Procurement, Category Manager

Overview

About Mizkan America, Inc. Based in our Corporate Headquarters in Schaumburg, IL, Mizkan America is a subsidiary of the Mizkan Group, a global, family-owned company that has been Bringing Flavor to Life™ for over 220 years. As one of the leading makers of vinegars, condiments, and sauces in the United States, Mizkan America maintains 12 manufacturing facilities that serve the retail, food service, specialty-Asian and food-ingredient trade channels.

We are committed to following our two core principles: continuously challenging the status quo and delivering only the finest products for our customers. Our leadership seeks out, embraces, and implements ideas for improvement from all of its employees. Transparency and accountability are two key factors that drive our company’s overall management approach.

We are looking for people who are seeking to deliver their best so that we can deliver ours. Above all, we’re dedicated to maximizing the potential of our greatest assets—our team members. That’s reflected in our ongoing commitment to recruit, develop, reward, and retain our talented, multicultural workforce. Join the Mizkan family and be a part of sales strategies for our iconic brands!

The Procurement Category Manager owns end-to-end performance and strategy for assigned ingredient and material categories, driving enterprise value through strengthening supplier relationships and improved performance across quality, service, innovation, and cost. This role combines strategic category leadership, commercial ownership, and cross-functional decision making with a stronger focus on supplier development, supplier collaboration, and long-term supply base capability. The Procurement Category Manager will lead key supplier relationships within assigned categories and lead commercial activities – including sourcing, negotiation, contract support, and cost savings initiatives - while owning total value delivery across cost, working capital, and supply risk.

This role will lead cross-functional teams to optimize material specifications, supply solutions, and total cost performance. This role will co-own supplier onboarding, ingredient qualification, and commercialization outcomes in partnership with Quality, R&D, Operations, and Supply Chain.

• Define and lead multi-year category strategies for assigned ingredient categories aligned to P&L impact, supply resilience, growth objectives, new product development, and supply continuity.
• Lead complex commercial strategies, including supplier selection, should-cost modeling, and negotiations focused on total value (cost, yield, service, and risk), not just price.
• Provide market intelligence, supplier insights, and risk assessments to support sourcing decisions and category direction. Translate market insights into actionable strategies, including scenario modeling and forward-looking risk mitigation plans.
• Serve as the primary relationship manager for assigned suppliers, building strong, collaborative partnerships that support long-term business goals with focus on innovation, capability expansion, and value creation.
• Define and manage supplier performance across total value metrics, including service, cost competitiveness, innovation contribution, and operational performance (e.g., yield, waste, and reliability).
• Develop and implement supplier development plans designed to improve performance, reduce risk, enhance alignment, and create long-term value including driving supplier-enabled process, formulation, and material improvements.
• Work with suppliers to resolve service, supply, and performance issues proactively and drive corrective actions where needed while identifying root-cause drivers and systemic improvement opportunities.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen supplier capabilities, improve communication, and support more effective collaboration across the supply base and align supplier capabilities with Mizkan’s long-term cost structure and growth strategy.
• Co-own category outcomes with Quality, R&D, Operations, and Supply Chain, including material selection, specification design, new supplier and ingredient onboarding,…