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Director of Supply Chain
Location: Cleveland, OH
Company: Cleveland Kitchen
About Cleveland Kitchen
Cleveland Kitchen is a fast-growing, better-for-you food brand focused on fresh, fermented foods. Our mission is to craft bold, clean-label products that support gut health while delivering exceptional flavor. As we continue to scale nationally, we are building a best-in-class supply chain to support innovation, efficiency, and quality.
Position Overview
Cleveland Kitchen is seeking a Director of Supply Chain to lead procurement, supplier management, and material resource planning across the organization. This role is responsible for ensuring reliable ingredient and packaging supply, managing supplier relationships, optimizing costs, and building scalable systems to support company growth.
This position will oversee the procurement and supply chain planning team, own MRP and material planning tools, and drive strategic sourcing initiatives. This role does not oversee inbound or outbound logistics, focusing instead on supplier management, purchasing strategy, and material availability.
The ideal candidate has experience in food manufacturing or CPG, strong analytical and negotiation skills, and a proven track record of building high-performing supply networks.
Key Responsibilities
Procurement & Supplier Management
- Lead sourcing and procurement of all ingredients, packaging, and production materials.
- Manage and develop relationships with key suppliers and co-manufacturing partners.
- Lead RFP processes and competitive bidding to drive cost optimization and supply reliability.
- Negotiate supplier agreements, pricing structures, and long-term contracts.
- Identify and qualify new suppliers to support business growth and risk mitigation.
- Build and maintain supplier performance scorecards covering quality, service, cost, and reliability.
Supply Planning & MRP Ownership
- Own and optimize the company’s Material Requirements Planning (MRP) system and processes.
- Translate demand forecasts and production plans into purchasing plans.
- Ensure accurate inventory planning for ingredients and packaging materials.
- Improve planning processes, data accuracy, and system utilization.
- Develop supply planning frameworks that support scale and operational efficiency.
Cost Management & Strategic Sourcing
- Drive cost reduction initiatives through sourcing strategies, supplier consolidation, and contract negotiations.
- Conduct should-cost analysis and cost breakdowns to support pricing negotiations.
- Monitor commodity markets and supply trends impacting ingredients and packaging.
- Partner with Finance and Operations to manage cost-of-goods improvements.
Team Leadership
- Manage and develop the procurement and supply planning team.
- Establish clear processes, KPIs, and accountability across the supply chain function.
- Build scalable procurement infrastructure and documentation.
- Foster strong cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Finance, Quality, and R&D.
Risk & Continuity Planning
- Develop contingency sourcing strategies to mitigate supply disruptions.
- Ensure supplier compliance with quality, food safety, and regulatory requirements.
- Maintain strong visibility into supplier capacity, lead times, and risk exposure.
Qualifications
- 8–12+ years of experience in supply chain, procurement, or supply planning within food manufacturing or CPG.
- Proven leadership experience managing procurement or supply chain teams.
- Strong experience with MRP/ERP systems and material planning processes.
- Demonstrated success leading RFPs, supplier negotiations, and cost reduction initiatives.
- Experience developing supplier scorecards and performance management frameworks.
- Strong analytical, negotiation, and financial acumen.
- Excellent communication and cross-functional leadership skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in fresh food, refrigerated products, fermentation, or perishable supply chains.
- Experience scaling supply chain processes in a high-growth CPG environment.
- Background working with ingredient sourcing and packaging procurement.
