Specialist, Procurement Category Mgt (Fruit and Vegetables)

 

Foods people love. Brands people trust. And a career that nourishes your future like no other.

 

If you're driven by the passion to do something meaningful that changes lives, Nestlé is the place for you. Nestlé USA is one of seven operating companies that make up Nestlé’s presence in the United States. We're in 97% of American homes, and as the leading food and beverage company, our goals are to continue to deliver quality food and beverage products, strengthen our local communities, and reduce our environmental and climate impact.

 

We’re determined to challenge the status quo and be better tomorrow than we are today. As individuals and teams, we embrace our entrepreneurial culture and have created a workplace where collaboration is essential, courage is rewarded, speed is expected, and agility is the norm to delight our consumers every single day. Here, you will find limitless opportunities to learn and advance your career and feel empowered to succeed in the workplace and beyond. Because our focus is not only on nourishing our customers, but also about enriching you.

 

This position is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship.

 

 

The Procurement Category Buyer is responsible for creating and executing a Category Strategy for each assigned category, based on business objectives and understanding of the supply market using the 7 steps to strategic sourcing process. This role involves ensuring Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) for materials, identifying cost savings initiatives, developing strategic relationships with suppliers, facilitating innovation opportunities, making contracting decisions, conducting negotiations, and reducing Nestle's total cost of ownership. The Procurement Category Buyer also plays a crucial role in maintaining a strong understanding of Purchase Price Variance, representing it in monthly meetings with Business Partners and Procurement Leaders, managing supply incidents, and driving improvements in on-time delivery and quality through Vendor Evaluation Scorecard conversations.

 

Job Duties/Deliverables:

• End-to-end management of assigned fruit and vegetable categories, including localization of global strategies, development of at-market strategies, and coordination with suppliers and above market (NesTrade) buyers as required.
• Take actions to ensure supply for agricultural categories
  • Keep up to date on ensure supply issues
  • Access, review, and complete system requests as required
  • Drive achievement of supplier performance metrics and agreed upon KPIs
  • To ensure supply, we purchase fruit and vegetables out of multiple regions. Travel is sometimes necessary to ensure quality of supply.
• Develop and execute a Category Strategy for each assigned category. Align business objectives utilizing the 7-Step Strategic Sourcing Process in the North American market enabling value generation through sustainability, innovation, and cost improvements for Nestlé business units:
  • Identify value creation opportunities by developing a deep understanding of each relevant business unit’s requirements, challenges, and opportunities, and leveraging these insights to create and implement savings initiatives
  • Leverage opportunities to lower total cost of ownership or increase value to the business while ensuring supply
  • Assign initiative owners for category aligned spend initiatives; provide category expertise and help guide initiative savings execution and pull through
  • Use knowledge of global suppliers and processes to bring opportunities to the forefront
  • Benchmark against competitors and promote supplier-led innovation to unlock value
  • Use insights and trends to liaise strategically with the business, factories, and suppliers
• Define risk management strategies for the business and promote mitigation activities to reduce the chance of disruption
  • Proactively manage supplier relationships resulting in a reduction of contractual risks
  • Clearly communicate risks and issues to key stakeholders, knowing when and to whom to escalate significant issue
• Suggest improved ways of working, introducing new processes or re-engineering existing ones in support of key priorities
  • Recognize strategic drivers and activities that support key priorities, both within your category and across the organization
  • Leverage intelligence tools and participate in professional associations to learn best practices and industry trends; apply the learnings to the category strategies to drive continuous improvement
  • Comply with all Procurement and company policies, procedures, and practices, and promote adherence across the organization
  • Apply project management principles to drive cross-functional teams in effective and efficient delive