POSITION SPECIFICATION
The Human Capital Group, Inc
POSITION TITLE: Director of Purchasing
REPORTING TO: General Manager & President (dual reporting relationship)
LOCATION: Nashville, TN
Our client, Hunt Brothers Pizza, LLC, is a product development, distribution, training, sales and marketing organization serving Hunt Brothers Pizza ($135+M in revenue) in more than 6,100 outlets everyday. This is segment-dominating penetration, with more growth opportunities to come.
Corporate guiding principles are:
- Place God first in all we do
- Be a blessing to people
- Trust God to meet our needs
- Strive for excellence
Hunt Brothers Pizza, LLC is the largest provider of a branded pizza product to the Convenience Store industry in the country with over 6,100 locations (4,600 C-Stores with Fuel, 730 w/o fuel and the balance are other venues). Their largest branded competitor in the Convenience Store industry is Hot Stuff Foods, which franchises its 1,500 locations. Piccadilly and Pizza Pro are also smaller competitors. Otherwise they compete with foodservice companies selling low cost, low quality pizza products without any other support services (training or marketing support).
The Hunt Brothers Pizza business model is fairly straightforward. Each person has a truck and they prospect a certain territory; complete criteria surveys on potential locations; work to be able to bake a pizza for prospective storeowners to show and sell them on the Hunt Brothers Pizza super high quality product and program. After baking the pizza and making the Hunt Brother trained presentation, and winning the business, they develop store/Shoppe specific layouts, take the order and, in one day, set up the Shoppe including detail employee training. After a new locations grand opening, their responsibility if to provide weekly service, inventory products, replenish, place marketing materials and signage and provide ongoing training and operational support. As accounts are added and areas are operationally successful, weekly service becomes the more dominant activity.
The organization has evolved and grown over 40+ years. Historically, purchasing was viewed as ordering products and was simply not a major focus of the company. However; our client is now committed to this strategic function. They view purchasing as a quality and margin improvement opportunity and will continue to invest in resources and talent to build on the success in this area.
Hunt Brothers is committed to its core business of controlled growth, training and selling pizza. However, the leadership of the purchasing and supply chain functions will continue to increase importance as the sales growth creates more purchasing power, costs of distribution increase and inventory investment grows. Therefore, the challenges for the successful candidate are to provide and champion a vision for the purchasing and supply chain function, to propose the strategic purchasing direction and prioritize with annual goals, while helping the organization understand and embrace this new discipline.
The compelling opportunity is to develop an effective purchasing and supply chain that achieves the financial and product quality business objectives while remaining consistent with the Hunt Brothers core values. Critical near term (first 90 days) areas of focus include:
1. Assessing the current roles and responsibilities of the existing team
2. Developing relationships with current vendors
3. Evaluating the documented specifications of all products, and
4. Identifying areas of opportunity for application of proven purchasing best practices.
POSITION DESCRIPTION:
The Director of Purchasing will be critical to the company’s future success. He/She will be responsible for applying industry-proven purchasing best practices, supply chain oversight and leveraging the Hunt Brothers Pizza brand, volume and relationships.
This role will provide general management leadership and technical purchasing leadership for the entire Company. The Company purchased roughly $60 million of products in 2006. In addition, the company has a fleet of vehicles, consisting of Company and 3rd party trucks which drive significant miles each year, making weekly deliveries to more than 6,100 locations in 28 states.
The Director of Purchasing will oversee purchasing and supply chain planning, purchasing timing, budgeting, inventory position and product turn, freight and distribution and have strong sense and affinity for quality ingredients and food safety. He/She will have a passion for documented best practice processes, as well as the pragmatic grounding in operational realities of a perishable business (formalize metrics to measure key performance indicators and track results).
The Director of Purchasing will initially supervise a team of three (3) direct reports in Nashville as well as interact with all Distributors in the field and the senior management team, including various brothers of the Hunt family. The direct team is comprised of a mix of purchase order takers, warehouse labor and operations-oriented employees. In time, he/she will assess the department staffing needs and supervise additional personnel as they are added. The Director of Purchasing will help to shape the goals and objectives for this team on a go-forward basis, as well as provide development and training for all.
