Dairy Procurement Manager

Procurement Manager / Senior Manager (Dairy)

Location:

Remote, with travel up to 20%

Salary: $120,000 – $130,000 base + bonus (negotiable, depending on experience and qualifications)

Reports to:

Director of Operations

Our client is a mission-driven, PE-backed cultured dairy company producing cottage cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese. They source exclusively from family farms using regenerative agriculture practices, with a clean-label commitment — no artificial ingredients, gums, stabilizers, or additives.

The company has experienced 80%+ year-over-year growth and surpassed $200 million in annual sales, driven by explosive consumer demand for high-protein, clean-label dairy. They are backed by a leading global consumer-focused private equity firm and are in an active phase of scaling production capacity and national distribution to keep pace with demand. This is a lean, entrepreneurial organization with a close-knit team and a culture that takes its mission seriously.

This is a newly created role at a lean, fast-moving company where procurement has been managed by two senior leaders — one owning strategy, one handling day-to-day. Our client is ready to consolidate that into one seat and hand it to someone who is ready to step up and own it fully.

There are no direct reports and no large infrastructure to inherit. What you will have is real ownership, direct access to senior leadership, and the kind of breadth that takes a decade to find at a larger company. This role covers milk sourcing, hedging, packaging, ingredients, supplier management, contract negotiation, and replenishment — and you will touch all of it.

For the right person, this is a career-defining role. You have built your procurement foundation at a dairy company, you know the mechanics of Class II pricing and organic sourcing, and you are ready to step into a strategic seat where you are the expert in the room. You may not have led a full hedging program independently yet — but you understand how it works, and you are ready to build and own it.

If you are looking for a role that accelerates your career, builds your resume, and gives you exposure you can’t get inside a large CPG organization — this is it.

The company sources both conventional and organic fluid milk under Class II market pricing and is formalizing its approach to milk price risk management. This role will play a key part in building and managing that capability.

• Develop and execute a comprehensive sourcing strategy across conventional and organic milk supply, including cooperatives, brokers, and direct farm relationships.
• Support the design and implementation of a structured milk hedging program utilizing forward contracts, swaps, and/or CME dairy futures.
• Monitor Federal Milk Marketing Order pricing, butterfat and NFDM markets, and organic premium trends to inform purchasing decisions.
• Prepare clear market analyses and sourcing recommendations for senior leadership based on current pricing dynamics and risk exposure.
• Ensure consistent supply across all co-manufacturing locations through proactive contingency planning for volatility and disruption.

• Lead category strategy development for milk, cream, ingredients, and packaging materials, including cups, lids, films, and corrugate.
• Manage supplier selection processes, RFPs, contract negotiations, and commercial terms.
• Deliver year-over-year cost savings and value optimization initiatives across assigned categories.
• Partner cross-functionally with R&D, Marketing, and Operations to support packaging specifications, innovation efforts, and change implementation.
• Establish supplier performance scorecards, conduct reviews, and implement corrective action plans as needed.

• Execute daily and weekly replenishment strategies for dairy, ingredients, and packaging across co-manufacturing partners.
• Collaborate with Planning and Operations to maintain appropriate inventory levels while supporting service objectives.
• Ensure accuracy in purchase orders, ERP contract…