Procurement Manager in Hopkinsville, Kentucky at Kitchen Food Company Pty Ltd

About Kitchen Food Company

Kitchen Food Company is a leading manufacturer of high-quality food products, serving customers across the country. We pride ourselves on our commitment to excellence, innovation, and sustainable practices. Join our team and be part of our continued success.

About the role

The Procurement Manager is responsible for the end-to-end procurement function across Kitchen Food Company, covering strategic sourcing, supplier management, inventory planning, and COGS optimisation for ingredients, packaging materials, manufacturing consumables, and selected indirect spend categories. Reporting to the Group Supply Chain & Planning Manager, this role partners closely with Production, Planning, NPD, QA, Warehouse, and Finance to ensure uninterrupted supply, commercial competitiveness, and full compliance with food safety and regulatory standards. The Procurement Manager is also the functional owner of all procurement and purchasing master data within NetSuite ERP, and leads a small team of procurement and purchasing officers

What you'll do:

Strategic Sourcing & Category Management

• Develop and execute sourcing strategies for all ingredient, packaging, consumable, and indirect spend categories, aligned to the Company's cost, quality, and supply continuity objectives.

• Lead competitive tendering processes (RFQ, RFP) for key categories; evaluate submissions on total cost of ownership, quality, lead time, and supplier capability.

• Maintain a forward-looking category plan with annual review cycles, market intelligence updates, and risk-adjusted sourcing options for critical materials.

• Identify and qualify alternative or secondary suppliers for high-risk ingredients and packaging materials to protect supply continuity.

• Manage imported product procurement including incoterms management, customs coordination, and long lead-time planning for international suppliers.

Supplier Relationship & Performance Management

• Own and manage all key supplier relationships; conduct regular performance reviews using OTIF, quality compliance, PPV, and service KPIs.

• Negotiate and maintain pricing agreements, contracts, rebates, and long-term supply agreements that deliver best value and protect the business commercially.

• Manage supplier onboarding including commercial terms, food safety compliance documentation, and NetSuite vendor master setup.

• Proactively manage supplier risk including business continuity planning, dual-sourcing strategies, and escalation protocols for supply disruptions.

• Ensure all suppliers comply with the Company's food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements including HACCP, GMP, SQF, and BRC standards, in collaboration with the QA team.

Inventory Planning & MRP Management

• Manage inventory levels for all raw materials and packaging across all sites, balancing service continuity against working capital efficiency.

• Set and maintain MRP parameters within NetSuite including safety stock levels, reorder points, minimum order quantities, and supplier lead times; review and update parameters at least quarterly.

• Collaborate with the Planning team to align procurement activity with the production schedule and S&OP-driven demand forecast; ensure materials are available just-in-time without excessive stockholding.

• Monitor and manage slow-moving, excess, and near-expiry stock; drive waste minimization through proactive inventory action and close liaison with Production and QA.

• Conduct and coordinate monthly stock takes; provide inventory valuation reporting and COGS reconciliation to Finance, including stock adjustments and write-off analysis.

COGS Management & Commercial Performance

• Deliver annual cost savings targets through negotiation, sourcing optimization, specification rationalization, and supplier consolidation initiatives.

• Track and report purchase price variance (PPV) monthly; investigate and explain favorable and unfavorable variances and recommend corrective actions.

• Provide COGS performance reporting against budget and forecast, incorporating commodity market movements and supplier cost escalations.

• Build and maintain cost models for key raw material categories, tracking commodity indices, currency impacts, and freight cost components.

• Support the annual budgeting and reforecasting process with up-to-date procurement cost projections and market intelligence.

NPD (Product Development) Support & New Product Launches

• Partner with the NPD team from concept stage to ensure all new product ingredients, packaging, and materials are sourced, approved, and available to meet launch timelines.

• Source and sample new raw materials and packaging in line with NPD specifications; manage supplier qualification and food safety approval in coordination with QA.

• Ensure all new items are correctly set up in NetSuite with accurate BOM linkages, vendor assignments, lead times, and purchasing parameters before production trials.

• Communicate procurement lead times and minimum order quantities to the Planning team to support NPD launch forecasting and inventory planning.

NetSuite ERP – Procurement Module Ownership

• Own all procurement and purchasing master data in NetSuite including vendor records, item supplier assignments, pricing, lead times, MOQs, and MRP parameters; ensure data is accurate, current, and maintained to governance standards.

• Raise, approve, and manage purchase orders within NetSuite in accordance with the Company's purchasing policy and approval authority matrix.

• Build and maintain NetSuite procurement reports and saved searches to support spend analysis, OTIF tracking, and inventory performance reporting.

• Identify and drive configuration improvements to the NetSuite purchasing and inventory modules in partnership with the Group Supply Chain & Planning Manager and IT.

• Ensure goods receipting processes are followed correctly by the warehouse team to maintain inventory accuracy and three-way PO matching integrity.

Business Analysis & Reporting

• Produce regular procurement and inventory performance reports including spend analysis, savings tracker, OTIF dashboard, and inventory ageing reports using Excel, Power Query, and NetSuite reporting tools.

• Conduct spend analysis by category, supplier, and site to identify consolidation and savings opportunities; present findings and recommendations to the Group Supply Chain & Planning Manager.

• Maintain the procurement savings register with fully costed, auditable savings documentation for Finance sign-off.

• Prepare clear, data-driven briefing papers and presentations for senior leadership on procurement strategy, cost movements, and supply risk.

People Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, manage, and develop the procurement and purchasing team; set clear KPIs, provide regular feedback, and conduct structured performance reviews.

• Build team capability through coaching, on-the-job development, and identifying training opportunities relevant to procurement, ERP, and analytical skills.

• Drive a culture of accountability, data accuracy, continuous improvement, and commercial thinking within the team.

• Manage workload allocation across the team to ensure all purchasing activity is completed accurately and on time.

Compliance, Food Safety & Risk Management

• Ensure all procurement activities comply with the Company's purchasing policies, approval authority matrix, and financial controls.

• Maintain supplier compliance documentation including food safety certificates, insurance, and regulatory approvals; escalate non-compliance issues promptly.

• Identify and manage supply chain risks across the procurement portfolio; maintain a live risk register with mitigation strategies for critical categories.

• Support internal and external audits relating to procurement, supplier management, and inventory processes.

Occupational Safety, Health and Environment

· Champion a culture of safe working

· Ensure all company safety, wellness and environmental policies and procedures are adhered to in accordance with OHSA (Occupational Safety and Health) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) requirements

· Ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while they are at work

· Ensure consultation with employees on safety and health issues

Food Safety

· Ensure operations are according to our food safety policies and processes including FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and USDA (US Department of Agriculture) compliance plus our HACCP and GMP programs.

· Ensure control of any food safety risks.

Qualifications

Qualifications, Skills & Experience (Desirable):

· Proficiency in NetSuite purchasing and inventory modules is highly preferred.

· Experience with imported materials and international supply chains advantageous.

Physical Requirements:

· Prolonged sitting

· Work is performed in an office environment within food manufacturing site and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment and keyboard.

· May require flexibility to support off-shift operations, weekends, or emergency situations.