Sourcing Category Director, North America

ABOUT PETMATE

Petmate is a global leader in pet supply products, with trusted brands including Petmate®, Chuckit!®, Quirky Kitty ®, Vittles Vault®, Wild Eats® and Arm & Hammer®. Over 60 years ago, Petmate began with a focus on safe pet transportation, leading to the creation of the first dog kennel. Today, Petmate develops products that improve quality of life and strengthen the bond between people and their pets. From environmentally responsible manufacturing to rigorous product testing, safety remains central to what we make and how we make it. Our portfolio of trusted brands features innovative solutions across several pet supplies categories including toys, feeding and watering, food storage, kennels, shelters, bedding, treats and more.

OUR WHY: To enrich families’ lives by cultivating the bond between people and their pets.

OUR VISION: Families everywhere trust us to enhance their pets’ well-being at every step of the adventure.

Petmate Core Values

OWN IT! We take responsibility for our actions, decisions, and outcomes.

STEADFAST DETERMINATION: We pursue what’s next with commitment and enthusiasm.

DO THE RIGHT THING: We align our actions with our values in every situation.

SAFETY WITHOUT COMPROMISE: We prioritize the safety of employees, consumers, and pets without compromise.

Description

As a Sourcing Category Director, you will oversee end-to-end sourcing for assigned categories by researching suppliers, developing, and executing strategies, setting quality and quantity standards, and selecting suppliers that meet these requirements within North America. You will also analyze spending, identify supply chain options, manage supplier portfolios, and lead cost reduction initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Establishing, Analyzing, and optimizing the category procurement strategy to align with business goals. 
• Drive >5% year over year cost reduction (value improvement) in given sourcing categories. 
• Map out Sourcing Category roadmaps which complement product road maps, which identify current and emerging needs for technology, economic levers driving costs, capacity (growth)requirements, risks, and opportunities over a three-year horizon.
• Understand manufacturing processes and how to identify alternative solutions for those processes which will yield additional value to Petmate. 
• Demonstrate a comprehensive end-to-end understanding of given supply categories to drive cost optimization and eliminate nonvalue added waste in time and materials.
• Collaborate and execute new product development projects and driving task completion to achieve aggressive timelines. 
• Lead supplier sourcing, evaluation, selection, onboarding process, negotiation, performance monitoring, relationship management and continuous improvement.
• Collaborate and lead team members across globally to determine key analytics and interpret results needed to develop growth action plans. 
• Identify opportunities within your category to optimize and maximize product performance, including analyzing sales data, assortment gaps and market trends to make quick effective decisions for your category. 
• Develop strategies and initiatives to diversify our product category globally by finding new suppliers to support our categories in any given region. 
• Analyze quotes / RFQ and understand material cost breakdown, cost analysis and negotiating cost to meet our requirements.
• Proactively coordinate and evaluate existing suppliers’ manufacturing capabilities, quality, compliance, deliveries and providing options and suggestions to improve.
• Manage contract portfolio for given category suppliers.
• Maintain a cadence of regular business reviews with category suppliers. 
• Demonstrate a tenacious curious and creative mindset toward solving problems and creating opportunities.
• Lead teams in scoping, quoting, analyzing Make or Buy decisions on core manufacturing categories as assigned. Comprehensive reports with recommendations and execution requirements/ timelines, if required as a product to that effort. Building and leading execution team if go-forward outsourcing required.

Create category management and sourcing strategies for the following:

• North America outsourced molding
• Components and materials for SAM production
• Resins (With PET as a priority)
• Hardware
• Doors and Vents
• Packaging
• Corrugate
• Establishing parameters to manage material and component inventories below 6 weeks stock (Average)
• Drive annual cost improvement for non-resin purchases 3.5% to > 5% YoY

Create a cadence of supplier management activities focused on driving strategic relationships:

• Quarterly Business reviews
• North American Supplier summits
• Forecast transparency (shared with planning)

Requirements and Skills

• Proven work experience (minimum 8 years) as a Sourcing Manager with domestic program management across an organizational supply chain.
• Prior people leadership experience (minimum 2 years)
• Demonstrated execution of sourcing Strategy, including demonstrated ability complete category strategies 
• Familiarity with sourcing and vendor management and relevant software
• Strong project management and leadership skills and understanding of manufacturing process and capabilities. Ability to lead, be nimble, prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Experience in fast paced CPG (consumer packaged goods) company
• Experience with resin material management and manufacturing processes highly preferred
• Ability to negotiate and sustain vendor relationships.
• Comfortable with figures and in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data.
• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management or equivalent

Petmate is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.