Director, Supply Chain Engineer in Saint Louis, Missouri at Deli Star Corporation

About Deli Star

Deli Star is a family-owned food manufacturer building a world-class Fresh Sous Vide system.

Our purpose is To Nourish Life through Protein with Integrity.

Our vision is A world where safe, nutritious, high-quality protein is fresh and accessible.

Our mission is Building a world-class Fresh Sous Vide system.

Deli Star operates through its Soular Organization, which connects five Functional Areas of Business: DESIGN, BUILD, GROW, PROTECT and ELEVATE. This position sits within DESIGN, the functional area responsible for innovation, technology, product and process development, systems engineering and supply-chain architecture.

Position Summary

The Director, Supply Chain Engineer is responsible for improving one of Deli Star’s largest financial levers—raw-material cost as a percentage of sales—while designing a world-class Fresh Sous Vide supply chain capable of supporting profitable growth.

This leader will oversee purchasing, strategic sourcing, planning, inventory, shipping, receiving and logistics. The role will bring these functions together into one coordinated system that improves material availability, customer service, cost, working capital, resilience and scalability.

This is not a traditional purchasing position. It is a systems-oriented leadership role for someone who can combine supply-chain expertise, commercial judgment and engineering thinking.

The Director will work closely with Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology, Product Development, Sales, Marketing, Commercialization, Food Safety & Quality and Finance to ensure Deli Star develops and delivers safe, reliable and profitable protein solutions.

Primary Responsibilities

1. Engineer the Fresh Sous Vide Supply Chain

Design and continuously improve the systems that move materials from suppliers through manufacturing to customers.

• Lead and continuously improve the eight core variables of Deli Star’s Fresh Sous Vide system.
• Design an integrated supply chain connecting suppliers, manufacturing, inventory and distribution.
• Establish operating standards, performance measures and clear ownership across the supply chain.
• Identify constraints, risks and improvement opportunities throughout the value stream.
• Build scalable systems that improve cost, service, quality, speed, flexibility and resilience.
• Apply engineering thinking, structured problem-solving and data analysis to supply-chain challenges.
• Leverage technology, ERP systems and reporting to improve planning, decision-making and visibility.
• Develop and execute a long-term supply-chain roadmap aligned with Deli Star’s strategy and growth plans.

2. Lead Strategic Sourcing and Procurement

Improve raw-material cost, strengthen supplier partnerships and ensure a reliable, high-performing supply base.

• Lead purchasing and strategic sourcing for proteins, ingredients, packaging, transportation and other critical materials and services.
• Develop sourcing strategies for Deli Star’s largest and most important spend categories.
• Negotiate pricing, contracts, service expectations and long-term supplier partnerships.
• Monitor protein, commodity, packaging and transportation markets and proactively manage cost and supply risk.
• Establish supplier qualification, scorecards, performance management and corrective-action processes.
• Build supplier capabilities that support product, packaging, process and equipment innovation.
• Develop contingency, alternate-source and risk-mitigation plans for critical materials and services.
• Deliver measurable improvements in raw-material cost, supplier performance, cost avoidance and supplier-led value creation.

3. Own Planning, Inventory and Logistics

Balance customer demand, manufacturing capacity and inventory to maximize customer service while minimizing cost and working capital.

• Lead integrated planning across Sales, Manufacturing, Finance, Purchasing and Logistics.
• Translate forecasts and confirmed customer orders into executable production, material and supply plans.
• Partner with Manufacturing on scheduling, material availability and production schedule attainment.
• Optimize inventory levels, shelf-life management, stock rotation and working capital.
• Lead shipping, receiving, refrigerated transportation, freight procurement and carrier management.
• Improve forecast accuracy, inventory accuracy and material availability.
• Develop contingency plans for supplier interruptions, transportation failures and demand or capacity changes.
• Improve customer On-Time-In-Full performance while reducing freight and logistics costs.

4. Develop Profitable Protein Solutions

Partner across the business to deliver protein solutions that are commercially attractive, operationally executable and financially sustainable.

• Collaborate with Product Development, Research & Development, Packaging, Process Engineering and Manufacturing Systems & Technology.
• Incorporate sourcing, availability, supplier, cost and logistics considerations early in product development.
• Ensure new products are designed for manufacturability, scalability, material availability and margin.
• Partner with Manufacturing & Engineering to improve yield, throughput, capacity, material flow and waste.
• Align material specifications and supplier capabilities with manufacturing-process and equipment requirements.
• Support Sales, Marketing and Commercialization with sourcing, capacity, cost, lead-time and logistics analysis.
• Lead total-landed-cost, specification, should-cost and margin-improvement initiatives in partnership with Finance.
• Protect food safety, product quality, supply continuity and customer value while improving profitability.

