Senior Manager, Procurement - Ingredients

Job Summary

We’re looking for a strategic, driven Senior Manager, Procurement – Ingredients to lead sourcing and supplier management for our core ingredients. This role will play a critical part in ensuring supply security, advancing sustainability initiatives, and driving innovation across our ingredient portfolio. You’ll manage key supplier relationships, negotiate contracts, and partner cross-functionally with R&D, Operations, and Finance to deliver best-in-class procurement performance.

The Senior Manager, Procurement – Ingredients will be a vital member of the Unreal Procurement team and report directly to the Director of Procurement. This is a remote position, with approximately 25% travel required for supplier and co-manufacturer visits and company offsite events.

What You’ll Do

• Own procurement for all core ingredients, including price management, sourcing strategy, supplier selection, and performance tracking.
• Lead sustainability and responsible sourcing initiatives across the supply base, ensuring alignment with company goals and ESG commitments.
• Develop and execute redundancy strategies to strengthen supply chain resilience and reduce single-source risk.
• Drive procurement innovation, identifying new ingredient technologies, supplier capabilities, and strategic sourcing opportunities.
• Partner with R&D and Innovation teams to commercialize new products with sustainable, cost-effective ingredient solutions.
• Monitor commodity markets and assess risk exposure, particularly for key agricultural inputs (e.g., cocoa, sugar, oils, nuts).
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships that support collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Manage budgets, forecasting, and cost modeling to support strategic business decisions.
• Mentor junior team members and contribute to the ongoing development of procurement best practices.

Who You Are

• 5–7 years of procurement or strategic sourcing experience, with a focus on food, CPG, or ingredients.
• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, or a related field (MBA or CPSM certification a plus).
• Direct experience managing commodities, preferably cocoa or other agricultural ingredients.
• Proven track record in supplier negotiation, cost management, and sustainability program implementation.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, with the ability to interpret market data and translate it into actionable sourcing strategies.
• Experienced with data analysis and procurement systems (e.g., ERP, Excel, Power BI).
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills; comfortable influencing across all levels of the organization.
• Strategic thinker with proven problem-solving ability and adaptability in dynamic market environments.
• Prior people management experience required.

While Unreal’s culture is remote-first, our team highly values occasional in-person collaboration. As a result, Unreal team members get together for departmental and company-wide events a few times per year. Employees at Unreal are expected to attend apart from extenuating circumstances.

The base compensation range for this position is between $140K - $150K annually. This position is also eligible for a 15% bonus. The salary range listed reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for this position. Individual compensation is determined by additional factors, including role-related experience and relevant education and certifications. Bonus payout is pro-rated to start date. Employees must be employed by September 30 of the calendar year to be eligible for bonus for that calendar year.