Director, Purchasing

Job Details:
Level: Senior,

Job Location:

Elmwood Office RFC - New Orleans, LA 70123, Position Type:
Full Time, Job Category:
Supply Chain, Reily Foods Company has a passion for flavor and has been providing iconic foods and beverages that create meals and memories for over 120 years! Our products consist of New England Coffee, French Market Coffee, Luzianne Iced Tea, Blue Plate Mayonnaise, Swans Down Cake Flour, Tiger Sauce, and Carroll Shelby Chili(to name a few) and can be found in food service and retail locations around the country.

The Director, Purchasing owns purchasing strategy, vendor negotiation, and supplier performance across a combined ~$65M annual spend portfolio inclusive of packaging (primary, secondary, tertiary), ingredients/raw materials, and co-pack/co-manufacturing partners. This role is accountable for margin protection, supply continuity, and supplier risk across these categories and serves as the senior point of contact for strategic suppliers and manufacturing partners. The Director partners with R&D, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and Commercial leadership to align purchasing strategy with cost targets, product specifications, and innovation and launch timelines.

• Develop and execute the purchasing strategy for packaging, ingredients, and co-manufacturing, aligned to margin, service, and growth objectives
• Own annual savings and cost-avoidance targets, and partner with Finance on budgets, forecasts, and standard cost impacts
• Segment the supplier base (strategic, preferred, transactional) and set engagement models for each tier
• Establish purchasing policies, approval thresholds, and contract governance in partnership with Legal and Finance
• Present spend analysis, market outlook, risk exposure, and negotiation outcomes to executive leadership

• Lead negotiation of pricing, volume commitments, and terms with key ingredient/raw material suppliers, including formula or index-based pricing tied to commodity markets
• Set forward-buying, contracting, and coverage strategy in response to commodity market trends and volatility
• Partner with R&D and Quality on ingredient specifications, allergen management, and regulatory compliance (FDA, USDA, GFSI/SQF/BRC)
• Mitigate single-source and specialty ingredient risk through alternate-source qualification and business continuity planning

• Lead negotiation of pricing and terms with packaging suppliers (resin, paperboard, glass, flexible film, closures, labels, etc.), including resin and paper index exposure
• Drive cost-savings initiatives through packaging redesign, light-weighting, material substitution, and supplier consolidation
• Partner with R&D, Marketing, and Sustainability on packaging changes tied to product redesigns, sustainability commitments, and regulatory requirements
• Align packaging supplier capacity and lead times with launch calendars and seasonal or promotional volume shifts

• Own the co-manufacturing partner strategy, including network design, partner selection, and make-vs-buy input
• Negotiate co-manufacturing agreements covering pricing, minimum volume commitments, capacity reservations, and quality and performance standards
• Serve as executive sponsor for key co-manufacturing relationships and lead escalations involving capacity, quality, or service failures
• Partner with Supply Chain Planning and Quality to align production scheduling, capacity, and audit/certification requirements (GFSI/SQF/BRC) with demand forecasts and NPD timelines
• Oversee onboarding and qualification of new co-manufacturing partners, including capability assessments and pilot runs
• Monitor co-manufacturer performance against SLAs (on-time delivery, yield, quality defect rates) and drive corrective…