Strategic Sourcing Manager

Role overview

Sourcing strategy and commercial value

• Set multi-year sourcing strategies and convert recipe and product briefs, specifications, and forecasts into sourcing criteria and implementation plans.
• Support RFIs, RFQs, and RFPs from supplier discovery and due diligence through evaluation, negotiation, recommendation, and implementation.
• Negotiate agreements covering pricing, indexation, minimums, lead times, service levels, quality, change control, renewals, and exit terms.
• Assess vendor networks and sourcing models; build savings and cost-avoidance analysis using total-cost, should-cost, volume, mix, and scenario analysis.

Partnerships and team leadership

• Build relationships with suppliers, growers, processors, distributors, GPOs, and co-manufacturers, including Ontario and smaller local suppliers.
• Coordinate with innovation, quality assurance, production, supply chain, and finance teams to move ideas through culinary, food-safety, operational, and financial reviews.
• Support supply-chain risk and continuity planning, identify alternate sources, and manage supplier onboarding, renewals, transitions, and exits.
• Own sourcing KPIs, dashboards, governance, and decision tools; present clear analyses and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Lead, coach, and develop the team, setting goals and building scalable processes.

Qualifications

• 10 or more years of progressive strategic sourcing, procurement, or category-management experience in food manufacturing, foodservice, grocery, meal solutions, or a comparable environment.
• Experience owning sourcing across ingredients or raw materials, packaging, and finished or white-label products; relevant experience may include GPOs, co-manufacturing, RFx, negotiations, and measurable savings.
• Understand food ingredient functionality, production and processing, yield, waste, food quality, scalability, and total cost.
• Advanced total-cost and scenario modeling, contract and market analysis, and expert-level Excel or Google Sheets skills; comfortable with ERP and business-intelligence tools.
• At least three years of direct people leadership, including coaching, performance management, and employee development.
• Strong food quality and safety knowledge, relationship-building ability, and relevant post-secondary education or equivalent experience.
• A procurement designation and local-food sourcing experience are assets; the posting also calls for experience with Google Suite, project management software, and AI tools.

Work location and conditions

• The role is hybrid, with onsite work two to three times per week.
• Work spans office, production, warehouse, test-kitchen, and supplier environments, with regular onsite work and occasional travel to suppliers, farms, distributors, and manufacturing locations.
• The role may involve refrigerated or frozen areas, occasional lifting of samples or materials up to 23 kg, and flexibility outside core hours for production needs or supplier commitments.

Schedule

• The stated work hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with flexibility as required.

Compensation

• The stated compensation range is $85,000–$90,000, commensurate with experience.
• The position is salaried; no pay cadence is specified.

Benefits

• Benefits include a performance-based annual bonus, health and wellness spending accounts, RRSP matching, RESP matching, parental leave top-up, and an employee assistance program.
• Other offerings include staff meals, recognition rewards, vacation, eight wellness days, a learning and development stipend, and mentorship.