Manager, Private Brands - Center Store

Job Summary: The Strategic Sourcing Manager – Private Brands identifies, evaluates, and negotiates with manufacturing partners to build a competitive, high-quality, and resilient Private Brand supply base. This role owns the procurement lifecycle for new and existing products, from sourcing strategy and supplier discovery through competitive bidding, contracting, onboarding, launch readiness, and ongoing performance management.

The Manager leads RFIs, RFQs, and RFPs; assesses supplier capabilities and risk; develops cost and commodity models; and negotiates pricing, contracts, and commercial terms. The role partners with suppliers and internal teams on forecasting, production planning, inventory, logistics, value engineering, supply continuity, and contingency planning across domestic and international manufacturing networks.

Success requires disciplined project management, strong financial and analytical skills, and effective cross-functional leadership across Private Brands, Merchandising, Quality Assurance, Supply Chain, Logistics, Finance, Legal, Operations, and manufacturing partners. The Manager establishes sustainable tools and KPIs, communicates progress and mitigation plans, and supports innovation, portfolio growth, and reliable execution.

Principal Duties:

• Develop and execute sourcing strategies for Private Brand categories that support quality, innovation, cost, service, growth, and supply continuity objectives.

• Manage the end-to-end procurement lifecycle for new products, including supplier discovery, competitive bidding, award, contracting, onboarding, and launch coordination.

• Lead RFIs, RFQs, and RFPs; define requirements, evaluate responses, document decisions, and communicate standards and expectations to prospective partners.

• Identify and evaluate domestic and international manufacturing partners through market research, capability assessments, facility evaluations, and risk reviews.

• Negotiate pricing, contracts, service levels, and commercial terms that deliver competitive total cost and sustainable supplier partnerships.

• Develop commodity-, component-, and logistics-based cost models; conduct should-cost, scenario, and market analyses to guide sourcing decisions.

• Partner with Quality Assurance and Legal to ensure suppliers meet food safety, regulatory, quality, contractual, and company requirements.

• Coordinate supplier onboarding and cross-functional commercialization activities to ensure clear ownership, timely decisions, and launch readiness.

• Partner with suppliers and internal teams on demand forecasts, production schedules, replenishment, inventory builds, staging, and distribution planning.

• Analyze sales, inventory, and service trends across distribution points to improve forecast accuracy, availability, working capital, and portfolio planning.

• Manage supply disruptions and logistics risks, and establish contingency plans, secondary sources, and mitigation actions where appropriate.

• Identify and deliver cost savings and value engineering opportunities without compromising product quality, safety, customer experience, or brand standards.

• Establish supplier scorecards, sourcing KPIs, business reviews, and sustainable reporting tools to monitor performance, timelines, savings, risk, and corrective actions.

• Lead cross-functional project plans and executive updates, translating complex sourcing data into clear recommendations, decisions, and mitigation plans.

• Partner closely with the Private Brands Manager and cross-functional stakeholders to support innovation, portfolio growth, and ongoing supply-base optimization.

Essential Functions:

• Lead strategic sourcing and supplier selection across the Private Brand portfolio.

• Negotiate competitive pricing, contracts, and commercial terms while managing total cost and risk.

• Evaluate supplier capabilities, quality systems, capacity, logistics, and continuity plans.

• Coordinate supplier onboarding, commercialization, and launch readiness across cross-functional teams.

• Apply forecasting, inventory, production, and replenishment expertise to protect product availability.

• Develop cost models, sourcing analyses, KPIs, and performance reporting that support sound decisions.

• Manage supplier performance, supply disruptions, and mitigation plans across domestic and international networks.

• Communicate clearly, influence stakeholders, and lead complex sourcing initiatives in a fast-paced environment.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, Finance, Logistics, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.

• 5+ years of experience in sourcing, procurement, supplier management, supply chain, or a related field; food, retail, consumer products, or Private Brand experience is preferred.

• Experience supporting RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, supplier evaluations, negotiations, and onboarding activities.

• Working knowledge of forecasting, inventory management, production planning, replenishment, or logistics.

• Ability to analyze costs, supplier information, market data, and business trends to support sourcing decisions.

• Strong organization, project coordination, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

• Proficiency with Microsoft 365; experience with analytical, project management, AI-enabled, or JIRA tools is a plus.