ORGANIZATION  SUMMARY:
Wakefield Canada Inc. is a privately owned Canadian company that markets, distributes, and manufactures category-leading products for the automotive, commercial heavy-duty, and industrial markets including Castrol, the #1 brand of passenger car motor oil in Canada, and the “Super Clean” cleaner-degreaser brand.

In 2020, Wakefield will celebrate its 15th anniversary as the exclusive Canadian marketer of Castrol lubricants. With coast-to-coast distribution and warehousing, and a large dedicated sales force, Wakefield provides exceptional service and innovative solutions to more than 5,000 customers in all segments, including retailers, warehouse distributors, automotive and heavy-duty jobbers, franchised and independent installers, quick lubes, fleet companies, new car dealers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM).

Wakefield Canada Inc. is recognized as a Platinum Member with Canada’s Best Managed Companies program. This accomplishment puts Wakefield amongst the best-in-class of Canadian owned and managed companies, demonstrating clear strategy and vision, capability, and commitment to talent.

JOB SUMMARY:
The Procurement Manager is responsible for the leadership and hands on management of strategic sourcing, vendor relationship management, and contract management for the company’s Supply Chain operation. The incumbent will be accountable for directly managing the company's spend for raw materials as well as providing leadership and expertise on significant purchasing and/or sourcing contracts and processes for various functional areas, constantly seeking opportunities to drive additional value back to the business. Key responsibilities will also include leading product launches into the operation, and managing planning and execution of key COGS reduction initiatives.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Develop and manage relationships with suppliers for both fluid and packaging raw materials used in Castrol branded products. Ensure Wakefield’s requirements are consistently met within established frameworks/SLA’s and collaborate to resolve complex supply issues.
• Develop and maintain relationships with 3rd party suppliers and service providers to support private label and complementary products initiatives.
• Develop and implement national procurement strategies for existing and potential new options and/or acquisitions of new raw materials.
• Monitor external trends (i.e. base oil market) to understand potential cost changes for raw materials and liaise with Sales and Marketing leaders to proactively address margin challenges.
• Partner with cross-functional business leaders in support of procurement activities.
• Continually investigate innovative opportunities to reduce materials cost structure based on industry and global market trends. Proactively raise insights with cross-functional business leaders to ensure ability to address changes effectively.
• Monitor and analyze critical raw material trends including Base Oil, Additives, Fuel, Resin and Corrugate.
• Monitor and validate proposed supplier price changes and correlations to base oil and other industry indexes.
• Validate pricing through analysis and maintain Vendor Trade Agreements (VTA) in the ERP system to ensure integrity and accuracy of pricing.
• Collaborate with the Inventory & Demand Planning team to maximum the effectiveness of forecasting and inventory management activities.
• Participate in investigating root cause potential problem areas and proactively participate in cross-functional team investigations into areas for continuous improvement.
• Support on planning and execution of COGS reduction initiatives and key negotiations.
• Source and manage the cost effectiveness of any 3rd party manufacturing.
• Responsible for leading product launches into the operations - converting product specifications (chemical properties, viscosities, treat rates, handling characteristics, etc.) to blending formulations for analysis/costing and acting as the technical lead on packaging, labeling and container specifications.
• Manage the execution of promotional products and other locally sourced 3rd party vendors, eg vendors producing Display Ready Pallets (DRP’s) or other adhoc marketing strategies.
• Provide leadership and support for Wakefield’s manufacturing and Supply Chain compliance framework including customs clearing and broker management.
• Lend expertise as required on key business projects.

KEY COMPETENCIES:

• Understanding of Supply Chain operations with a broad knowledge of inventory control, order management, manufacturing operations and transportation.
• Strong business acumen with good understanding of data, systems and root cause analysis.
• Market trend understanding and ability to formulate sound projections based on external trends, historical patterns and monitoring of external expert projections.
• Exceptional negotiation skills.
• Strong communication skills and influencing skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships.
• High degree of personal /professional integrity.
• Highly organized with ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast paced, dynamic environment.
• Strong collaborator with ability to work well in a team environment.
• Excellent planning and problem-solving skills.
• Strong analytical, data management, data mining and charting skills.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE:

• University Degree in Business, Economics, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) certification preferred.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification an asset.
• Minimum of 5 years of previous procurement and contract management experience.
• Experience in a manufacturing background required. Experience in or understanding of blending and packaging operations an asset.
• Knowledge and experience with vendor management programs.
• Experience and knowledge with inventory, accounting and order entry systems.
• Previous experience working within an integrated ERP system environment, knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics AX and JDE would be an asset.
• Strong skills in the MS suite of products, with strong Excel skills essential.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Office environment.
• Occasional plant operations/warehouse environment which would require the use of all necessary PPE.