Director, Purchasing & Product Strategy

Target Specialty Products•Lansing, MI

2d•$150,000 - $180,000•Remote

About The Position

This role has responsibility for purchasing all of Target Specialty product needs (~$350M in 2025) for Target’s 55 warehouses locations in the US and Canada though management of a comprehensive forecast for each item in each branch and close working relationships with all key suppliers. In addition, success in this role requires partnering with Procurement on negotiations of associated supply contracts and execution on those agreements to drive manufacturer rebate programs, a key profit contributor, and ensure accurate product costing in the ERP. In order to support success, this role must establish and maintain a clear product strategy that gives direction to Sales on what products should receive sales focus and vice versa. This role also has broad responsibility for strategy, development, procurement. purchasing and management of our proprietary product lines (~$25M in revenue in 2025) working closely with Sales to drive growth in revenue and margin.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Entomology, Turf Management, Business or a related field
10+ years of industry, product, and vendor experience in professional pest and/or turf and ornamental industries - required
5+ years of experience working in multi-functional teams (e.g., sales. procurement, and marketing) to coordinate the execution of strategies - required
5+ years people management - required
Experience developing, maintaining, and reporting on KPIs
Analytical experience in product costs, inventory levels, rebates, etc.
Familiarity with common regulatory licensing concepts, practices, and procedures
Must be a results-oriented team player capable of working in a fast paces environment with changing priorities
Must be an efficient negotiator
Proficient in Windows-based applications Word and Excel, and Google Suite
No OPT or sponsorship available

Nice To Haves

Experience presenting to executive management preferred

Responsibilities

Establish and maintain a comprehensive forecasting process and system that allows the company to achieve its inventory goals at each warehouse location, minimizes back orders, and minimizes transfer and inbound freight costs.
Lead a team to effectively team up with the Warehouse Managers to ensure accurate forecasting and having the right product in the right warehouses at the right time.
Develop and manage a process to identify and reduce slow and obsolete inventory
Team with Corporate Procurement on all key manufacturer supply, rebate, and program agreements to ensure alignment with Target’s direction and needs.
Develop and maintain close working relationships with key suppliers and manufacturers to ensure surety of supply, competitive rebate programs, and effective management of supplier purchasing opportunities.
Maintain a system of product ranking (ABCD) that drives sales focus to the most effective and profitable products while maintaining a broad but focused portfolio.
Ensure that product ranking is visible and communicated to Sales.
Lead the team to actively manage the ranking to ensure optimal profitability and focus and work slow moving inventory out of the system
Maintain a robust slow and obsolete inventory reporting system and coordinated process with Sales to move that product out of the network
Develop, maintain, and lead sku rationalization to keep the portfolio focused on the key products, and improve working capital and gross margin
Utilize the product strategy in the procurement process to increase leverage and improve the net profitability of each supplier through upfront product cost, rebates, and programs
Manage, track and forecast rebate programs with all distribution programs. Responsible to maximize programs and deliver ~$28M in rebate profit.
Develop and lead the execution of a 5 year proprietary product roadmap for Pest and T&O in coordination with Sales and our primary manufacturers.
Work with Sales Directors to develop and execute revenue and margin targets along with the visibility by product and salesperson needed to identify opportunities for improvement
Maintain accurate costing of product portfolio. Coordinate floor pricing structure with Sales Directors and Product Strategy Manager.
Coordinate with regulatory to ensure adequate support successfully implement and maintain the product roadmap.
Develop and implement a vendor strategy for each product that allows for redundancy and increased procurement leverage
Lead the development of a comprehensive training and sales support framework to improve overall sales knowledge and execution. Partner with the Sales Directors to implement and improve that framework.
Develop and coordinate a research budget and plan and weave the results of the research into sales training and marketing
Develop Product Marketing expertise within your team to support aggressive growth including understanding customer needs, crafting compelling messaging, developing go-to-market strategies, enabling sales to communicate effectively, improving our social media presence, and driving ecommerce opportunities.
Work with Target Marketing to develop and execute marketing programs to support and grow portfolio.
Maintain a clear RASCI with sales and vendors so roles and accountabilities remain clear

Benefits

Benefits Start Day 1 for Full-Time Colleagues - No Waiting Period!
Professional and Personal Growth
Multiple avenues to grow your career
Training and development programs available
Tuition Reimbursement benefits (for FT Colleagues)
Health and Wellness
Health benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance plus much more
Full-time colleagues are eligible to begin enrollment immediately upon hire with benefits starting on day 1
Savings and Retirement
401(k) retirement plan with company-matching contributions
Work-Life Balance
Vacation days & sick days
Company-paid holidays & floating holidays
A company mindset that prioritizes health, safety, and flexibility