Company Summary: 

In the past seven years, Zoro has grown from a group of 6 people working out of a 2,000 square foot building, offering fewer than 100,000 products to a group of 400+ working out of a 60,000+ square foot building, offering more than 2,700,000 unique products.

Primary Function:

The Sr. Supplier Performance Analyst will be responsible for managing availability, purchasing, supplier performance and operational excellence with 2-6 strategic suppliers or approximately $200M to $500M annually. The Sr. Supplier Performance Analyst will also be a leader for cross functional process improvement projects for the department.

Duties and Responsibilities: 

Improve Availability Performance

• Responsible for the availability of product associated with the suppliers they manage. This role, when not managed properly has a significant impact on internal resources, including unnecessary hours of data entry, the need for additional physical inventory, significant reconciliation issues, immediate impact on availability within the network, and incorrect payment terms.
• Responsible for managing 2-6 complex supplier relationships, many with multiple locations, with an annual spend of $200-500M. 
• Develop strategic plans with suppliers to manage performance metrics within expected guidelines. Plans will be reviewed and modified on a consistent basis to ensure Grainger standards are upheld by suppliers. This is particularly important as suppliers experience internal change – either staff or location.
• Create and manage project teams with internal and external participants to ensure alignment with expected deliverables.
• Develop and monitor corrective actions plans with outlined time tables in partnership with supplier, whereby their performance falls below expected levels.
• Educate suppliers on internal process and programs prior to order placement with the organization.
• Serve as the liaison between several internal and external groups to report out on supplier performance. Supplier performance is managed based upon the expectations established by the supplier scorecard, specifically delivery performance and transactional quality.
• Partner with suppliers to review their operations and make recommendations for improvement.
• Manage process for preventing stock outs and responding faster to demand (generating purchases as needed, collaborating with planning group on inventory adjustments).
• Partners with supplier to reduce lead times and lead time variability.
• Manage seasonal item performance at the supplier level.

Manage Life Cycle of Inventory

• Manage New Item Addition process effectively. 
• Improve availability of new items and adjust during ramp up, as needed.
• Manage Item Discontinuation process effectively.
• Reduce excess / obsolete inventory.
• Ensure proper communication is being generated for items being
• discontinued or for items experiencing availability problems.

Collaborate with Merchandising on Supplier Selection and Supplier Management

• Provide evaluation of new suppliers’ capabilities during line review or expansion opportunities.
• Ensure new suppliers are ready to perform.
• Work with Merchandising to find new sources of supply for suppliers who are not performing
• Serves as the back-up for the Category Purchasing Manager.

Qualifications:

• BS/BA or equivalent, MBA preferred.
• 5 to 7 years of Supply Chain Management, or related experience.
• 3 to 5 years of experience negotiating terms with suppliers.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Inventory Management fundamentals, including forecasting, safety stock, ROP, etc.
• Ability to foster, manage and leverage relationships at varying levels internally & externally.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Systemic thinking and problem solving. Exposure to Six Sigma methodology desirable.
• Ability to influence decisions with teams without direct management responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience establishing high standards and holding people accountable for results.
• Proven project management experience.
• Financial acumen, with a focus on understanding the cost/benefit of varying solutions.
• Systems - Proficient in Excel, exposure to Access and/or other database and reporting tools.
• Exposure to business disciplines outside of Purchasing is desirable.
• Exposure to SAP desirable. 
• APICS certification desirable.

Zoro is an Equal Opportunity Workplace and an Affirmative Action Employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.