Director of Procurement

SUMMARY:

The Director of Procurement is responsible for leading States Industries procurement strategy and purchasing functions, including raw material sourcing, supplier management, inventory planning, material availability, and applicable raw material grading activities. This position is accountable for ensuring the organization has the materials necessary to support production and customer requirements while achieving established goals for Safety, Quality, Cost, Inventory, and On-Time Delivery .

The Director of Procurement develops and maintains strategic supplier relationships, ensures continuity of supply, manages inventory strategy and material costs, and leads the people, systems, and processes supporting Procurement. This position works closely with Operations, Warehouse, Sales, Finance, Quality, and other departments to ensure material availability, appropriate inventory levels, efficient material flow, and alignment between purchasing decisions and production requirements.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Develop and execute a comprehensive procurement strategy aligned with the strategic and operational objectives of States Industries.

- Provide leadership and direction for purchasing, sourcing, inventory planning, raw material grading, and other assigned Procurement functions.

- Lead, coach, and develop Procurement employees and establish clear expectations and accountability for department performance.

- Develop employees to assume increased responsibilities and support succession planning and future organizational needs.

- Develop and maintain strategic supplier relationships across key raw material and purchasing categories.

- Negotiate pricing, terms, supply agreements, volume commitments, rebates, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), and other programs that provide value to States and its suppliers.

- Ensure adequate supply of raw materials to support production schedules, customer requirements, and changing business needs.

- Own procurement planning and replenishment strategies necessary to maintain appropriate raw material inventory levels and availability.

- Establish and maintain inventory and replenishment parameters based on supplier lead times, production requirements, customer demand, working capital, and storage capacity.

- Partner with Warehouse leadership to maintain visibility of raw material inventory, storage capacity, material flow, and inventory concerns.

- Coordinate with Warehouse and Operations regarding incoming material priorities, inventory requirements, and anticipated production needs.

- Maintain Procurement accountability for supplier performance, purchasing decisions, replenishment parameters, material availability, and inventory investment.

- Identify excess, slow-moving, obsolete, or at-risk raw material inventory and work cross-functionally to develop appropriate action plans.

- Identify and mitigate supply-chain risks that could impact material availability, production, cost, or customer commitments.

- Establish and maintain vendor scorecards to objectively evaluate suppliers based on quality, delivery, cost, service, responsiveness, and other relevant criteria.

- Monitor commodity, supplier, and market conditions and communicate significant risks, opportunities, and anticipated cost changes to Leadership.

- Work with Sales, Finance, and Operations to establish and maintain appropriate standard material costs and support overall margin objectives.

- Manage the efficient sourcing of stock and non-stock materials in support of production and customer requirements.

- Ensure purchasing practices comply with applicable laws, regulations, company policies, and responsible sourcing requirements.

- Manage and maintain applicable third-party certifications and sourcing requirements, including FSC, SFI, the Lacey Act, and other applicable standards.

- Partner with Quality and Operations to address supplier quality concerns, grading issues, nonconforming materials, and supplier corrective actions.

- Partner with Sales and Operations to understand changing customer requirements, market conditions, production requirements, and anticipated material needs.

- Develop and manage Procurement budgets consistent with company financial and strategic objectives.

- Monitor Procurement performance against established inventory, cost, service, delivery, and budgetary targets.

- Maintain accurate Procurement, purchasing, supplier, and inventory-planning information within D365 and other applicable systems.

- Identify opportunities to improve Procurement systems, processes, reporting, controls, and department infrastructure.

- Lead continuous improvement initiatives designed to improve material availability, inventory management, supplier performance, cost, and overall Procurement effectiveness.

- Travel to supplier, vendor, customer, and other business locations as necessary.

- Must support the team in achieving all Safety, Production, Quality, Cost, and Continuous Improvement goals.

- Perform other duties as assigned.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:

Performance in the Director of Procurement position may be evaluated using the following measures:

- Material Availability: Maintain adequate raw material supply to support production schedules and customer requirements.

- Inventory Management: Maintain appropriate raw material inventory levels and visibility while balancing material availability, working capital, supplier lead times, storage constraints, and production requirements.

- Supplier Performance: Improve and maintain supplier performance related to quality, delivery, cost, service, and responsiveness.

- Material Cost: Effectively manage purchase prices, standard costs, supplier programs, and material-cost improvement opportunities.

- Supply Risk: Proactively identify and mitigate potential supply disruptions and material availability concerns.

- Quality: Partner with Quality and Operations to reduce supplier-related quality issues and ensure timely resolution of material concerns.

- Budget Performance: Manage Procurement operations within established financial and budgetary targets.

- Compliance: Maintain applicable regulatory, responsible sourcing, and third-party certification requirements.

- People Development: Develop and retain Procurement employees while building cross-training, leadership capability, and succession readiness.

- Continuous Improvement: Demonstrate measurable improvement in Procurement systems, processes, supplier performance, inventory management, and material availability.

Qualifications

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

- Bachelors degree in Business, Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, Engineering, or a related discipline preferred.

- Five or more years of progressively responsible procurement, supply chain, purchasing, or manufacturing management experience preferred.

- 10+ years of experience in the wood products industry is essential. Significant experience in hardwood veneer is strongly preferred.

- Demonstrated experience managing strategic supplier relationships, negotiations, sourcing, and inventory planning.

- Experience with raw material procurement in a complex manufacturing environment strongly preferred.

- Demonstrated experience with budgeting, personnel management, inventory management, and overall department operations.

- Experience with standard costing and material-cost management in a high-mix manufacturing environment preferred.

- Significant experience working within ERP and inventory-management systems; Microsoft Dynamics/D365 experience preferred.

- Knowledge of FSC, SFI, Lacey Act, and other applicable sourcing or wood-products compliance requirements preferred.

- Demonstrated ability to lead organizational and process change.

- Strong leadership, coaching, team-building, and employee-development skills.

- Strong analytical, mathematical, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.

- Strong written and verbal communication skills.

- Ability to effectively work as part of a cross-functional leadership team.

- Ability to balance long-term strategic supplier relationships with short-term operational and transactional requirements.

- Ability to independently manage priorities and make sound business decisions with limited oversight.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

- Work is performed primarily in an office environment with regular presence in warehouse and manufacturing areas.

- Regular exposure to conditions common to plywood manufacturing and raw material operations, including noise, dust, forklifts, pedestrian traffic, wood products, and changing temperatures.

- Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) must be worn when entering designated manufacturing or warehouse areas.

- Regular interaction with suppliers, Operations, Warehouse, Sales, Finance, Quality, and other departments.

- Travel to supplier, vendor, customer, and other business locations throughout North America may be required.

- Regular and predictable attendance is an essential function of the position.

- As an exempt leadership position, the role may require work outside regularly scheduled hours based on supplier, inventory, production, or other business needs.