Supplier Manager

Job Summary:

The Supplier Manager will be responsible for managing product availability, supplier performance, and operational excellence for a portfolio of drop ship suppliers.

The desired candidate will possess a strong ability to work cross-functionally, diagnose the root causes of poor performance, and use data and persuasive facts to drive improvements.

Duties and Responsibilities:

You will leverage relationships with suppliers to drive towards a seamless, touch-free procurement transaction and on time delivery to customer

• Partner with suppliers to review their operations and make recommendations for improvement to their performance metrics. Coach to reduce lead times and reduce lead-time variability, inventory availability and identify opportunities for relationship growth.
• Develop strategic plans with suppliers and internal partners to execute a touch-free Order-to-Cash and Procure-to-Pay process with accurate inventory feeds, compliant shipping transactions, electronic invoicing, and on-time delivery. Support the onboarding of new suppliers to ensure initial transactions are seamless and customer expectations are met.
• Educate suppliers on internal processes and programs to ensure all parties are clear on expectations and customer requirements.
• Understand the levers to grow sales as they relate to operations and how the supplier can exceed the customer expectations in the market. Display supply chain expertise by understanding performance metrics, how external market conditions may affect suppliers, and seasonal cycles.
• Create and maintain accurate supplier records documenting anomalies, action items, milestones, and other relevant performance information.

Use analytics, insights and engagement strategies to improve supplier performance, you will deepen partnerships, and grow sales.

• Create ongoing Supplier Scorecard Response Plans to review supplier metrics, identify meaningful patterns and outliers, craft an engagement plan to prioritize the most impactful work, and align with relevant stakeholders.
• When supplier performance trends are negative, develop and monitor corrective action plans with outlined timetables in partnership with suppliers. Review metrics to understand if tactics employed result in meaningful changes and adjust as appropriate.
• Serve as the liaison between several internal and external groups to report and escalate supplier performance concerns based on supplier scorecard, performance targets, customer experience and transaction quality.
• Navigate operational differences between organizations and find solutions to get the desired results with minimizing the operational deviations and exceptions.

You will be a Thought Leader

• Understand Zoro's go-to-market strategy and competitive landscape, including pricing, availability, lead-time conventions, and key brands, and how your key suppliers' capabilities support our strategy.
• Support creation and execution of cross-functional projects to improve our business. Identify, study, and implement improvements to preserve (or boost!) Zoro's competitive advantage, drive operational efficiencies, reduce information silos, and improve our customer experience.
• Foster a positive work environment where diversity of backgrounds and opinions are valued, where team members support each other, and contribute to a positive team dynamic.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (such as business, operations management, engineering, technology management or a related field).

Preferred Qualifications:

The individual should possess strong communication skills to influence suppliers and collaborate with relevant internal stakeholders.

• Master's degree is a plus.
• Effective problem-solving skills.
• Five years experience in procurement, supply chain, or related field