Job Description:
Category Strategy & Commercial Leadership
- Own and drive the end-to-end packaging consumables category strategy.
- Lead budgeting, cost forecasting, and financial performance management of the category.
- Conduct market benchmarking and industry analysis to ensure suppliers are best-in-class in pricing, service and quality.
- Lead strategic sourcing initiatives, exploratory sourcing, and competitive bidding activities.
- Negotiate commercial terms, service levels, and long-term agreements to optimize total cost of ownership.
Demand & Supply Planning Ownership
- Lead demand and supply planning to ensure alignment with operational volume projections.
- Maintain optimal inventory levels across all warehouses while minimizing working capital exposure.
- Establish planning governance, controls, and forecasting accuracy standards.
- Implement proactive risk mitigation strategies to prevent stockouts and excess inventory.
Supplier Performance & Governance
- Lead structured business reviews and supplier performance management (KPIs, SLAs, scorecards).
- Ensure compliance with material specifications and packaging standards.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives with suppliers to enhance reliability and cost efficiency.
- Partner with Legal on contract governance and risk management.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Collaborate with Operational Excellence on packaging standards and material guidelines.
- Partner with FP&A on annual planning and budget tracking.
- Align with Supply & Demand Planning teams on order projections and volume trends.
- Coordinate with Local Procurement on sourcing execution and vendor onboarding.
- Work closely with warehouse teams on consumption declarations, stock accuracy, and replenishment discipline.
Team & Operational Leadership
- Lead two (2) Material Planners managing stock across all warehouses.
- Oversee and provide governance to Warehouse Custodians to ensure accurate inventory control, consumption reporting, and stock discipline at site level.
- Establish performance metrics, accountability frameworks, and continuous improvement practices for both planners and custodians.
Business Continuity & Escalation Management
- Lead emergency response during out-of-stock situations caused by vendor issues or demand volatility.
- Develop contingency sourcing and buffer strategies to ensure operational continuity.
- Act as escalation point for critical supply risks affecting warehouse operations.
Success Measures
- Zero or minimal stockout incidents across all warehouses.
- Optimized inventory turns and working capital efficiency.
- Competitive supplier cost positioning vs. market benchmarks.
- Strong supplier performance and contract compliance.
- High planning accuracy and disciplined warehouse stock management.
- Effective team leadership and cross-functional collaboration.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Logistics, or a related field.
- 5+ years of relevant experience in supply chain, procurement, or category management, preferably in fast-moving consumer goods, e-commerce, logistics, or multi-warehouse operations.
- Proven track record in category management, supplier performance management, and end-to-end supply planning.
- Experience managing multi-site inventory and material requirement planning teams.
- Strong exposure to budget ownership, cost management, and commercial negotiations.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional projects involving procurement, operations, finance, and legal teams.
- Experience in emergency stock management and business continuity planning is highly desirable
- Commercial acumen: supplier sourcing, negotiation, cost benchmarking, and market analysis.
- Analytical & planning skills: demand forecasting, inventory optimization, supply risk mitigation, and scenario modeling.
- Operational excellence: warehouse stock control, material planning, and emergency response management.
- Leadership & people management: ability to lead planners and warehouse custodians, set KPIs, and drive performance.
- Cross-functional collaboration: works effectively with finance, legal, operational excellence, procurement, and warehouse teams.
- Communication skills: clear, concise, and persuasive in reporting to senior management and suppliers.
- Technical proficiency: experience with ERP, inventory management systems, and Excel/BI tools for analysis and reporting.
- Problem-solving: proactive, data-driven, and able to handle high-pressure situations without compromising quality or timelines.
- Continuous improvement mindset: identifies opportunities to enhance supply reliability, cost efficiency, and supplier performance.