This position will be responsible for all purchasing and supply chain activities for the Company, as well as provide strategic purchasing direction and annual planning for the Company. The following are core areas of accountability for the Director of Purchasing:
- Product Specifications across the board (food, paper goods, small-wares, equipment, services, software, etc.)
- Vendor relationships – maintaining current and farming new
- Supply Chain (distribution of product, ensuring the quantity and quality, freight costs, logistics, etc.)
- Inventory Control, Quality Control and Food Safety
- Product Research and Development
- Identify areas of opportunity for application of proven purchasing best practices
- Demonstrate the ability to assimilate information quickly, make decisions and act appropriately in a dynamic fast paced environment
AUTHORITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
· Ensure the establishment of aggressive but attainable purchasing and supply chain objectives, and lead the organization to achieve those demanding goals.
· Develop, gain commitment and guide implementation of the plans to ensure the integration of those plans and delivery of expected results.
· Develop and apply purchasing best practices (specifications, bid process, packaging, logistics, quality control) within the business with a clear objective to purchase products at competitive markets prices.
· Develop, gain commitment to and guide implementation of purchasing and supply chain practices (processes) within the business and with existing and potential new venders.
· Create an environment that gives the individuals on the team the responsibilities and the authority to achieve defined goals, as well as holding them accountable.
· Develop a realistic plan to achieve the purchasing and supply chain objectives.
· Work cross-functionally to ensure that the Hunt Brothers Pizza leadership team (e.g., sales, administration, operations, training, distribution, human resources, marketing, accounting/finance) to ensure that company is aware of purchasing and supply chain opportunities.
· Periodically review and evaluate the performance and performance standards of the purchasing and supply chain areas, analyze results achieved against objectives and initiate action as required.
· Assess current staff, determine strengths and gaps, and create development plans to address opportunities. Review and direct continuing development of staff, to deliver the highest standards of performance.
IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
· 8-12+ years prior purchasing experience, including a comprehensive knowledge of purchasing best practices, supply chain and their integration into the achievement of the overall business plan.
· Experience with developing and maintaining product specifications; including food, equipment, small-ware, packaging and paper goods.
· Knowledge of product specification processes, purchasing best practices, supply chain and inventory control best practices, product development and/or operational experience; and will have worked cross-functionally in an organization.
· A mix of career experience including classical purchasing and supply chain management, leadership and people development, as well as specific food, equipment and small-ware purchasing experience is highly desired.
· Candidate should understand purchasing from the perspective of a buying group, franchise, distribution or other decentralized control system and be able to devise and articulate strategies that fully leverage buying power, quality control, inventory levels and product availability. Must understand the operational impact of the supply chain and how to successfully execute purchasing and supply programs in a distributor network system.
· The successful individual will have great relationship building skills.
· Able to think strategically and conceptually with strong analytical skills
· An experienced and skilled negotiator, not simply a buyer.
· Outgoing and charismatic leadership style with a history of instilling and promoting enthusiasm for the business among subordinates, peers and vendors.
· Clearly, this candidate must possess that rare blend of intelligence, personal impact, and a deep and well-articulated passion for the business.
· A strong record of developing top performers.
· A successful change-agent, as defined by experience and a record of accomplishment navigating new businesses and/or turning around under-performing businesses.
· A confident leader, effective leading people and the purchasing/supply chain area in the organization; willing to gracefully “push back” when appropriate.
· Proactive, decisive and results oriented.
· Displays high integrity, and facilitates open, honest communication.
· A strong demonstrated track record of problem solving and priority setting. Potential candidate must have good strategic skills and very strong tactical purchasing skills. The ability to apply purchasing experience and methods to see the problems, and/or biggest opportunities, through a heavily treed forest (not developed purchasing or supply chain function today) is critical.
· A strong demonstrated track record of developing cooperative relations. Candidate needs to be a team leader with demonstrated effectiveness leading across decentralized businesses. Therefore, a strong sense of collegiality in the person’s track record needs to be in evidence and he/she must live the Hunt Brothers’ values, instill the company culture and generate exceptional performance.
