Procurement Lead (Dairy Vertical)

Job Description Manager

Procurement (Pizza Vertical) Role Summary We are looking for a Procurement Manager with dedicated experience in the pizza/Italian QSR segment to own sourcing, vendor management, and cost optimization for a brand operating at 200+ locations. The person will be responsible for negotiating best-in-class rates across cheese, sauces, dough/flour, toppings, and packaging, while ensuring supply continuity, quality consistency, and compliance across a distributed kitchen network. Key Responsibilities Category Sourcing & Cost Management

• Own end-to-end procurement for pizza-specific raw materials: mozzarella/cheese blends, tomato bases and sauces, dough/flour, processed meats, vegetable toppings, and packaging (boxes, liners).

• Negotiate best-in-class rates leveraging volume aggregation across 200+ outlets; run competitive bidding (RFQ/RFP) and structured vendor negotiations.

• Track and benchmark input costs (especially cheese and wheat, which are volatile) against market indices; build hedging or rate-lock strategies where feasible.

• Drive year-on-year cost savings targets without compromising recipe specifications or food safety standards. Vendor Management

• Develop and manage a vetted vendor panel per category to de-risk single-source dependency across regions/kitchens.

• Conduct vendor audits (quality, hygiene, capacity, financial stability) and formalize rate contracts/SLAs.

• Resolve quality escalations, short supply, and rejection issues in coordination with QA and kitchen operations teams. Supply Planning & Continuity

• Partner with planning team to forecast consumption basis outlet-level sales trends, new launches and peak days.

• Ensure zero stockouts of P0/critical SKUs (mozzarella, dough, sauce) through proactive PO planning and buffer norms.

• Work with logistics to optimize lead times and last-mile delivery to kitchens across Tier-1/Tier-2 cities. Cross-functional & Systems

• Collaborate with Finance on cost sheets, price variance analysis, and budget adherence.

• Work with culinary/R&D on vendor trials for new product launches and recipe cost-outs. Must-Have Qualifications

• 8+ years of procurement experience, with a specific stint in the pizza/QSR/bakery segment (mandatory) — direct exposure to cheese, dough, and sauce sourcing required.

• Proven track record of negotiating and delivering best-in-class rates at multi-outlet/multi-city scale (100+ locations ideal).

• Strong understanding of commodity price cycles (dairy, wheat, tomato) and contract structuring (fixed vs. floating rate contracts).

• Experience managing vendor panels across geographies, not just single-city sourcing.

• Existing vendor relationships in the pizza/cheese/dairy ecosystem. Key Performance Indicators

• Cost per unit (cheese, sauce, dough) vs. budget/benchmark

• % savings delivered YoY on key categories

• Stockout incidents (P0 ingredients) per month

• Vendor SLA adherence (fill rate, quality rejection %)

• Number of active backup vendors per critical category