Sr. Director - Supply Chain Procurement
Job Description
Steak n Shake's Sr. Director - Supply Chain Procurement will lead all purchasing, commercialization, and strategic sourcing for Steak 'n Shake's roughly 375 restaurants. This includes Food & Beverage, National Services, and Smallwares. Through strategic relationship building and strong business acumen, this role will enable informed decision-making and provide complete transparency into our Cost of Goods.
Department: Supply Chain
Reports to: VP Supply Chain
Direct reports: 1 Direct Report
FLSA: Exempt
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
a. Direct category management across food, packaging, equipment, and indirect spending.
b. Lead one additional Category Manager as the only direct report to this role.
c. Identify cost optimization opportunities while maintaining quality, food safety, and brand standards.
d. Drive supplier consolidation and strategic reviews to improve overall Supply Chain efficiency.
e. Monitor commodity markets to proactively adjust sourcing strategies and pricing formulas.
a. Oversee end-to-end procurement lifecycle, including supplier selection, contract negotiation, and performance management.
b. Lead RFP process, including development, evaluation, and award decisions to maintain competitiveness within supplier base.
c. Establish standardized procurement processes, tools, and governance to ensure consistency and compliance.
d. Negotiate favorable pricing, rebates, and service-level agreements.
e. Ensure contracts align with regulatory, food safety, and company compliance requirements.
a. Build and maintain strategic relationships with key suppliers and distributors.
b. Partner with suppliers to drive innovation, product development, and samples for ideation testing.
c. Lead executive-level supplier reviews and business planning sessions.
d. Maintain rapid and continuous communication to avoid supply or quality disruptions.
a. Partner with internal Distribution and Logistics team to maintain supply levels.
b. Implement strategies to balance Supply Chain spend with product availability across the network.
c. Lead product transitions for LTO and new menu item launches through data driven analysis eliminating excess or obsolete inventory.
d. Team leader within Arrowstream to control Supply Chain of Data and continuously improve data quality.
a. Serve as a key leader within the supply chain organization, collaborating with operations, culinary, finance, marketing, and quality assurance teams.
b. Partner with product development leaders to source new ingredients and support menu innovation.
c. Align with finance on budgeting, cost savings targets, and financial forecasting.
d. Support operations teams by ensuring consistent product availability and quality across all locations.
e. Influence executive stakeholders and contribute to overall supply chain and business strategy.
KEY RELATIONSHIPS: Position's key contacts and relationships.
Required Education and Experience:
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of roles, activities, requirements, efforts, or working conditions associated with the position. This description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current position. Steak n Shake reserves the right to revise the position or to require that other or different activities be performed when circumstances change with or without notice.
Steak ‘n Shake was founded in February, 1934 in Normal, Illinois. Gus Belt, Steak ‘n Shake’s founder, pioneered the concept of premium burgers and milk shakes.
For over 80 years, the company’s name has been symbolic of its heritage. The word “steak” stood for STEAKBURGER. The term “shake” stood for hand-dipped MILK SHAKES. Gus was determined to serve his customers the finest burgers and shakes in the business. To prove his point that his burgers were exceptionally prime, he would wheel in a barrel of steaks (including round, sirloin, and T-bones) and grind the meat into burgers right in front of the guests. Hence arose the origin of our famous slogan, “In Sight It Must Be Right.”
After 80 years, we are continuing Steak n Shake’s tradition of serving the country’s best, freshest, and tastiest burgers and shakes.