5. Build the Future Supply Chain

Develop the capabilities required to support Deli Star’s long-term growth across foodservice, retail grocery and direct-to-consumer channels.

• Build scalable supply-chain capabilities for Deli Star’s current business and future growth platforms.
• Develop supply-chain strategies for REVEL Fresh and future consumer brands.
• Design channel-specific forecasting, inventory, fulfillment and distribution models.
• Evaluate distributors, third-party logistics providers, warehouses, cold-storage networks and fulfillment partners.
• Develop retail-ready inventory, replenishment, case configuration, pallet and service strategies.
• Establish scalable refrigerated distribution and last-mile delivery capabilities.
• Evaluate the operational and financial viability of new customers and channels before launch.
• Continuously improve the supply chain to support profitable, sustainable growth without unnecessary inventory or complexity.

Leadership Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop the teams responsible for purchasing, planning, inventory, shipping, receiving and logistics.
• Establish clear accountability, decision rights, performance expectations and operating rhythms.
• Build a culture of curiosity, transparency, disciplined execution and continuous improvement.
• Create strong partnerships across manufacturing, technical, commercial, quality and financial teams.
• Develop the technical, analytical and leadership capabilities of the supply-chain team.
• Build repeatable systems that reduce dependency on individual knowledge.
• Communicate supply-chain risks, decisions and priorities clearly to leadership and cross-functional partners.
• Model Deli Star’s values of Trust, Resilience and Creativity.

Measures of Success

Performance in this position will be evaluated through measurable improvement in:

• Raw-material cost as a percentage of sales and gross-margin contribution.
• Strategic sourcing savings, cost avoidance and supplier-led value creation.
• Supplier quality, reliability, availability and On-Time-In-Full performance.
• Forecast accuracy, production schedule attainment and material availability.
• Inventory accuracy, inventory turns and working-capital performance.
• Freight cost, logistics service and customer On-Time-In-Full performance.
• Supply continuity, risk reduction and performance across the eight core variables of the Fresh Sous Vide system.
• Profitable commercialization, future-channel readiness and supply-chain team development.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, engineering, operations, manufacturing, business or a related field.
• Eight or more years of progressive experience in supply chain, procurement, planning, logistics, manufacturing or operations.
• Leadership experience across multiple supply-chain functions.
• Demonstrated success in strategic sourcing, supplier negotiations and cost optimization.
• Experience leading planning, inventory, logistics and supplier-performance activities.
• Strong analytical, financial and commercial judgment.
• Proven ability to build systems and improve processes within a growing or changing organization.
• Strong communication and cross-functional leadership skills across manufacturing, technical, commercial, quality and financial teams.

Preferred

• Engineering, industrial engineering or supply-chain engineering education or experience.
• Food, protein, refrigerated-food or consumer packaged goods manufacturing experience.
• Experience within an engineering-led manufacturing environment.
• Retail grocery, e-commerce or direct-to-consumer supply-chain experience.
• Experience supporting product development and commercialization.
• Experience with ERP, forecasting, planning and supply-chain analytics systems.
• Lean, Six Sigma, APICS, ASCM, CPSM or another relevant professional certification.
• MBA, master’s degree or other advanced education.

Ideal Candidate

The successful candidate will think like an engineer, negotiate like a strategic sourcing leader and understand the realities of manufacturing.

• A systems builder who can connect strategy with disciplined execution.
• Analytical, commercially aware and financially disciplined.
• Comfortable leading both long-term transformation and daily operating priorities.
• Curious about products, processes, suppliers, technology and customer needs.
• Skilled at converting complexity into clear priorities, decisions and operating systems.
• Collaborative across technical, manufacturing, commercial, quality and financial teams.
• Willing to challenge assumptions, solve difficult problems and build trust.
• Decisive, accountable and energized by building a capability that does not yet fully exist.

Why This Role Matters

Deli Star’s future depends on its ability to connect innovative protein solutions with reliable suppliers, disciplined manufacturing, responsive logistics and profitable growth.

The Director, Supply Chain Engineer will help architect that system.

This leader will have the opportunity to build a distinctive supply-chain capability for Fresh Sous Vide—one that improves Deli Star’s largest cost driver, strengthens its existing business and enables the next generation of foodservice, retail grocery and direct-to-consumer growth.

Question Often. Simplify. Build the System.