Senior Procurement Manager

About MiLa

MìLà is a Chinese food company . Our teams work tirelessly to enhance delicious products that we all enjoy at home! While MìLà is a Chinese food brand, it’s really a celebration of the power of food to bring us together, share our stories, and discover new flavors and cultures.

Our mission is to build something that feels authentically and uniquely true to our roots as a Chinese-American-founded brand. Something we can own, but that’s also meant to be shared. One of the things we love about Chinese food is that it’s traditionally served family-style—shared with everyone gathered at the table. MìLà is a Chinese food brand, but it’s really a celebration of the power of food to bring us together, share our stories, and discover new flavors and cultures.

Core Values

Explore our core values here: https://eatmila.com/pages/careers

Job Summary This role owns end-to-end procurement and supply of all raw materials, packaging, and contract manufactured existing products, ensuring the business has the right materials at the right time, cost, and quality. This is not a transactional purchasing role. This role is accountable for supplier ownership, procurement decision-making, cost management, and purchasing discipline. The role serves as the gatekeeper of purchasing.

Scope & Ownership Model

Ownership begins immediately after the first PO is placed for all raw, packaging, and contract manufactured items

Own supplier relationship

Own cost, terms, and performance

Own forecasting alignment and replenishment

Own all future purchasing decisions

Owns all existing raw, packaging materials, & co-manned items.

Core Responsibilities

End-to-End Procurement Ownership

Own all purchasing decisions for existing raw materials, packaging, and contract manufactured goods across the business

Existing is defined as items after initial PO

Ensure materials are procured, at the right quantity, time, and cost

Maintain full visibility into demand, supply, and inventory positions

Purchasing Gatekeeper

Act as the final decision-maker before any PO is placed

Do not execute POs based solely on inputs from Planning/S&OP or Project Management

Validate every purchase by asking: ▪

Does the quantity align with demand and current inventory?

Is the timing appropriate?

Is there an opportunity to consolidate, delay, or optimize?

Is this the best supplier and price available? •

Supplier Ownership & Commercial Management

Fully own supplier relationships post-onboarding

Negotiate pricing, MOQs, lead times and payment terms

Continuously benchmark suppliers and identify cost-saving opportunities

Hold suppliers accountable to service, quality, and delivery expectations

Cost & Savings Accountability

Identify and execute cost savings across materials and packaging

Regularly review:

Price changes

Market trends

Parter with Finance to understand COGS impacts

Proactively communicate cost increases, supply risks, and market changes cross-functionally, while driving mitigation plans through supplier negotiations, alternate sourcing, packaging optimization, MOQ adjustments, or specification changes

Planning & SIOP Alignment (Not subordination)

Partner with SIOP lead to understand demand signals

Translate demand into optimized purchasing decisions

Push back when plan

Creates excess inventory

Drives inefficient ordering

Increases costs unnecessarily

Inventory & Working Capital

Manage inventory levels to balance:

Service levels

Storage costs

Working Capital

Avoid

Overstocking

Emergency buys

Inefficient MOQ-driven inventory

Execution & Process Ownership

Ensure accurate POs creation, tracking, and delivery

Resolve discrepancies with vendors and accounting

Maintain clean audit ready procurement records

Improve procurement processes and systems over time

Reporting & Analytics

Develop and maintain a rolling 13-week inventory cash forecast, providing visibility into upcoming purchasing-related cash outflows

Track and report Weeks of Supply (WOS) across all raw materials, packaging, and co-manned items.

Identify and flag excess, at-risk, and understocked inventory

Maintain a regular report of obsolete and slow-moving inventory (raw & packaging)

Proactively escalate cross functionally to determine next steps

Track and report purchase price trends over time, highlighting variances and cost drivers

Develop and maintain supplier scorecards (OTIF, quality, reliability, etc.) and actively leverage insights in supplier negotiations

Report on PO accuracy, reactive/emergency purchasing, and MOQ-driven XCJ Corp DBA MìLà Page 3 of 3 inefficiencies, including root cause identification

Provide consistent reporting cadence across Finance, Planning, and Operations, clearly communicating risks, opportunities, and required decisions

Success Metrics

Maintain optimal WOS for existing items

Deliver measurable cost savings and cost avoidance

Improve supplier performance (OTIF, quality, reliability)

Reduced reactive and expedited purchasing

Maintain an accurate 13-week cashflow forecast

What you'll have

8+ years of relevant experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, materials management, or supply chain, ideally within food, beverage, or CPG manufacturing.

Availability to take occasional evening calls with offshore vendors in different time zones

Demonstrated ownership of supplier relationships and commercial negotiations, including pricing, MOQs, lead times, payment terms, and supplier performance.

Proven track record of delivering measurable cost savings, cost avoidance,