Senior Manager of Strategic Sourcing

Location: Carlsbad, CA area (hybrid) Summary: We are looking for a commercial, relationship-driven Senior Manager of Strategic Sourcing to own the lifecycle of everything that comprises our Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). You will directly lead the sourcing, negotiation, contract execution, and operational performance of our global raw material/active ingredient suppliers, packaging vendors, and contract manufacturers (CMOs).As our brand scales 30%+ Year-over-Year (YoY), this role is critical to building a resilient, dual-sourced supply chain, optimizing cost-per-unit metrics directly on the production line, and ensuring strict compliance with evolving global regulations.

Role Overview

We are looking for a commercial, relationship-driven Senior Manager of Strategic Sourcing to own the lifecycle of everything that comprises our Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). You will directly lead the sourcing, negotiation, contract execution, and operational performance of our global raw material/active ingredient suppliers, packaging vendors, and contract manufacturers (CMOs).

As our brand scales 30%+ Year-over-Year (YoY), this role is critical to building a resilient, dual-sourced supply chain, optimizing cost-per-unit metrics directly on the production line, and ensuring strict compliance with evolving global regulations.

Key Responsibilities & Duties

Strategic Sourcing & COGS Management

Take absolute ownership of vendor identification, contract negotiation, and margin optimization for raw materials, active ingredients, primary/secondary packaging, and finished goods.

• Supplier Identification & Dual Sourcing: Source premium ingredients and packaging components. Design and execute proactive dual/backup sourcing strategies for all business-critical inputs to eliminate single-source dependencies.

• Contract Setup for Automated Planning: Establish and lock in pricing, Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs), and standard lead times within master agreements, seamlessly handing off execution parameters to the Planning team for day-to-day automated PO issuance.
• Commercial Negotiation: Lead aggressive cost negotiations and master service agreements (MSAs) to optimize COGS, protect margins, and establish favorable payment terms.
• Financial & Geopolitical Risk Mitigation: Monitor and manage supplier risk profiles, including financial stability, long lead times, and geopolitical exposures (e.g., tariff mitigation strategies).
• Cross-Functional Design Support: Coordinate with R&D and Marketing during the packaging development phase to align creative ideas with structural manufacturing limitations and regulatory constraints.

Ensure all partners meet our rigorous standards for quality, safety, traceability, and sustainability.

• End-to-End Supplier Relationship Management (SRM): Own the continuous commercial and operational relationship with all input and manufacturing vendors. Design and lead quarterly business reviews (QBRs), evaluate capacity thresholds, and enforce supplier scorecards to hold vendors accountable to cost, quality, and delivery metrics before issues require executive escalation.
• Supplier Qualification: Build a formalized vendor qualification and performance scorecard framework tracking cost, quality, lead times, and available capacity.
• Traceability & Recall Readiness: Coordinate closely with Quality to maintain exact batch and lot tracking across all supply partners, securing complete transparency for potential recall readiness.
• Global Regulatory Compliance: Enforce ethical sourcing metrics and strict compliance with the EUs initiatives, directly managing relationships with partners to secure official documents.

Qualifications & Experience

• Experience: 8+ years of strategic sourcing, procurement, or vendor management experience—specifically within an FDA-regulated industry (Beauty, Cosmetics, OTC Drugs, or Dietary Supplements) .
• CMO Management: Proven track record of sourcing, contracting, and managing external contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs).
• Negotiation Expertise: Exceptional commercial acumen with a history of successfully negotiating multi-million dollar supply agreements and driving material COGS reductions.
• Compliance & Sustainability Literacy: Solid familiarity with global ingredient/packaging compliance regulations and sustainable sourcing frameworks.
• Collaborative Nature: Comfort working in a fast-paced environment and managing shared KPIs with Quality (Agnes) and Planning functions.

Other Information

Department: Operations

Reports To: SVP, Operations

Key Internal Partners: Head of Supply & Demand Planning, Head of Quality/Regulatory Assurance, R&D, Marketing, Finance