· A strong demonstrated track record in viewing whatever enterprise the individual has led as a financial entity. This is an entrepreneurial trait. Success will not only be measured by near term results but by future bottom-line impact.
· Strong work ethic; accustomed to working in an environment with sometimes shifting, and even conflicting priorities.
· Instinctually entrepreneurial, able to balance the need for greater processes and infrastructure with an environment that develops people, preserves and creates strong vendor relationships and delivers quality products at competitive prices.
· The successful candidate will be an inspiring and confident leader of the purchasing area. The ideal candidate will be a proven leader from within the purchasing and supply chain who has previous experience at a senior manager, director or officer level of a decentralized (licensees, franchisee, distributors) growth-oriented privately held company.
· Ability to support and demonstrate company values in daily activities and committed to leading by example.
· Candidate must exhibit a sense of corporate well-being that is not based on personal gain.
· Significant purchasing and supply chain management experience.
· It is important that the selected candidate has a people-oriented management style and personally and professionally believes success derives from treating people (employees and vendors) well and building a culture where employees and vendors feel committed, motivated and empowered to help the company deliver improving results.
· The candidate will be financially savvy and have a blend of demonstrable analytical and extensive negotiating expertise.
· This individual will have a strong customer service ethic. Overall, the company seeks a team leader and builder who can interact effectively at all levels inside and outside the company.
· A visionary with the strong mental ability to deal with complex issues and then reduce them to clear direction and action.
· A demonstrable ability for strategic thinking, with a finely tuned sense of priorities.
· A good communicator with well developed interpersonal skills – articulate and persuasive and strong one-to-one negotiation skills.
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Examples
· Works as a team leader and member.
· Practices two-way communication.
· Defines problems and/or opportunities.
· Prioritizes what can we executed well with biggest benefits first.
· Strong purchasing process skills.
· Great analytical and negotiating skill.
· Recognizes great ideas and opportunities.
· Builds great relationships with manufacturers and vendors.
· Thrives in the day-to-day pace of purchasing and supply chain activities.
· Uses a balance of intuition and data to make decisions.
· Sets objectives; delivers expected results.
· Regularly measures performance.
· Strong personal values and integrity.
· Influences others to understand and achieve.
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· Documents purchasing processes and procedures.
· Approaches obstacles and challenges with an open mind and can create alternative approaches and solutions.
· Develops cooperative relationships.
· Organizes resources (people, money, time, and materials) to reach goals.
· Evaluates results.
· Down to earth attitude and ‘make it happen’ approach to the business.
· Ability to galvanize a team and project contagious enthusiasm.
· Manages pressure and meets deadlines.
· Inspires trust.
· Organized and detailed.
· An effective change agent.
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KEY COMPETENCIES FOR SUCCESS:
· Customer-focused
· An industry leader who embraces the opportunity to work in a faith-based organization
· An impeccable background, ethical beyond reproach, and strong moral values with a supportive family
· Comfortable working in an organization where there is a great deal of autonomy , while keeping others appropriately informed.
· Values-based leadership style to lead cultural change
· Optimistic / positive approach to growing a business
· Passion for results; constantly thinking of ways to increase the business in an ethical and integrity-based manner
· Ability to create trust and maintain confidentiality.
· Strategic & Tactical Mindset
· Flexible with great sense of humor
· Alliance Building; non bureaucratic
· Change Leadership; Hands-on ; “roll up the sleeves, positive “can do” attitude, with a high energy level
· Ability to create trust and maintain confidentiality
· Organizational Capability/Developing Talent
· Uses and analyzes data / metrics to make fact-based decisions which positively impact the business
· Influencing / communications skills
· A sense of humor
COMPENSATION:
Depending on the skills & experiences of the individual we hire, we are anticipating a base salary of $100-125K+; a targeted bonus of 20%; comprehensive medical benefits and relocation assistance, if needed.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
If you are qualified and interested in being considered as a candidate for this great opportunity, please submit your resume (in WORD format), along with your most recent compensation information to: ResumesMC@HumanCapitalGroupInc.com. In the subject line, please indicate
“Director of Purchasing – Hunt Brothers Pizza”.
