Ingredient Sourcing Lead

Champion Petfoods is expanding! We are excited to announce we are looking for an Ingredient Sourcing Lead to join our rapidly growing company.

Champion Petfoods is an award-winning pet food maker with a reputation of trust spanning 35 years. Founded in a small town in Alberta, Canada, Champion – with its ORIJEN® and ACANA® brands – is a key player in the global premium pet food industry across three major geographic regions. Our purpose, To Earn Pet Lover Trust Every Day so Pets Thrive for a Lifetime, provides the foundation for our highest aspirations as a company.

We would love to hear from you if you are passionate about personal and professional growth and see yourself as a key player contributing to our continued success as an award-winning company.

Summary

The Ingredient Sourcing Lead is primarily responsible for sourcing new ingredients & ingredient suppliers, managing current and new suppliers, establishing relationships, and maintaining relationships of global producers and vendors.  This position also oversees supplier documents, supplier non-volume related (eg NDA) Contracts and is a liaison between Quality Assurance and Ingredient Management.

This position will be based in the central Kentucky or middle Tennessee region. Significant travel is required.

Responsibilities

• Develop sources for new or existing ingredients
• Vet suppliers during the initial supplier qualification and verification process
• Manage all required on-boarding activities for New Suppliers
• Build and maintain supplier relationships with all ingredient suppliers in accordance with the Champion Petfoods Vision, Mission, & Values.
• Ensure procurement activities achieve established goals and assist all other functions in the organization in achieving quality, schedule, and cost goals.
• Ensure required knowledge of the supply market, industry, and business environment trends to provide the company with advice and identify opportunities to improve the business.
• Build external and internal business relationships to gather information, identify market and industry trends, and build partnership and alliances to support and facilitate the company's objectives and plans.
• Develop and control corporate ingredient and supplier documents - including, but not limited to, questionnaires, specification sheets for ingredients and ingredient certification documents.
• Manage and maintain supplier information in the Champion supplier database
• Coordinate with the procurement team to create and maintain supplier contracts.
• Update and manage all ingredient specifications for CPF by coordinating with R&I, Regulatory, Quality Assurance, and suppliers.
• Develop and maintain a robust Supplier Scorecard system to benchmark supplier performance against KPI’s.
• Develop and maintain the ingredient database for all current ingredients used by CPF
• Effectively analyze and resolve issues related to the design, handling, and deployment of ingredients delivered into the Champion Kitchens.
• Ensure authenticity with ingredient supply and the Champion Story.
• Educate our retailers, distributors, and Champion Pet Foods teams about ingredients and production and processing of those ingredients.
• Manage and build efficiency into the processes used to develop new ingredients for Champion Petfoods
• Assist the Marketing team by understanding the way our ingredients are processed and supporting their efforts to tell this story to our consumer
• Manage suppliers to build new processes for enabling a more consistent ingredient supply with a more favorable specification.
• Lead the supplier approval program for new and existing suppliers, managing the program through the Champion accreditation process and managing follow-up and corrective actions related to audits; follow-up audits to confirm compliance and re-certification audits.
• Develop and sustain successful professional external working relationships with government agencies, customs brokers, logistics companies, etc., and maintain good communication practices internally, including reporting problematic issues or concerns in a timely manner.
• Assist in delegating work to the Supplier Management Contracts Specialist on the Ingredient Management team
• Collaborate with the Supply Sustainability Manager to determine viable replacement suppliers and materials that align with Champion’s sustainability commitments
• Lead supplier discussions independently, sharing relationship management responsibilities with the Senior Manager Ingredient Innovation and Supplier Partnerships
• If the Senior Manager is unavailable due to supplier meetings, trade shows, or other work travel – leads team meetings, represents Ingredient Management in all corporate review meetings, and fulfills other Ingredient Management leadership responsibilities as needed.
• Perform other job duties and tasks, as required.

Requirements

• Degree in agriculture, agribusiness, or food science-related area.
• 5 years’ work experience in a related field. Petfood industry experience is preferred.
• Working knowledge of HACCP, ISO, and other food safety processes & systems.
• Working knowledge of Petfood Regulatory requirements and related regulations applicable to the export of ingredients and finished goods to various global markets
• Knowledge of or willingness to learn about different production practices of the industry.
• Strong understanding of animal husbandry methodologies and production practices.
• Strategic Mindset - High level of critical and logical thinking, analysis, and/or reasoning to identify underlying principles.
• Excellent organizational abilities, planning, prioritizing and execution skills with ability to meet deadlines.
• Able to work collaboratively with team members and delegate project work when appropriate
• Indirect Leadership - Able to influence without authority, manage internal stakeholders, and guide colleagues as a key driver of business success
• Able to accurately and efficiently manage resources to meet schedules and deadlines.
• Strong decision-making skills with ability to be both assertive and collaborative
• Self-directed, with excellent time management and project planning skills.
• Ability to build and sustain successful internal and external working relationships.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including an ability to communicate and work effectively with business and technical managers and diverse cross-functional groups.
• Politically and culturally sensitive, with a well-defined sense of diplomacy.
• Fluent in English, both written and spoken.
• Proactive approach to managing problems and issues, and strong resource optimization skills
• Uses a collaborative approach to problem solving.
• Builds effective and inclusive relationships with stakeholders at various levels inside and outside the organization.
• May partner and collaborate across organizational boundaries.
• Proficient in standard MS Office applications.
• Proven skills in Project Management methodologies.
• Maintain current knowledge of laws, ordinances, and regulations pertaining to corporate purchasing practices.
• Must be able to create and conduct presentations in front of senior leadership

Working Conditions:

• Travel will be required a minimum of 50% of the time.
• This position is available remotely.
• Must be able to physically inspect company property and assets.
• Working hours may include extended days and weekends, as necessary.

Champion is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.