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Senior Director, Commodities

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Come make your difference in communities across Canada, where authenticity, trust and making connections is valued – as we shape the future of Canadian retail, together. Our unique position as one of the country's largest employers, coupled with our commitment to positively impact the lives of all Canadians, provides our colleagues a range of opportunities and experiences to help Canadians Live Life Well®.

At Loblaw Companies Limited, we succeed through collaboration and commitment and set a high bar for ourselves and those around us. Whether you are just starting your career, re-entering the workforce, or looking for a new job, this is where you belong. 

Reports to  

Vice President, Enterprise Procurement, Commodities, & Supplier Engagement 

 

Role Mandate 

The Senior Director, Commodities is a critical role to our operations, to providing commodity and manufacturing input based analytical insights that enable fact-based cost of goods negotiations with National and Control Brand suppliers. The Senior Director will also assist in developing a quarterly negotiation strategy as it pertains to cost on a day-to-day basis.   As part of the broader Enterprise Procurement team, the negotiation strategy and associated financial modelling and alignment process that the Senior Director Commodities is accountable for is executed in partnership with Merchandising and Procurement leads.  Further this role facilitates the reporting for the Divisional Joint Business Planning process Merchants lead as well as the facilitation of the Joint Strategic Partnership process to support Enterprise initiatives with select strategic supplier partners.

 

Accountabilities: 

Leadership 

  • Develop and leverage strong relationships with senior Merchandising and Procurement Stakeholders and their teams 

  • Coach, develop and mentor direct reports. This includes explicit consideration of very specialized on-the-job training needs for each colleague, considering the specific and unique analytics for this area, providing timely feedback, talent development, and succession planning 

  • Provide on-going development opportunities for direct reports 

  • Promote an environment of trust and authenticity by leading by example 

 

Cost of Goods Submission Management  

  • Review, analyze, quantify, and communicate findings on all supplier proposed cost changes to all impacted stakeholders 

  • Provide clarity on volume of impact and connection to overall inflation expectations for the organization 

  • Oversee the end-to-end negotiation process including the coordination across multiple sourcing teams and to a commitment service level timeline and compliance requirements 

  • Support key stakeholders in meetings with suppliers to educate and communicate enterprise position 

  • Ensure internal processes and procedures are followed compliantly 
       

Cost Improvement, Commodity Markets & Strategic Sourcing  

  • Identify opportunities for cost improvement throughout the enterprise leveraging available market data and Enterprise insights. 

  • Identify and oversee the creation of tools to support cost improvement initiatives including leveraging AI 

  • Enhance or create additional cost model programs including open book agreements with suppliers where appropriate. 

  • Oversee strategic sourcing. 

  • Analyze suppliers based on specific criteria to determine the optimal partnership for Loblaw. 

  • Negotiate contracts for supply agreements. 
       

Joint Strategic Partnerships (JSP) and Joint Business Planning Reporting (JBP) 

  • Steward of Joint Strategic Partnership program with top enterprise level suppliers including designing, building, and collecting sign off on Presentations, Process, Templates, Tools, Report’s from LCL Leadership to ensure compliance and to engage with internal stakeholders to support 

  • Oversees the reporting for JBP process for the Enterprise, ensuring accuracy 

  • Ownership of the external portal that is used as the primary means to communicate to suppliers 

 

Requirements:  

  • University degree in business, economics, mathematics, or a related field  

  • 5-10+ years relevant experience with foundational understanding of commodity markets, procurement, retail finance, or merchandising  

  • 5-10+ years’ experience with the proven ability to lead and motivate teams of different sizes and complexities working within a matrix organization 

  • Ability to develop insights leveraging complex data to ultimately influence decisions 

  • High degree of accountability, due diligence and compliance in managing large data set across portfolio 

  • Strong problem-solving skills with the proven ability to navigate complex problems and communicate solutions 

  • Proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment while prioritizing key initiatives 

  • Strong relationship building, cross level, and collaborative approach 

  • Strong problem solving and analytical skills, a curious & creative thinker with an ability to apply new knowledge  

  • Ability to self-initiate and work independently and as part of a team to deliver results  

  • Strong presentation, written and oral communication skills with high level of professionalism 

  • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills including some experience with macros  

 

Our commitment to Sustainability and Social Impact is an essential part of the way we do business, and we focus our attention on areas where we can have the greatest impact. Our approach to sustainability and social impact is based on three pillars – Environment, Sourcing and Community – and we are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate leadership in these important areas. Our CORE Values – Care, Ownership, Respect and Excellence – guide all our decision-making and come to life through our Blue Culture. We offer our colleagues progressive careers, comprehensive training, flexibility, and other competitive benefits – these are some of the many reasons why we are one of Canada’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, Canada’s Greenest Employers & Canada’s Top Employers for Young People.

If you are unsure whether your experience matches every requirement above, we encourage you to apply anyway. We are looking for varied perspectives which include diverse experiences that we can add to our team.

We have a long-standing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion because we know it will make our company a better place to work and shop. We are committed to creating accessible environments for our colleagues, candidates and customers. Requests for accommodation due to a disability (which may be visible or invisible, temporary or permanent) can be made at any stage of application and employment. We encourage candidates to make their accommodation needs known so that we can provide equitable opportunities.  
 
Please Note:
Candidates who are 18 years or older are required to complete a criminal background check. Details will be provided through the application process.