Senior Procurement Manager-Ingredients, Packaging & Strategic Sourcing

About the Company

Levels is one of the fastest-growing sports nutrition brands in America. We make premium protein powders without the gimmicks, hype, or shortcuts that dominate the category. Our products are sold through direct-to-consumer, Amazon, Costco, Walmart, Target, and a growing network of retailers across North America. As we continue expanding our core protein powder business while launching our Ready-to-Drink beverage platform, procurement has become one of the most strategically important functions within the company. We're looking for an experienced procurement leader who can help build a resilient, cost-competitive supply base while supporting the next phase of our growth.

About the Role

The Senior Procurement Manager is responsible for developing and executing the sourcing strategy for Levels' rapidly growing ingredient, packaging, and contract manufacturing spend across both our Protein Powder and Functional Beverage businesses. Reporting directly to the Chief Supply Chain Officer, this role leads supplier negotiations, strategic sourcing initiatives, commodity purchasing strategy, cost optimization, supplier relationship management, and procurement risk management across a rapidly expanding global supply base. This is not simply a purchasing role. It is a strategic procurement leadership position responsible for helping Levels build the supplier network capable of supporting one of the fastest-growing premium nutrition brands in North America.

Responsibilities

Strategic Procurement

• Develop sourcing strategies across ingredients, packaging, and contract manufacturing.
• Lead supplier selection, qualification, and ongoing supplier management.
• Identify opportunities to improve cost, quality, service, and supply resiliency.
• Build long-term supplier partnerships that support future company growth.

Supplier \& Contract Management

• Lead commercial negotiations for ingredient, packaging, and manufacturing agreements.
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times, service levels, rebates, and long-term supply agreements.
• Conduct supplier business reviews and performance evaluations.
• Develop alternate suppliers to reduce business risk and improve supply continuity.

Commodity \& Cost Management

• Monitor commodity markets and purchasing trends across key raw materials.
• Develop buying strategies based on market conditions, forecasts, inventory positions, and demand.
• Partner with Finance on commodity forecasting and procurement planning.
• Lead annual cost savings and value engineering initiatives while maintaining product quality.
• Evaluate ingredient substitutions, packaging optimization, and supplier productivity opportunities.

New Product Commercialization

• Partner closely with Product Development, Product Commercialization, Supply Chain, and Operations to support new product launches.
• Responsibilities include:
• Sourcing new ingredients and packaging
• Supplier qualification
• Commercial readiness
• Capacity planning
• Cost modeling
• Launch support

Procurement Risk Management

• Develop strategies to proactively manage procurement risk.
• Monitor and mitigate risks related to:
• Commodity volatility
• Tariffs
• Capacity constraints
• Sole-source suppliers
• Supplier financial health
• Business continuity
• Regulatory requirements
• Geopolitical events

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with:
• Supply Chain
• Product Development
• Product Commercialization
• Quality
• Regulatory
• Finance
• Operations
• Manufacturing partners
• Support executive planning through supplier intelligence, procurement reporting, market trends, and sourcing recommendations.

Procurement Operations

• Help build a world-class procurement function.
• Improve procurement processes and sourcing workflows.
• Build supplier scorecards and procurement KPIs.
• Develop reporting dashboards and market updates.
• Improve inventory efficiency and working capital.
• Support procurement planning for continued rapid growth.

What Success Looks Like

• Strategic supplier partnerships continue to strengthen.
• Ingredient and packaging costs remain competitive despite commodity volatility.
• Supply disruptions are minimized through proactive sourcing strategies.
• Procurement supports rapid commercialization without delaying launches.
• Annual savings initiatives consistently exceed targets.
• Supplier performance improves across quality, service, cost, and responsiveness.
• Procurement provides meaningful strategic insight to executive leadership.
• Levels builds a resilient global supply network capable of supporting continued rapid growth.

Qualifications

• 7\+ years of progressive procurement, sourcing, or supply chain experience.
• Direct procurement experience within Food \& Beverage CPG, Sports Nutrition, Functional Beverages, Dietary Supplements, Functional Foods, or closely related consumer product industries.
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity, shifting priorities, and evolving specifications.
• Experience sourcing one or more of the following: dairy ingredients, proteins, functional ingredients, sweeteners, flavors, vitamins and minerals, packaging, processing ingredients, beverage ingredients, or contract manufacturing services.
• Demonstrated success negotiating complex supplier agreements and managing strategic supplier relationships.
• Experience supporting new product commercialization and national retail product launches.
• Experience managing commodity purchasing strategies and procurement risk.
• Strong analytical, financial, and negotiation skills.
• Experience using ERP and procurement systems.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional leadership abilities.
• Experience operating within a rapidly growing, high-performance consumer products company is strongly preferred.