Job Description

Procurement Director - Packaging and Ingredients

Position at JBS USA

The Procurement Director – Packaging & Ingredients leads sourcing strategy, supplier relationships, and procurement performance across a significant direct-material spend portfolio supporting a complex, multi-site manufacturing network. This leader is accountable for delivering measurable financial value, ensuring reliable supply, and advancing quality, innovation, and sustainability objectives.

As a strategic business partner to Operations, R&D, Quality, Supply Chain, Commercial, Finance, and Sustainability, the Director translates business priorities and market insights into actionable category strategies. The role combines long-term planning with disciplined execution to improve cost competitiveness, support growth, protect margins, and strengthen operational resilience.

The Director will build and develop a high-performing procurement team, establish clear performance expectations, and lead cross-functional initiatives that deliver sustainable business results.

Key Accountabilities

Strategic Sourcing & Category Leadership

• Develop and execute multi-year packaging and ingredient category strategies aligned with business objectives, manufacturing needs, and growth plans.
• Lead strategic sourcing, competitive bidding, supplier selection, negotiations, and contract development across assigned categories.
• Translate market intelligence—including commodity trends, supply-demand dynamics, supplier capacity, cost drivers, and geopolitical developments—into sourcing decisions and actionable business recommendations.
• Establish category roadmaps that balance cost, quality, service, innovation, sustainability, and supply security.
• Define supplier segmentation and sourcing models based on business criticality, supplier capabilities, switching costs, and market conditions.
• Drive total-cost improvement through specification optimization, value engineering, standardization, demand management, and cross-site collaboration.

Packaging Procurement

• Lead sourcing strategies across major packaging materials, including areas such as corrugated, flexible films, shrink bags, labels, pallets, trays, rigid packaging, and other primary and secondary packaging.
• Develop market-based pricing models, cost breakdowns, and should-cost analyses to improve transparency and negotiation effectiveness.
• Monitor key cost drivers—including resin, paper and recovered fiber, energy, freight, and labor—and establish appropriate pricing mechanisms and contractual protections.
• Partner with Packaging Engineering, R&D, Operations, Quality, and Sustainability to optimize packaging performance, material usage, manufacturing efficiency, and total delivered cost.
• Develop supplier capabilities and capacity plans to support new product launches, packaging redesigns, manufacturing expansion, and network changes.
• Advance material reduction, recycled content, recyclability, and alternative packaging solutions while maintaining food safety, product protection, and operating performance.

Ingredients Procurement

• Develop sourcing strategies for ingredients and related raw materials that deliver competitive costs while meeting food safety, quality, specification, availability, and service requirements.
• Partner with R&D, Quality, Operations, and Commercial teams on formulation changes, new product development, productivity initiatives, and alternative sourcing.
• Anticipate commodity price movements, crop and supply risks, capacity constraints, and other market developments that may affect cost or availability.
• Identify opportunities for supplier consolidation, dual sourcing, specification optimization, and strategic partnerships.
• Coordinate supplier qualification and material approval with relevant functions to enable timely, effective sourcing transitions.

Supplier Performance & Supply Risk

• Establish supplier performance standards and scorecards covering cost, quality, delivery, service, innovation, and sustainability.
• Lead business reviews with strategic suppliers and drive corrective actions and continuous improvement.
• Develop and maintain supply-risk assessments, contingency plans, and alternative supply strategies for critical materials.
• Partner with Supply Chain, Operations, and Quality to resolve supply disruptions, capacity constraints, and supplier performance issues.
• Work with Legal, Finance, and other stakeholders to address contractual, financial, operational, and compliance risks.
• Ensure procurement activities follow company policies, approval requirements, and internal controls.

Financial Performance & Business Value

• Deliver annual savings, productivity, cost-avoidance, and working-capital objectives, with clear ownership and execution plans.
• Partner with Finance to establish baselines, validate benefits, and track realized financial results while distinguishing recurring savings from market-driven price changes.
• Develop total-cost-of-ownership models to evaluate supplier proposals, sourcing alternatives, specification changes, and supply models.
• Provide timely cost forecasts, budget inputs, and explanations of purchase-price variances, supported by market insights and mitigation plans.
• Optimize payment terms, minimum order quantities, inventory arrangements, lead times, and logistics in partnership with Finance and Supply Chain.

Sustainability & Innovation

• Integrate relevant sustainability objectives into category strategies, sourcing events, supplier selection, contracts, and performance reviews.
• Build supplier innovation pipelines focused on material efficiency, packaging performance, alternative materials, process improvements, and emerging technologies.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to evaluate, prioritize, pilot, and scale innovations with measurable business value.
• Monitor evolving packaging, environmental, and responsible-sourcing requirements and coordinate sourcing responses with Sustainability, Legal, and Quality.

People Leadership & Cross-Functional Influence

• Lead, coach, and develop the procurement team, establishing clear accountabilities, performance goals, and succession plans.
• Strengthen capabilities in category management, negotiation, financial analysis, supplier development, and risk management.
• Build alignment across business units and manufacturing locations to capture enterprise-wide opportunities.
• Communicate market developments, sourcing recommendations, risks, and results clearly to executive leadership.
• Champion continuous improvement and effective use of procurement data, systems, and digital tools.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Experience with JBS and Pilgrim's is strongly preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, Procurement, Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, or supply chain within food, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, or another complex direct-material environment.
• Significant category leadership experience in packaging and/or ingredients, with the ability to lead across both portfolios.
• Demonstrated success managing large, complex portfolios and delivering measurable financial and operational improvements.
• Proven experience leading complex negotiations, developing contracts, and managing strategic supplier relationships.
• Experience developing and implementing category strategies across multiple manufacturing sites or business units.
• Demonstrated ability to assess supply risk and implement effective mitigation and business-continuity plans.
• Experience leading, developing, and holding procurement teams accountable for results.
• Strong financial and analytical skills, including cost modeling, total-cost analysis, forecasting, and benefits tracking.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to align cross-functional stakeholders and engage senior leadership.
• Can perform the functions of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation
• As a salaried position with the company, you may be required to travel at some point to other facilities, to attend Company events, or as a representative of the Company in other situations. Unless otherwise specified in this posting, the amount of travel may vary and the most qualified candidate must be willing and able to travel as business needs dictate.

Preferred Qualifications & Experience

• MBA or other relevant advanced degree.
• Experience within a large, multinational food or consumer products organization.
• Deep knowledge of packaging materials, commodity markets, and/or food ingredients.
• Experience with global sourcing, supplier development, sustainability, and packaging innovation.
• Experience leading procurement transformation, digital initiatives, and significant organizational change.
• Experience with SAP and COUPA systems, including Procurement-to-Pay (P2P) optimization, Invoicing & Expense management, Supplier Information Management (SIM), System Administration & custom workflows will be a plus
• Spanish or Portuguese language proficiency will be a plus.

Success Measures

• Performance will be evaluated against agreed objectives, including:
• Finance-validated savings, productivity, and working-capital improvements.
• Supplier delivery reliability, quality performance, and corrective-action effectiveness.
• Supply

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