, demand, inventory, transportation and processing.
• Develop the team by identifying skill gaps and creating targeted development plans to build capabilities across the team.
• Identify opportunities and implement cost-saving initiatives in coordination with haulers, plant operations and producers.
• Communicate effectively with stakeholders across all company levels and departments to ensure alignment and execution of the bulk fluid balancing strategy.

What You Will Bring

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain, Logistics or Engineering or equivalent combination of education and/or work experience.
• 10+ years of experience in closely related field (dairy, transportation, logistics, supply chain or related field).
• Knowledge of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and other related regulations for safe and proper handling of dairy products preferred.
• Experience with Dairy.com highly preferred.
• Experience with Oracle Transportation Management or other similar transportation management systems.
• Highly skilled in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and Power BI, with the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new software and systems.
• Proactive, goal-oriented team player with strong initiative, ownership and a sense of urgency; experienced in driving results through cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong communicator with a proven ability to build relationships across diverse backgrounds and all organizational levels; skilled in problem-solving and resolving conflicts effectively.
• Ability to travel regionally within the Darigold Pacific Northwest footprint (~25%).

Benefits Of Working At Darigold

We understand that as an employee, benefits that support you and your family in and out of work are important. We're proud to offer eligible positions a competitive total rewards package that includes:

• 401k competitive employer matching
• Comprehensive medical, dental & vision benefits
• Employer paid life & disability coverage
• Paid time off and paid holidays
• 8 weeks paid parental leave
• Education assistance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible hybrid working arrangement where it applies (up to 1 day/week after initial 90 days and approval by hiring manager and HR)
• Compensation range: $108,585 - $191,621.23 (individual wage based on previous experience, knowledge and skills)

Our Commitment To Diversity

Achieving our vision to Lead Dairy Forward requires cultivating and supporting a team with varying backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We are committed to providing a workplace based on mutual respect where all employees feel included and can bring their best and authentic selves to work every day. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and Affirmative Action Employer. We welcome all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, marital status, creed, religion, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. As a condition of employment applicants offered a role will be required to successfully pass our pre-employment background screen, receive a negative drug screen result & confirm eligibility to work in the U.S. We participate in E-Verify - please follow the links for details, English / Spanish & view our Right to Work Statement, English / Spanish.