Sr. Buyer, Strategic Sourcing

Florida Crystals Corporation is a fully integrated cane sugar company. Florida Crystals regeneratively farms sugarcane and rice in South Florida, where it owns two sugar mills, a sugar refinery, a packaging and distribution center, Florida's only rice mill, a compost facility, and one of the largest renewable power plants of its kind in the U.S., which uses sugarcane fiber to generate eco-friendly energy that powers its sugar operations. Florida Crystals owns one of the largest Regenerative Organic Certified® farms in the U.S. and its Florida Crystals® products are the only ROC™ sugar grown and milled sugar in the country. Florida Crystals owns ASR Group International, Inc., a holding company that conducts operations through its subsidiaries. The ASR Group® family of companies make up the world’s largest refiner and marketer of cane sugar. Florida Crystals is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida. Learn more at .

OVERVIEW

Under the general guidance of the Sr. Manager, Direct Materials, Sr Strategic Sourcing Buyer is responsible for being the strategic sourcing and subject matter expert for assigned categories for direct materials or packaging materials, ingredients, and or process chemicals and identifying new sources of supply that can be leveraged and optimized by the business. The Sr Strategic Sourcing Buyer makes sound business decisions with little or no direction, has a full understanding of market trends, market analysis, and supplier negotiations process. The Sr Strategic Sourcing Buyer must have a solid understanding and demonstrated ability to complete analysis of assigned categories by producing relevant metrics and generating reports as well as the ability to make sound business decisions. The Sr Strategic Sourcing Buyer will work in a collaborative team environment and is responsible for maintaining positive business relationships with both internal and external customers. Understanding of financial markets that influence commodity or category prices and risk. Could have direct reports.

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCES

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited university required. Degree major in Supply Chain, Business, or related field is preferred
• 5+ years of applicable purchasing experience required
• Experience buying direct materials or packaging, ingredients, and or process chemicals
• 5+ years of experience utilizing an ERP system (Buying, Researching, Reporting & Analysis, etc.) 

DETAILED ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Conduct strategic sourcing events, category purchasing management, and day to day buying of direct materials or packaging, ingredients, and or process chemicals for the facility and manufacturing process
• Develops and owns the category strategy and full understanding of supply, demand, capacity, market outlook, risks, benchmarking, budget, and competitive landscape
• Develop and present market-competitive category management strategies covering the assigned commodity or category groups.
• Provides and owns current marketplace trends in price, suppliers, and/or other conditions affecting business in assigned categories with ability to analyze supply & demand factors within key categories.
• Responsible for forecasting and modeling of categories up to an 18 month outlook
• Direct negotiation of cost reductions based on cost modeling, product and supplier benchmarking, category market analysis, extended global or regional agreements and provide market intelligence.
• Independently negotiates contracts, price, and supplier agreements 
• Independently completes one on one negotiations 
• Evaluates, qualifies, and selects suppliers based on quality, service, cost and capability to support overall company product manufacturing processes, and total cost of ownership, including working capital optimization
• Develop category budget targeting to achieve optimal PPV results.
• Responsible for annual budget for assigned categories and presentations
• Delivers on cost savings and process improvement initiatives 
• Contribute to the Procurement team’s performance against departmental and internal customer KPIs
• Efficient execution of all purchasing standard operating procedures to secure materials and services to meet the needs of the business.
• Building and maintaining collaborative relationships between the procurement team and its internal customers, that provide for appropriate levels of service and support being maintained and for priorities being addressed.
• Develop strategic analysis of assigned categories
• Responsible for processing a high volume of requisitions from multiple sites under assigned categories

• Ability to consolidate, analyze, and report on ERP and marketplace information 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with internal and external members of the Supply Chain as well as present information in a clear and concise manner to all audience levels up to C-suite
• Ensures all agreements, purchases, and initiatives comply with established department policies and procedures 

• Ensures that all suppliers are in compliance with established company credentials for specified category 
• Ensures all agreements, purchases, and initiatives comply with established department policies and procedures
• Ensures all Metrics and KPI’s are followed and maintained
• Completes special projects and other duties as assigned

ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES (KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES)

• Strong analytical and numeracy skills, combined with advanced Excel and IT skills.
• SAP experience is strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of Purchasing practices and legislation (required), especially within the Food & Beverage industry (preferred)
• Strong negotiation & influencing skills direct and indirect
• Commercially and contract astute
• Results-driven, combined with a positive attitude, high level of energy, passion and enthusiasm.
• High level of emotional intelligence and strong interpersonal skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Ability to stand alone
• Strategic thinking, critical thinking, and problem solving
• Attention to details with cause and effect
• Ability to:
• Understand internal demands as they relate to the purchases of goods and services for the business
• communicate in a clear and concise manner both verbally and in writing
• analyze complex information and perform root cause analysis
• Recognize areas for Continuous Improvement strategies; recommend and implement CI strategies as assigned
• Provide excellent customer service to both internal and external customers and foster strong, open lines of communication across all levels of the organization
• Maintain confidentiality of proprietary business information at all times
• Effectively manage time, including the ability to prioritize, work within assigned deadlines, and work independently or collaboratively to accomplish organizational objectives
• Manage multiple tasks and projects while maintaining quality & accuracy standards
• Utilize Microsoft Office Suite, specifically Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook on an Advanced Level

• Operations Management (Intermediate)
• Analytical Thinking (Advanced)
• Supply Chain Management (Advanced)
• Supplier Relationship Management (Advanced)
• Inventory Management (Advanced)
• Continuous Improvement (Intermediate)
• Category Management (Intermediate)
• Enterprise Resources Planning (Intermediate)
• Supplier Negotiations (Advanced)
• Material Resource Planning (Advanced)
• Contracts (Advanced)
• Business Strategy and Financial Acumen (Intermediate)
• Analysis and Reporting (Advanced)
• Travel up to 10% of the time; travel will be assigned based on the current needs of the business.

LOCATION OF ROLE

West Palm Beach, FL 

HYBRID WORK

This position is currently in-office 3 days per week/remote 2 days per week. Hybrid work schedules are subject to change. 

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.