Manager, Strategic Sourcing and Planning -Proteins

The Manager, Strategic Sourcing & Planning leads the development and execution of sourcing strategies for high value, high risk protein categories across North America and Europe. This role serves as a trusted advisor to business partners, recommending sourcing approaches that balance cost, quality, supply continuity, and service ultimately enhancing the guest experience across all brands.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain – Food & Beverage, this leader manages a team of 2–5 category managers, providing direction, coaching, and oversight to ensure consistent application of best‑in‑class procurement practices.

The role is responsible for driving enterprise value by ensuring uninterrupted supply, managing category performance, and leading complex, high impact strategic sourcing initiatives. Success requires strong cross‑functional collaboration with stakeholders across all North America brands and disciplined engagement with global operating units to capture synergies, cultivate competitive supplier landscapes, and meet value creation and innovation targets.

• Development of an effective long‑term strategic sourcing plan for highly complex categories and projects that create long term value while meeting brand objectives, including value creation, supply continuity, risk mitigation, and innovation. Effective collaboration on strategic sourcing categories and projects within the organization and stakeholders; developing relationships to become a trusted sourcing partner. Ensuring cross‑functional engagement and support of category projects and initiatives.
  
  Remaining connected to key stakeholders and soliciting input from them at appropriate times to stay aligned with the needs of the business, as well as running meetings providing key supplier and product updates and/or addressing specific needs of key stakeholders.
• Apply spend category management best practices, tools and techniques in the development and implementation of an integrated strategic sourcing strategy to assess the overall opportunity within the categories for projects. Serving as a subject‑matter expert on strategic sourcing categories with the stakeholders and fostering effective relationships.
• Maintain focus on project timelines and deliverables to ensure business goals and objectives are met. Strong partnership with Finance team to accurately forecast impacts of category strategy, including scenario modelling. Managing the annual initiative plan by creating realistic timelines and meeting contracting deadlines, and communicating initiative status.
• Provide oversight, performance management, coaching, and develop highly skilled team of 2–5 category leaders able to drive strategic approaches and cultivate their own strong business relationships with both internal stakeholders and external partners.
• Research best practices and conduct baseline due diligence to best understand opportunities for savings, reduce TCO, improve efficiencies, quality improvement and service of the sourcing teams. Lead supplier qualification, segmentation and certification programs. Be well‑informed about commodity markets and use information to report trends, pricing fluctuations, provide forecast detail and product cost shifts to brands.
• Effective supplier relationship management, leveraging data, metrics, and internal feedback. Provide and review score cards to improve supplier results. Develop early supplier involvement to ensure suppliers are utilized to their full capabilities and proactively provide input to deliver low cost, efficient, and quality goods and services. Effectively influence change and gain buy‑in across the stakeholder group and leadership. Oversee portfolio of contracts, build and maintain supplier relationships, and hold suppliers accountable to deliver contractual requirements.
• Implement gold‑standard contracts across strategic supplier base. Negotiate strategic supplier contracts, develop innovative pricing models and agreements to deliver value to brands. Lead supplier negotiations, manage RFP/RFQs, utilize 7‑step sourcing process where applicable, and develop and execute category…