Purchasing & Cost Manager

The Purchasing & Cost Manager owns the Central Kitchen's end-to-end sourcing, purchasing, cost-data, and margin-governance disciplines for ingredients, packaging, and designated indirect spend, supporting Dierbergs' Grow Every Day purpose and commitment to Better Execution. The role leads supplier strategy and negotiations, ensures timely and accurate cost inputs, translates cost changes into business impact, and drives action before margin is eroded. This is a strategic and analytical management role that connects plant operations, product development, category management, finance, and suppliers while maintaining clear separation from day-to-day warehouse and receiving execution.

What You'll Do

Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Management

• Develop and execute category and sourcing strategies for Commissary ingredients, packaging, and designated indirect spend based on business requirements, total cost, supply continuity, quality, and innovation needs

• Lead competitive bids, supplier selection, negotiations, renewals, and commercial terms, including pricing, freight, payment terms, volume commitments, rebates, allowances, and service expectations

• Own contract documentation and an active contract calendar, including renewal dates, pricing windows, commitments, and required approvals

• Build and maintain supplier scorecards covering cost, service, quality, responsiveness, innovation, and risk; lead regular business reviews and corrective-action follow-up

• Develop qualified alternate sources and contingency plans for critical ingredients and packaging in partnership with Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Operations

• Monitor relevant commodity, freight, market, and supply conditions; recommend buy timing, forward coverage, substitutions, or other risk-mitigation actions within company policy

Purchasing Governance & Cost Leadership

• Own the private brand cost reduction pipeline: identify, prioritize, and manage the biggest savings opportunities, and lead those initiatives from a purchasing standpoint, partnering with the Private Brand Manager and team

• Create purchasing controls for approved suppliers, item setup, order authorization, acknowledgements, lead times, minimums, freight, and exception escalation

• Ensure purchase commitments align with demand, inventory targets, production plans, storage capacity, shelf life, and working-capital expectations

• Partner with the Warehouse & Receiving Manager on inventory signals, inbound exceptions, supplier service issues, returns, credits, and operational follow-through without absorbing day-to-day receiving supervision

Cost Data Integrity & Change Control

• Own buying-side item costs and related purchasing attributes in Eatec and connected systems, ensuring vendor changes are validated, entered, effective-dated, and communicated accurately and promptly

• Establish a documented cost-change workflow with thresholds, required approvals, accountable owners, due dates, and escalation paths

• Maintain an auditable record connecting supplier notices, negotiated outcomes, system updates, credits or rebates, and downstream business decisions

• Partner with Finance, Product Development, and Operations to define ownership and audit cadence for ingredients, packaging, yields, labor, overhead, freight, and other recipe or finished-good cost components

• Identify master-data or process defects that create inaccurate standard, recipe, or actual costs and coordinate permanent corrective action

Cost Analytics, Margin Protection & Decision Support

• Deliver recurring cost, purchase-price variance, usage or yield variance, and margin reporting by item and category, with concise explanation of drivers, risk, and recommended action

• Create proactive alerts for material cost changes and items approaching defined margin thresholds so issues are addressed before losses accumulate

• Lead cross-functional evaluation of corrective actions, including renegotiation, alternate sourcing, specification change, reformulation, pack or process change, repricing, promotion adjustment, or discontinuation

• Quantify sourced savings and cost avoidance using agreed baselines; track implementation and validate that negotiated value reaches the P&L

• Partner with the Manager of Perishable Private Brand Development on target cost, should-cost thinking, supplier capability, and commercial feasibility for new or reformulated items

• Support assortment and production rationalization by providing fact-based cost, margin, supplier, and risk analysis to the Plant Manager and appropriate business leaders

Risk, Compliance & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner with Quality Assurance to ensure sourced materials meet approved specifications, food-safety requirements, certifications, and documentation standards before use

• Monitor supplier concentration, continuity, capacity, geographic, commodity, transportation, and other material supply risks; maintain visible mitigation plans

• Establish clear decision rights and operating routines across Purchasing, Warehouse and Receiving, Product Development, Operations, Category Management, and Finance

• Communicate directly and constructively when cost, margin, supply, or data integrity requires leadership attention or a decision

About You

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, finance, food science, operations, or a related field preferred, or equivalent relevant experience

• Five or more years of progressive experience in food manufacturing, commissary, retail food procurement, strategic sourcing, cost accounting, or a blended purchasing and cost-management role; people-leadership experience preferred

• Demonstrated supplier negotiation and sourcing results with quantified savings, cost avoidance, service improvement, or risk reduction

• Working knowledge of standard costing, BOM or recipe costing, purchase-price variance, yield and usage variance, and margin analysis

• Experience with competitive bidding, contract and term management, supplier scorecards, alternate sourcing, and supply-risk mitigation

• Advanced analytical capability in Excel and experience with ERP, recipe-management, procurement, or costing systems; Eatec experience strongly preferred

• Ability to build governance, process, and accountability across functions, not simply administer purchase orders or react to shortages

• Clear executive communication and sound judgment when balancing cost, quality, service, innovation, inventory, and continuity of supply

What's In It For You

• Health and retirement benefits including medical, dental, short-term and long-term disability, 401(k) with company match, FSA, and life insurance

• Hybrid work schedule and flexibility

• Weekly pay

• Paid time off provided, including sick days

• Employee Assistance Program for you and your family to assist in many of life's challenges, from short-term counseling, legal questions to financial guidance

• Associate-only savings, free products, bonus points, sweepstakes and more - being a part of our team has its perks with Dierbergs Rewards

• Wellness initiatives and volunteer opportunities to keep you healthy, engaged and involved

• Rewards, recognition and appreciation programs and events to spotlight you AND your exceptional talents

• Opportunity to Grow Every Day by building knowledge, supporting growth and creating connections - Let's GROW!

• Career advancement and growth opportunities through GROWU, our Learning & Development program for current and future Leaders

This job description is representative only and is not all inclusive of the responsibilities that the Associate may be required to perform.