Procurement Specialist

COMPANY BACKGROUND

At Taza Chocolate we make stone ground, organic chocolate. We want our cacao’s complex flavors to speak loud and proud. That is why we stone grind cacao beans into minimally processed chocolate with bold flavor and texture, unlike anything you have ever tasted. 

JOB SUMMARY

Taza is organized into two major functions: Sales & Marketing, and Operations. The Procurement Specialist has an important role on the Operations Team. Primary responsibility is to ensure that Taza has all raw and packaging materials necessary to meet production and customer orders on time and in full. The Procurement Specialist plans, develops, and executes on strategic procurement of food and packaging ingredients on a worldwide scale, through effective negotiation, networking, and market trend research. The Procurement Specialist will take lead role to support, and manage on-going supplier management strategy, including scorecard development with relevant KPIs, business reviews, benchmarking, market condition updates, etc. The Procurement Specialist will address and resolve issues related to material quality, price, service, delivery as well as inventory levels. The Procurement Specialist will play a key role on the R&D team by contributing directly to the R&D process and sourcing new ingredients and packaging. 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Purchasing

• Manage purchasing process: create and refine tools that align demand for materials and packaging with production and sales forecast.
• Manage vendor onboarding and ongoing approval process by maintaining current product specifications, COAs, and all applicable certifications (with Quality Assurance Manager) Kosher, Non-GMO, Organic, and Gluten Free.
• Monitor vendor performance: Create metrics as required to monitor and evaluate vendor performance to key attributes (on-time / complete delivery, adherence to specifications, accurate pricing, etc.)
• Reconcile and approve ingredient and packaging invoice payments.
• Negotiate for ingredient and packaging contracts.
• Ensure redundancy of key supply chain components to mitigate interruptions of ingredient and material consumption by identifying secondary and in some cases tertiary suppliers.
• Calculate ingredient and packaging material forecast for budgets and latest estimates in collaboration with COO.
• Coordinate delivery and storage of materials, utilizing outside storage resources as required.
• Contribute to cost model roll up for all concept products in development.
• Contribute to the R&D Process and Manufacturing Team by providing information about price trends, cost breaks by volume and impact on future business activities.
• Contribute to the R&D process, by managing new ingredient and material purchases in accordance with new vendor approval process.
• Contribute to the R&D process by proactively leveraging professional expertise to actively impact R&D team decisions about new package materials and formats. The ideal candidate is willing to bring ideas to the table and will confidently advocate for best solutions to the Taza executive team.

Inventory Management

• Manage, maintain, and report monthly on last price paid costs of ingredients and components.
• Audit incoming shipments for quantity, specification accuracy and follow up with suppliers on deviations.
• Track raw material and packaging quantities in QuickBooks and/or other tools.

You are:

• Detail oriented.
• A team player.
• Creative.
• Resourceful.
• Enterprising.
• A proactive self-starter who will dive in on fast-turnaround projects.
• Comfortable bringing ideas and solutions to senior executives.
• Interested in sustainability.
• A professional candidate who can easily work cross-functionally with all the teams at Taza Chocolate (Sales, Marketing, R&D, Retail, Operations, Shipping). 

You have:

• 3+ years’ experience in food production preferred.
• Knowledge about food packaging and overall packaging trends.
• Excellent time management skills and strong follow-through and follow-up skills, supported by professional references.
• Ability to think and act critically about processes and supply chain systems with a focus on continuous improvement.
• Strong project management, problem solving and planning skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to use MSOffice, Google for Work/Google Drive and Docs (QuickBooks a plus) to create useful and transparent electronic tools for demand planning on materials and packaging.

Hours:

This is a full-time, exempt position, working standard business hours (Monday-Friday 9:00-5:30pm). The employee is expected to work 40 hours per week.

Interested candidates should send a resumé and cover letter to careers@tazachocolate.com or click here to fill out our job application. No calls, please.

View more careers at Taza, here.