Role ScopeThe Senior Manager, Procurement - Chemicals & Raw Materials leads the strategy and day-to-day execution of Twin Rivers' chemicals and raw-material portfolio, including strategic sourcing, purchasing, inventory management, material planning, supplier performance, supply assurance, and continuous improvement across the manufacturing network.
- Lead and develop the current team responsible for purchase-order entry, inventory management, raw-material planning, delivery coordination, and resolution of supplier execution issues; adapt the team structure as business needs evolve.
- Own category strategies, sourcing, negotiations, contracts, supplier performance, budgeting, market intelligence, risk management, and cost-savings delivery.
- Ensure tactical activities are executed accurately and on time, while stepping in directly when shortages, delivery failures, purchase-order issues, or other supplier challenges threaten mill operations.
Enterprise Leadership & People Management- Lead, coach, and hold accountable a small hands-on team, currently two employees, with the ability to expand the organization as the portfolio and business needs grow.
- Balance long-range category leadership with daily operational oversight; set priorities, clarify responsibilities, review exceptions, and ensure follow-through.
- Provide governance for requisitions and purchase orders, inventory targets, material plans, delivery schedules, supplier escalations, and constrained-material allocation.
- Create a practical operating cadence that gives the team clear priorities while providing Operations and leadership visibility to risks, actions, owners, and due dates.
Strategic Category & Supplier Management- Develop multi-year category strategies by chemical family and raw-material segment, including demand outlook, cost drivers, supply-market structure, risk exposure, sourcing options, and negotiation roadmaps.
- Lead major sourcing events, negotiations, and contract strategies, with emphasis on total cost, index integrity, service, quality, payment terms, liability protection, and supply security.
- Segment suppliers and lead strategic-business reviews, joint value creation, innovation pipelines, and corrective-action plans.
- Create qualified alternatives, dual-source critical materials where economically justified, and maintain contingency plans for high-risk supply chains. Work closely with product development and technical teams.
- Use market intelligence and cost models to challenge supplier pricing, anticipate supply-demand shifts, and improve commercial leverage.
Planning, Inventory & Supply Assurance- Set inventory strategy and target ranges by material, site, lead time, criticality, shelf life, storage capacity, and disruption risk.
- Ensure raw-material plans align with production schedules, forecast changes, shutdowns, supplier constraints, transportation realities, and cash objectives.
- Drive reduction of excess, obsolete, slow-moving, and off-spec inventory while protecting mill continuity and customer commitments.
- Lead cross-functional responses to shortages, force majeure events, quality failures, logistics disruptions, and abrupt market changes.
- Improve planning parameters, master data, visibility, and exception-based management
Continuous Improvement & Value Delivery- Lead and develop a continuous-improvement pipeline across chemicals, raw materials, inventory, and planning, with clear priorities, owners, milestones, and financial impact.
- Actively govern and engage in execution of the savings portfolio, removing barriers and tracking initiatives from validated opportunity through implementation, Finance confirmation, and sustained results.
- Mobilize and support direct reports and cross-functional teams to deliver cost reduction, consumption improvement, standardization, substitution, waste reduction, and working-capital initiatives.
Financial Impact & Business Partnership- Develop the annual commodity and raw-material budget, including price, volume, mix, usage, freight, surcharge, and inventory assumptions.
- Own the cost-savings and value-delivery agenda; track realized savings, cost avoidance, purchase-price variance, working capital, supplier performance, and contract compliance with Finance.
- Partner with Operations and Technical teams on consumption reduction, substitution, standardization, and value-engineering opportunities.
- Translate commodity movements and supply risks into concise executive recommendations, scenarios, and required decisions.
Success Measures- Supply continuity and critical-material risk reduction
- Strategic sourcing plans executed and contracts implemented
- Delivered cost performance versus budget and market
- Inventory health, working capital, and stockout prevention
- Savings pipeline, implementation, financial validation, and sustained realization
- Team capability, accountability, and succession readiness
Qualifications & Leadership Profile- Bachelor's degree in engineering, chemistry, supply chain, business, or a related discipline; advanced degree preferred.
- 8+ years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing, commodity management, chemicals, raw materials, or supply planning within a multi-site manufacturing environment.
- Demonstrated leadership of people and cross-functional teams, including the ability to set direction, coach talent, and drive accountability across multiple sites.
- Strong command of negotiations, contracts, supplier economics, market indices, cost modeling, budgeting, and risk management.
- Working knowledge of inventory management, materials planning, MRP/ERP processes, and manufacturing operating requirements.
- Pulp and paper, specialty chemicals, or process-industry experience strongly preferred.
- Executive-level communication, sound commercial judgment, and the ability to move between strategy, analytics, and urgent operational execution.
