Director, Strategic Sourcing

Description

The Director, Strategic Sourcing is responsible for supplier economics, product sourcing, and upstream supply readiness across Hana Brands’ food service operations. This leader ensures the right products are sourced from qualified suppliers at the right cost, quality, and service levels while building the supplier capacity needed to support continued growth.

The primary focus of the role is to lead supplier selection and performance, commercial negotiations, cost-of-goods management, new-item sourcing, product lifecycle planning, and upstream supply-risk mitigation. The role also oversees inbound product flow to McLane distribution facilities, ensuring supplier orders ship on time and freight is managed as efficiently as possible.

Working closely with Culinary, Quality Assurance, Operations, Analytics, Finance, Marketing, and Distribution, this position creates a clean handoff from suppliers into the distribution network and helps protect product availability across Hana Brands’ locations.

Key Competencies

Commercial Acumen, Strategic Thinking, Negotiates Effectively, Manages Risk, Drives Results, Collaborates Across Functions, Manages Complexity, Develops Talent, Communicates with Impact

Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop and execute sourcing strategies aligned with Hana Brands’ growth plans, product standards, operational requirements, and financial objectives.
• Identify, evaluate, qualify, negotiate with, and onboard suppliers capable of supporting current and future business needs, including primary, secondary, and contingency sources.
• Lead competitive sourcing processes, including requests for information, requests for proposals, bid analysis, supplier negotiations, and final recommendations.
• Build long-term supplier relationships that promote competitive economics, innovation, scalability, and continuous improvement, and maintain a current understanding of supplier capabilities, production locations, lead times, and capacity or financial risk.
• Own sourcing-related cost-of-goods performance and deliver product costs at or below established targets.
• Negotiate pricing, payment and freight terms, volume commitments, rebates, allowances, service expectations, and other commercial conditions, and implement appropriate pricing protections.
• Develop and maintain cost models that provide transparency into commodities, ingredients, packaging, labor, freight, and supplier margins, and monitor commodity markets and cost drivers to challenge proposed price increases.
• Lead value-engineering and cost-improvement initiatives without compromising food safety, product quality, brand standards, or the guest experience.
• Partner with Finance on budgets, forecasts, and savings targets, and validate, track, and report negotiated savings, cost avoidance, inflation, and other material changes affecting product costs.
• Ensure new items have approved suppliers, specifications, pricing, production capacity, lead times, minimum-order quantities, and contingency plans before launch, and coordinate production ramp-up, initial inventory builds, and inbound delivery timing to support clean launches.
• Develop sourcing and supply-readiness plans for product tests, limited-time offers, promotions, seasonal programs, and systemwide rollouts.
• Translate demand expectations and growth plans into supplier capacity and production requirements, assess supplier capacity and business-continuity capabilities, and escalate constraints with mitigation plans before product availability is affected.
• Ensure suppliers meet established product specifications, food-safety expectations, regulatory requirements, and quality standards in partnership with Quality Assurance.
• Ensure supplier orders are produced and shipped to McLane facilities according to committed schedules, monitor order status, fill rates, and delivery timing, and resolve inbound issues involving suppliers, ports, ocean carriers, customs, and over-the-road transportation.
• Optimize freight terms, shipment consolidation, order quantities, modes, routes, and lead times to reduce landed cost, and evaluate domestic and international freight economics as part of supplier selection and sourcing decisions.
• Partner with McLane and internal Distribution leadership to support a complete and accurate handoff of new items and supply changes into the distribution network.
• Serve as the primary sourcing partner to Culinary, Operations, Marketing, Quality Assurance, Finance, Analytics, and Distribution, and establish sourcing stage gates, decision rights, timelines, documentation standards, and approval requirements.
• Ensure supplier agreements, specifications, certifications, and insurance records are complete and current, and partner with Legal and Finance on supplier contracts, compliance requirements, and commercial protections.
• Build scalable sourcing tools, processes, scorecards, and reporting appropriate for a high-growth organization.
• Lead, coach, and develop sourcing and procurement team members, establishing priorities, performance expectations, and professional-development plans, and manage external consultants, brokers, buying groups, or sourcing partners when appropriate.

This job description outlines the general duties and responsibilities for the position. Other duties may be assigned as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, procurement, business, finance, operations, food science, or a related discipline.
• Typically 10 or more years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, purchasing, category management, or supply-chain leadership.
• Significant experience leading supplier negotiations and managing complex commercial relationships, with demonstrated success delivering measurable cost savings and cost-of-goods improvements.
• Experience managing supplier capacity, production lead times, new-product introductions, and supply continuity.
• Ability to interpret demand information and translate it into supplier capacity and readiness requirements.
• Strong financial acumen and the ability to develop compelling, data-supported business recommendations.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Ability to travel approximately 20–30% based on business needs, including visits to suppliers, distribution facilities, industry events, and company locations.
• Experience within restaurants, franchised food service, food manufacturing, grocery, convenience retail, or another multi-unit food environment preferred.
• Experience sourcing food, proteins, seafood, produce, ingredients, packaging, or other perishable products preferred.
• Familiarity with distributor-managed food service supply chains preferred; experience working with McLane is a plus.
• Experience supporting rapid unit growth, new-market expansion, and high-volume product launches preferred.
• Demonstrated alignment with the company mission and core values.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to perform work in a hybrid office and remote environment, including prolonged periods seated at a desk and working on a computer
• Ability to operate standard office equipment and communicate effectively by phone, email, and video conference
• Ability to travel approximately 20–30%, including visits to suppliers, distribution facilities, and company locations
• Ability to occasionally lift, carry, or move office materials weighing up to 15 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation

Hana Brands is an Equal Opportunity Employer