Director, Commodity Procurement

Hostess Brands, LLC, is a large packaged foods company focused on manufacturing, distributing, and selling iconic sweet baked goods in the United States such as Twinkies, Cupcakes, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Donettes and Coffee Cakes, in addition to Voortman's Cookies and Wafers.

Lead the Strategic Sourcing of any category (but predominantly Ingredients) of materiality where Hostess directs timing and duration of commodity inputs. Focus on managing commodity price risk (margin) to meet Hostess’s financial objectives. Optimize the value stream through the development and execution of risk management strategies, near-term (e.g., RFPs) and multiyear (e.g., sourcing strategies) sourcing campaigns, and prioritization of initiatives in support of business objectives. Lead the management of supplier relationships; align priorities with internal stakeholders such as business leaders, Research & Development, Operations, Quality and ESG; supervise operational procurement-led campaign implementations, including cross-business units where appropriate; and continuously seek/encourage the surfacing/exploration of opportunities to maximize total value delivered to Hostess. Mentor and develop others in these skills.

• Scope: Current examples of ‘material’ categories are Sugar, Fats & Oils, Flour, Eggs, Chocolate Coating, Corn-derived products, Natural gas. Handle all raw materials supplied by the vendors of the preceding material. Act as COE for Risk Management Practices Ingredients-wide.
• Commodity Price Risk Management: Lead development of risk management strategies, including documentation/analytical tools, which lead to recommendations for applicable commodity purchases. Follow a disciplined 5-Step approach, including:
  • Fundamental Research (e.g., Supply and Demand analysis)
  • Forecasting (including equilibrium price curves)
  • Strategy (including “Decision Grids”)
  • Execution (underlier, and all components)
  • Monitoring and Reporting (including timely and accurate supply of new coverage taken to Finance, and "Long -Term Commitments" reporting).
• Category Management: As an expert in Agricultural and Energy commodities, guide teams in category spend analysis and prioritization. Guide development of category strategies using playbook and tools, including cross-functional engagement and operational procurement-led change management. Create, maintain, and execute sourcing calendar. Ensure RFPs and negotiations follow established SOPs, utilize Hostess-developed tools, and follow Hostess policy. Support FUEL by bringing forward savings opportunities as found during RFP process. For vendor selection, coordinate with Hostess ESG to identify and consider suppliers whose ESG programs are aligned with our ESG objectives.
• Continuity of Supply: Ensure team collaboration with key stakeholders (e.g., legal, QA, and operations) to minimize supply risk, deliver long-term value, and assure supply by ensuring Hostess-authored Master Agreements are in place for spend whenever possible.
• Business Support, Cross-functional Leadership, Continuous Improvement: Engage with leadership and key stakeholders to understand business objectives, interpret/recommend Commodities procurement support and priorities, and establish measurable overarching team and individual-specific goals tied into the business objectives. Follow-up with leadership and key stakeholders to keep apprised of evolving business needs, solicit feedback on team performance, and agree on modified plans for prioritized activities in response to the evolving environment, with measurable deliverables.
• Operational Procurement: Lead engagement/utilization of operational procurement team, agreeing on priorities, service levels, and ways of working, in the spirit of affording the Commodity Procurement desk the opportunity to maximize its time on strategic versus tactical activity. Become directly involved on recurring issues that reach the “Supplier Relationship Level”. This will include
  • Monitoring of contract balances, managing contract balances with vendors (roll-forward roll-back), Invoice reconciliation, returns and refunds, detention and demurrage, Inbound truck monitoring, unblocking invoices that are blocked due mismatch between Invoice/Bill of Lading/Goods Receipt/ Supply Agreement, overdue Invoices, reconciling payments and loads received between Hostess AP and Vendor Accounts Receivable
  • Entering contracts in SAP or other electronic repository, entering price changes in SAP, maintaining Master Data to include vendor ship-from locations, QM Info records, Vendor banking information (e.g., change of bank), material codes, etc.
• Key Function Management:
  • R&D: Leverage Operational Procurement to work with R&D on specification management, new product launch (e.g., raw material sample acquisition), connection to Supplier R&D.
  • Quality: Leverage Operational Procurement to work with Quality to provide "Supplier Quality Expectations" to suppliers, manage incident tickets, rejected loads etc.
  • Logistics and Manufacturing: Leverage Operational Procurement to work with Logistics and Manufacturing on things like on-time delivery issues, new product start-up, etc.
• Team Leadership: Continually Lead, develop, mentor, and train supporting member of team, with the goal of succession planning
• Customer-oriented service: Ensure Commodities procurement is providing customer-oriented service to the business by establishing credibility and strong relationships with key stakeholders in all functions
• Metrics and KPIs: Develop and report internal and supplier-facing metrics and KPIs to track and measure Commodity procurement performance against market standards and business objectives
• Compliance: Comply with Hostess policies (e.g., Risk Management Policy, Procurement Policy, Business Code of Ethics) and communicate policies to suppliers and stakeholders to minimize risks. Comply with external regulations and requirements for all categories under teams’ management

• 7-10 years of experience working in progressively larger procurement, supply chain and/or finance roles required
• Working knowledge of principles and practices of supervision, training, and personnel management
• Working knowledge of best practices in distribution
• Working knowledge of category sourcing strategy and management
• Working knowledge of supply chain risk management, including supplier risk management and commodity risk management
• Skills in development of supplier relationship engagement and management
• Ability to supervise staff efficiently and effectively
• Ability to handle challenging or conflict situations with tact and professionalism
• Ability to negotiate under pressure
• Ability to work collaboratively with employees in a variety of departments and build consensus around key initiatives

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Supply Chain Management, or related field required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree preferred
• 1-5 years of supervisory and leadership experience preferred

 Travel:

• Travel is estimated to be up to 25% to our bakery locations, distribution centers, third party vendors/suppliers, and/or other onsite needs on an annual basis, and as needed