Trident Seafoods is North America’s largest vertically integrated seafood company—partnering with fishermen, employees, and communities to responsibly harvest, process, and share wild Alaska seafood with the world. With deep roots in Alaska and operating across the globe, Trident is a privately held company headquartered in Seattle, committed to nourishing the world while upholding the highest standards for safety, sustainability, and excellence.

At Trident Seafoods, we work together for something bigger than ourselves. From nourishing the world with the best protein on earth to protecting our oceans, serving our fishermen, and supporting communities in Alaska and beyond, here, you’ll find a values-driven culture where your growth matters, your work has purpose and your contributions are recognized and appreciated—because at Trident, we believe meaningful work connects us all.

Summary: The Direct Procurement Manager for Ingredients is responsible for all strategic planning and sourcing activities in the ingredients space. You will use your experience and knowledge to build comprehensive strategies and implement that strategy through the sourcing process. You will drive a sustainable strategy that actively seeks to reduce and control costs while growing efficiencies that is cost effective, innovative and meets the quality standard that Trident has set. You will also collaborate closely with and partner with our suppliers and the various Business Units, including Operations, R&D, Legal, Finance, Quality, and Procurement teams to provide innovative solutions to meet our business objectives.

Essential Functions: (Responsibilities, Tasks, Supervisory Needs)

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

• Lead mid to executive-level client and supplier relationships on an ongoing basis to ensure the satisfaction of our support teams.
• Lead sourcing and category management in our ingredients space, including identifying and assessing potential new supplier partners for business viability, including financial and quality.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with R&D, Regulatory, Marketing, and Trident’s other Business Units to align procurement decisions with product development timelines, regulatory constraints, and brand objectives.
• Establish and deliver performance goals for a portfolio of categories in the ingredients space to represent significant amount of spend. Lead discussions with critical suppliers around long-term objectives and strategies, ongoing market trends, innovation and technology advances, and potential investment decisions.
• Lead strategic sourcing projects for supplier selection/optimization within the ingredients space in alignment with Procurement’s vision and strategies.
• Manage supplier relationships and conduct supplier business reviews, including being the primary point of contact for performance and risk issues.
• Understands the commodity movements, conducting risk assessments on commodities and suppliers with the development of mitigation plans.
• Provides oversights to the organization in the cost changes and the budget experience as it relates to the commodity market.
• Support major supplier issues and work with team members to identify and drive solutions, including contingency planning and dual sourcing with business-critical ingredients.
• Identify business needs at the sourcing and category project level in the following areas: Assurance of Supply, Quality, Service, Cost, and Innovation (AQSCI).
• Develop a multi-year category vision and strategy based on the data, insights, and business requirements.
• Build and maintain strong business relationships to increase influence over total category spend.
• Identify and evaluate potential value-generating projects based on complexity, resources, risk, implementation time, and estimated financial impact.
• Facilitate supplier collaboration with the assigned set of strategic suppliers to use their capabilities to achieve continuous improvement and bring innovation to the business.
• Manage a prioritized portfolio of projects for the category in the near and long term.
• Lead the supplier selection and RFP award process and subsequent negotiations in partnership with department leadership.
• Perform highly sophisticated contracts following Trident’s Procurement policies and processes.
• Actively understand category dynamics (current market, pricing, cost drivers, industry, and supplier variables) through trade groups, publications, etc., and communicate changes to applicable business partners.
• Ensure the strategic sourcing process is robustly applied to all sourcing projects.

The essential functions listed above are not exhaustive.  The organization may assign other duties as needed to meet business requirements.

Required Qualifications: (Education, Years of Experience, Certifications)

• Bachelor's degree in a technical or business field.
• At least 7 years of Procurement, or Supply Chain experience with Bachelor's degree OR at least 5 years with a Master's degree.

Preferred Education & Experiences:

• Master's or MBA preferred.
• Experience when influencing key stakeholders and negotiating opportunities related to sourcing and contracting to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.
• Previous Manufacturing and/or Ingredients experience.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

• Knowledgeable in direct materials used in consumer products preferred.
• Is experienced leading change and adapting quickly to new demands and challenges while maintaining high performance standards and productivity.
• Strong eye for business with the ability to understand and explain Procurement results and variances to non-Procurement audiences.
• A keen understanding of the business impact of activities and decisions; leveraging financial data and cost drivers to maximize growth opportunities and minimize total supply chain cost.
• Proficient in identifying and building appropriate supplier relationships and strategies based on both short-term and long-term objectives.
• Strong aptitude working in SAP, Excel and regulatory databases.
• Proficient written and verbal communication skills as well as analytical and organizational skills.
• Candidate must exhibit ability to work independently, as well as have team building skills.
• Highly motivated, self-driven, creative and enthusiastic.
• This position requires strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Stay connected with Trident Seafoods online at www.tridentseafoods.com and follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube or LinkedIn

Trident Seafoods provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Trident Seafoods and its subsidiaries have adopted a drug-free workplace policy. Working under the influence of Drugs or Alcohol is not permitted.

Employment with Trident Seafoods is contingent upon the candidate maintaining valid immigration status and work authorization throughout employment, with or without immigration sponsorship by the company.