Director of Procurement

Summary: The Director of Procurement at Harbor Wholesale is the enterprise leader responsible for shaping Harbor’s inventory investment strategy and driving operational excellence across all purchasing activities at three distribution centers. This dynamic role blends vision, innovation, and hands on leadership to deliver customer success, competitive advantage, and margin growth. The Director designs and executes initiatives that balance service, profitability, and efficiency, building strong vendor partnerships, empowering a high-performing procurement team, and leading cross-department projects that drive efficiency and continuous improvement throughout the organization.  *Minimum three days in office/hybrid

Supervisory Responsibilities: Leads and develops the Purchasing team across all distribution centers; provides comprehensive management and oversight of two complex and dynamic purchasing manager positions and staff encompassing both Purchasing-Foodservice and Purchasing-Retail; respective Buyers and Jr. Buyer development and both administrative assistants for the department.

Compensation: $105K - 135K DOE plus bonus

Benefits Summary: Harbor offers a full line of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance; 401k retirement program with company match; vacation, sick time, personal day, company holidays and more.

Essential Job Functions:

• Develop and execute inventory strategies to optimize customer order fill rates, inventory turns, aged inventory, spoilage, and forecast accuracy.
• Partner with Item & Pricing Manager, Director of Category Management, and Director of Supply Chain Analytics to align margin review, pricing strategy, and item setup. Reviews anomalies and provides solution-oriented oversight in collaboration for data-driven optimization.
• Manage, coach, and support the Procurement team; driving development, training, and workload balance.
• Manages KPIs and department objectives, planning and administrative overhead, and is the executive touchpoint for cost effectiveness and financial reporting.
• Collaborate with Category Management and Sales to build optimal product mixes and inventory plans for promotions, onboarding, and launches.
• Coordinate with Logistics and Operations to maximize efficiency and reduce costs in procurement activities.
• Create and manage the annual departmental budget.
• Champion process improvement reviewing tools, software, and training to elevate procurement and pricing functions.
• Document and refine process flows and department expectations for all existing and new procedures.
• Lead cross department initiatives to streamline processes, enhance operational efficiency, and support companywide goals.
• Serve as a cross functional partner, advocating for Procurement needs and aligning with broader company priorities.
• Other duties as assigned by the President of Harbor Wholesale.

 Education and Experience:

• BA in Business, Marketing, Corporate Finance or Accounting.
• 5-7 years of purchasing leadership; grocery industry experience preferred.
• Proven track record in product and vendor management, aligning procurement with evolving business and customer needs.
• Proficient technical experience in Microsoft Dynamics and Blue Ridge preferred.
• Strong financial acumen.