Procurement & Planning Manager

Job Type: Full-Time
Department: Supply Chain / Operations
Reports To: Director of Supply Chain, Plant Manager, or Operations Leadership
Work Environment: Food Manufacturing / Production Facility

Position Summary

The Procurement & Planning Manager is responsible for leading purchasing, production planning, material requirements planning, supplier coordination, and inventory management within a food manufacturing environment. This role ensures the organization has the right ingredients, packaging materials, supplies, and production plans in place to meet customer demand, support food safety and quality requirements, control costs, and maintain efficient manufacturing operations. The ideal candidate brings strong experience in food manufacturing, procurement, production scheduling, ERP/MRP systems, supplier management, inventory control, and cross-functional coordination in a fast-paced, regulated production environment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Procurement and Supplier Management

·       Lead purchasing activities for raw materials, ingredients, packaging, commodities, services, and other production-related supplies.

·       Develop and maintain supplier relationships that support quality, service, cost, innovation, supply continuity, and risk mitigation.

·       Negotiate pricing, lead times, service expectations, supplier agreements, and cost-saving opportunities in alignment with business needs.

·       Partner with Quality Assurance, Regulatory, R&D, and Operations to ensure suppliers, materials, specifications, documentation, certificates of analysis, and alternate sources meet food safety, customer, and regulatory requirements.

·       Monitor supplier performance related to quality, delivery, responsiveness, documentation accuracy, and cost competitiveness; lead corrective actions when performance gaps occur.

·       Identify and communicate supply risks, shortages, long lead-time materials, cost increases, and alternate sourcing opportunities to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

Production Planning and Scheduling

·       Develop, maintain, and communicate production plans and schedules that align with customer orders, demand forecasts, material availability, labor capacity, equipment constraints, sanitation requirements, allergen controls, and shelf-life considerations.

·       Coordinate daily and weekly planning activities with Production, Warehouse, Quality, Maintenance, Customer Service, Sales, and leadership teams.

·       Use ERP/MRP tools, inventory reports, sales forecasts, and production data to determine material requirements, production priorities, and schedule feasibility.

·       Monitor schedule attainment, service levels, material shortages, production changes, and customer demand shifts; develop recovery plans when needed.

·       Support new product launches, product transitions, formulation changes, packaging changes, customer onboarding, and commercialization activities by aligning material readiness and production timing.

Inventory, Materials, and Food Safety Controls

·       Maintain appropriate inventory levels for raw materials, ingredients, packaging, work-in-process, and finished goods while minimizing excess, obsolete, expired, or at-risk inventory.

·       Support FIFO/FEFO rotation, lot control, traceability, allergen segregation, temperature control where applicable, and accurate inventory practices.

·       Partner with Warehouse and Inventory Control teams to strengthen cycle counting, inventory accuracy, transaction discipline, storage practices, and material flow.

·       Analyze usage trends, yields, waste, spoilage, shelf-life risk, demand variability, and supplier lead times to improve inventory planning and working capital performance.

·       Ensure procurement and planning activities support compliance with GMPs, HACCP or food safety plans, FSMA requirements, allergen controls, sanitation standards, and customer audit expectations.

Leadership, Reporting, and Continuous Improvement

·       Establish, monitor, and report key performance indicators such as supplier performance, purchase price variance, inventory turns, schedule attainment, material shortages, forecast accuracy, service levels, and working capital.

·       Lead or support continuous improvement initiatives focused on cost savings, material flow, schedule reliability, inventory accuracy, waste reduction, and supply chain responsiveness.

·       Build strong communication rhythms with plant leadership, operations teams, and commercial partners to ensure priorities, risks, and changes are clearly understood.

·       Coach, train, and develop procurement, planning, inventory, or supply chain team members as assigned.

·       Maintain accurate purchasing records, planning files, supplier documentation, inventory reports, and related compliance records.

Qualifications

·       Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Business, Logistics, Food Science, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience may be considered.

·       Five or more years of progressive procurement, production planning, materials management, inventory control, supply chain, or related experience in manufacturing.

·       Food manufacturing experience strongly preferred; experience in FDA- and/or USDA-regulated environments is a plus.

·       Demonstrated understanding of material requirements planning, production scheduling, supplier management, inventory control, purchasing practices, and manufacturing operations.

·       Working knowledge of GMPs, HACCP, FSMA, allergen management, traceability, FIFO/FEFO, sanitation requirements, and food manufacturing quality systems preferred.

·       Experience using ERP, MRP, WMS, demand planning, production scheduling, purchasing, inventory reporting, and Microsoft Office tools.

·       Strong analytical, negotiation, communication, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.

·       Ability to work effectively across Operations, Quality, Warehouse, R&D, Finance, Customer Service, Sales, and leadership teams.

Preferred Skills and Competencies

·       Experience with ready-to-eat, refrigerated, frozen, bakery, snack, beverage, meat, dairy, or other regulated food manufacturing environments.

·       Strong understanding of S&OP, demand planning, capacity planning, production scheduling, and inventory optimization.

·       APICS/ASCM, CPIM, CSCP, Lean, Six Sigma, HACCP, PCQI, or related certification preferred.

·       Ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on execution in a fast-paced plant environment.

·       High attention to detail with the ability to manage multiple priorities, communicate proactively, and resolve issues quickly.

·       Strong business acumen with experience supporting cost savings, vendor negotiations, inventory value, budget awareness, and working capital improvement.

Work Environment

This position operates in both office and food manufacturing plant environments and requires regular interaction with production, warehouse, receiving, shipping, quality, procurement, and leadership teams. The role may require time on the production floor or in storage areas, including exposure to varying temperatures, noise, wet or dry processing areas, food allergens, moving equipment, and the use of required personal protective equipment. Flexibility may be required to support urgent supply issues, production needs, audits, customer requirements, off-shift activity, weekends, or limited travel to suppliers, customers, warehouses, or other company locations.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity in our workplace. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role.