Manager, Strategic Sourcing

Referred applicants should not apply directly to this role.

All referred applicants must first be submitted through Workday by a current Loblaw Colleague.

Come make your difference in communities across Canada, where authenticity, trust and making connections is valued – as we shape the future of Canadian retail, together. Our unique position as one of the country's largest employers, coupled with our commitment to positively impact the lives of all Canadians, provides our colleagues a range of opportunities and experiences to help Canadians Live Life Well®.

At Loblaw Companies Limited, we succeed through collaboration and commitment and set a high bar for ourselves and those around us. Whether you are just starting your career, re-entering the workforce, or looking for a new job, this is where you belong.

Role Mandate:

The Manager, Strategic Sourcing will join a team of others reporting to the Director Strategic Sourcing & Projects, Enterprise Procurement Group. The Manager, Strategic Sourcing will be responsible for completion of the entire strategic sourcing process (sourcing, negotiations, contracting, etc.) and for supplier relationship management for all of Loblaw divisions and affiliates. Contributes to the new supplier selection processes, developing, and maintaining supplier relationships. Supports internal collaboration, knowledge sharing, compliance with best practices and established category management process. Additionally, responds to business partners’ requirements and needs. The individual should be very comfortable with operating in ambiguous environments, familiar with the RFX process, gathering insights from raw data, and building influential PowerPoint presentations.

Accountabilities include but are not limited to the below:

Strategic Sourcing

• Lead the development and execution of category management strategies, processes and events for assigned categories/sub-categories in alignment to corporate objectives
• Demonstrate a qualitative and quantitative experience and capability to manage the category and the strategic sourcing process (e.g. RFI, RFP, etc.)
• Expert in defining and executing negotiation tactics and skillfully manage difficult and complex strategic negotiations.
• Collaborate with Business stakeholders to drive best market value initiatives with vendors through various levers including value-based sourcing, leverage market imbalances, demand management, TCO, etc
• Take category ownership and manage specifications, spend, vendor base and contracts for assigned categories and build the appropriate mid and long-term strategy by either using value chain reconfiguration, collaborative capacity management, standardization, total lifecycle concept or core cost analysis
• Conducting complex sourcing baseline analysis and assessing category benefits (e.g. savings, risk reduction, etc.) and key performance metrics
• Analyzing supplier bids and proposals conducting advanced, multivariable cost regression analyses to prepare and assess potential sourcing scenarios
• Perform key analysis and develop a strategic negotiation plan, get outside opinion, and be proactive during all negotiations
• Use detailed market analysis to create scenarios regarding potential market development. Use insights from market analysis to support stakeholder innovation, to mitigate risks for Loblaw, and to amend category strategies or to deliver additional savings
• Regularly use e-Sourcing technology (Ariba / Fieldglass) and support its use
• Track savings and other KPIs of completed initiatives
• Assist the Contracts team with execution of various contracts across different categories.

Skills and Capabilities:

• Strong project and change management skills
• Strong communication and negotiation skills
• Strong experience managing relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers
• Excellent analytical skills
• Ability to summarize data into key insights and define opportunities
• Strong leadership and teamwork skills
• Strong ability to present ideas in business-friendly language
• Organizational skills and ability to multi-task
• Bi-lingual preferred

Technical Skills

• Expert in the use of MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, etc.)
• eSourcing tools (Ariba, Fieldglass)

Communication Skills

• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal and presentations skills
• Ability to summarize complex data into key insights

Role Requirements:

• A minimum of Bachelor Degree in business, operations, engineering or equivalent discipline
• MBA is an asset but not a requirement of this role
• Project Management Certification (i.e. PMP, etc.) is an asset
• Minimum of 6 years of procurement experience, with retail industry as a preference
• Experience in preparing, leading, negotiating and awarding RFX
• Solid expertise in the development and roll-out of transformation programs
• Strong stakeholder management experience with the ability to lead and work in cross functional teams
• Understanding of service requirements in grocery retail business
• Ability to influence change

Our commitment to Sustainability and Social Impact is an essential part of the way we do business, and we focus our attention on areas where we can have the greatest impact. Our approach to sustainability and social impact is based on three pillars – Environment, Sourcing and Community – and we are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate leadership in these important areas. Our CORE Values – Care, Ownership, Respect and Excellence – guide all our decision-making and come to life through our Blue Culture. We offer our colleagues progressive careers, comprehensive training, flexibility, and other competitive benefits – these are some of the many reasons why we are one of Canada’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, Canada’s Greenest Employers & Canada’s Top Employers for Young People.

If you are unsure whether your experience matches every requirement above, we encourage you to apply anyway. We are looking for varied perspectives which include diverse experiences that we can add to our team.

We have a long-standing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion because we know it will make our company a better place to work and shop. We are committed to creating accessible environments for our colleagues, candidates and customers. Requests for accommodation due to a disability (which may be visible or invisible, temporary or permanent) can be made at any stage of application and employment. We encourage candidates to make their accommodation needs known so that we can provide equitable opportunities.

Please Note:
Candidates who are 18 years or older are required to complete a criminal background check. Details will be provided through the application process.