VP Procurement

About Harvest Hill

Harvest Hill has grown into one of the leading beverage companies in the U.S. Our family of iconic brands, including Juicy Juice ® , SunnyD ® , Fruit 2 O ® , Little HUG ® , Daily’s Cocktails ® , and Nutrament ® will continue to delight families for years to come. Harvest Hill fosters a high-energy, collaborative environment where creative problem-solving and driving continuous improvement are highly valued. The company is in an exciting phase of growth, focused on channel expansion and new product distribution. Harvest Hill Beverage Company is located in Stamford, CT and owned by Castillo Hermanos, a consumer products company based in Guatemala. For more information, visit harvesthill.com.

Position Summary

The Vice President of Procurement will be responsible for the procurement of all raw, primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging material in addition to all indirect materials and services across Harvest Hill’s network of six company run and multiple co-packed manufacturing facilities. This is a mission-critical role that will directly shape corporate profitability and drive performance by strategically managing annual expenditures in excess of $400 million. The Vice President of Procurement must work effectively with senior management, external vendors, cross functional peers, and subordinates. The successful candidate must understand commodity markets and market forces and will be a strong negotiator while also building relationships with suppliers. The successful candidate will thrive in a fast-paced, lean operating environment, leveraging creativity and strong financial acumen to achieve results through resourcefulness and strategic prioritization.

Primary Position Responsibilities

• Develop, initiate, and present procurement strategies to the Company’s Executive Management team.
• Lead and mentor a team of five direct reports, clearly communicate priorities, and get involved as necessary to deliver key initiatives covering the entire supply chain.
• Negotiate long-term supply agreements and short-term purchase contracts.
• Strategically manage and report contract and commodity positions for major expenditures including apple juice concentrate, pear juice concentrate, orange solids, corn-based sweeteners, bottles. select resin grades and paper.
• Manage contract life cycles and maintain contract review process.
• Establish and drive standard costing processes along with underlying assumptions to support development of the annual budget.
• Report and communicate monthly procurement KPI’s.
• Project and communicate key commodity cost changes versus the annual budget and updated forecasts.
• Champion and execute sourcing initiatives to support sales and marketing objectives (e.g., new product launches) as well as resiliency and efficiency objectives.
• Report and communicate key developments in tariffs and propose options for mitigation.
  
  

Position Qualifications

• A minimum of 10 years of experience as an accomplished procurement professional, or relevant materials management experience, and a demonstrated record of success in reengineering and upgrading procurement processes and programs exceeding $250 million in annual spend.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience purchasing agricultural commodities (e.g., corn, fruit juice concentrates) and fully versed in all aspects of contracting and conversion.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience purchasing primary and/or secondary packaging materials (e.g., bottles, caps, corrugate) and fully versed in all aspects of contracting and conversion, preferably packaging in the beverage industry.
• Demonstrated cross-cultural competence and experience collaborating with international suppliers and stakeholders.
• Experience contracting imported materials.
• A strong working knowledge of supply chain, vendor, and supplier management.
• Experience with strategic sourcing techniques, and a commitment to continuous improvement methodologies and principles with a focus on driving cost savings/
• Strong analytical, financial, and process management skills, and ability to drive the procurement function forward.
• Master negotiator with a track record of realizing significant cost savings through complex, multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts, combined with exceptional business acumen and the ability to exercise sound commercial judgment.
• Collaborator who has effectively served as a member of a Company’s management team; a leader with excellent interpersonal and communications skills who has forged effective working relationships with management team peers.
• College degree required, MBA would be a plus and/or procurement and supply chain certifications preferred.