Procurement Associate / Operations Associate

Accountabilities • Manage procurement activities for raw materials, packaging, and product trials.

• Create, revise, issue, and track purchase orders, ensuring they accurately reflect current requirements. • Follow up with suppliers regarding pricing, availability, production status, delivery timelines, and outstanding documentation. • Support quarterly and annual raw-material pricing reviews, bidding processes, and supplier market research. • Maintain accurate procurement databases, supplier information, purchasing records, contract balances, and supplier inventory details. • Communicate directly with suppliers through email, phone, and other channels to resolve issues and keep orders moving. • Build productive supplier relationships while maintaining urgency, accountability, and consistent follow-up. • Maintain supplier regulatory documentation and certification records, including food-related certifications such as Kosher certification. • Support supplier onboarding and documentation requests, as well as the identification and evaluation of potential new suppliers. • Collect and review inventory reports from manufacturers and supply partners. • Support month-end inventory reconciliation, quarterly raw-material reconciliations, and related true-up processes. • Investigate discrepancies across inventory reports, purchase orders, invoices, and receiving documentation. • Perform three-way matching and assist with invoice reconciliation. • Maintain internal procurement databases and Bills of Materials (BOMs). • Troubleshoot raw-material, packaging, shipment, and supplier issues, coordinating corrective actions when materials are incorrect, documentation is missing, or production is delayed. • Coordinate replacement materials, additional quantities, revised purchase orders, and other solutions when issues arise. • Support packaging changes by tracking print status, adjusting SKU quantities, revising purchase orders, and assessing cost and timing implications. • Track product samples and trial materials and coordinate requests with suppliers and the Product team. • Support packaging pre-press activities in collaboration with the Creative team. • Assist Finance and Accounting with invoice reconciliation, audit documentation, receiving records, and other supporting documentation. • Support sales order generation and additional operational finance requests. • Collaborate with Finance, Product, Creative, Supply Chain, and manufacturing partners to maintain efficient workflows. • Identify opportunities to improve procurement processes, reporting, supplier communication, and operational tracking. • Help develop dashboards, trackers, and reporting tools that improve visibility into procurement and supply chain activities. • Explore automation and AI tools, including Claude, to reduce repetitive work and improve bidding, reporting, data analysis, and administrative processes.

Requirements: