Vice President of Sourcing

Company Name: Confidential Pulp, Paper & Packaging Manufacturer

Location: Greater Dayton, Ohio Area

Position Title: Vice President, Sourcing

The Opportunity:

A leading packaging manufacturing organization is seeking a strategic and influential Vice President of Sourcing to lead one of the company's most critical functions during a period of significant transformation, investment, and growth. Reporting directly to the President of North America and serving as a member of the North American Management Team, this executive will play a key role in shaping business strategy, supporting capital investments, driving operational performance, and creating long-term enterprise value.

This opportunity extends far beyond traditional procurement leadership. The Vice President of Sourcing will have responsibility for approximately $472 million in annual managed spend across raw materials, capital projects, MRO, contracted services, and packaging materials, making it one of the largest areas of financial influence within the organization. The position carries direct accountability for sourcing strategies that impact profitability, supply reliability, working capital performance, major capital investments, risk management, and enterprise growth objectives.

The successful candidate will lead a team of approximately 24 sourcing professionals while partnering closely with operations, finance, engineering, supply chain, sustainability, and commercial leaders across North America. This individual will be expected to balance long-term strategic vision with day-to-day execution, ensuring uninterrupted supply, developing strong supplier partnerships, delivering measurable value creation, and building organizational capability for the future.

This is a unique opportunity to join a company that is investing heavily in its North American operations while executing a multi-year growth and transformation strategy. The Vice President will have meaningful influence across the enterprise, significant visibility with senior leadership, and the ability to shape decisions that directly impact financial performance and long-term growth.

The Company:

Our client is a leading global industrial manufacturing company with a strong reputation for operational excellence, sustainability, innovation, and long-term value creation. The organization is executing a significant strategic transformation focused on expanding higher-growth product segments, modernizing manufacturing assets, investing in operational capabilities, and strengthening its position within key markets.

North America represents a major growth platform for the business, supported by substantial capital investments, modernization initiatives, and a clear long-term strategic vision. The company is committed to building a high-performance culture centered on accountability, transparency, collaboration, continuous improvement, and employee development.

The organization combines the stability and resources of a well-established global enterprise with the energy and opportunity of a business undergoing meaningful transformation. Leadership has created an environment where talented individuals are empowered to influence strategy, create lasting impact, and contribute to long-term success.

The Boss:

This position reports directly to the President of North America, a highly respected and influential executive who has elevated the visibility and strategic importance of the sourcing function within the organization. Recognizing the substantial financial impact of procurement and supply management, he has positioned this role as a key contributor to executive decision-making and long-term business planning.

The President values intellectual curiosity, strategic thinking, business acumen, and leaders who can successfully operate in both executive and operational environments. He seeks individuals who can challenge conventional thinking, influence stakeholders across the organization, and deliver measurable business outcomes while building strong teams and future leadership capability.

The successful candidate will enjoy significant visibility with both regional and global leadership teams and will be viewed as a trusted advisor on sourcing strategy, supplier relationships, risk management, capital investments, and value creation opportunities.

The Position:

The Vice President, Sourcing provides executive leadership for North American sourcing strategy, supplier relationships, category management, procurement governance, and risk management. This leader is responsible for directing sourcing activities across approximately $472 million in annual managed spend, including raw materials, capital projects, maintenance and operations expenditures, contracted services, and packaging materials.

As a member of the executive leadership team, the Vice President will help align sourcing strategy with broader business objectives while ensuring the organization achieves its goals related to profitability, supply continuity, cost optimization, sustainability, risk management, and operational excellence.

The role requires a leader capable of driving strategic initiatives while maintaining strong operational discipline and delivering measurable business results.

Essential Functions (Other duties may be assigned):

• Develop and execute North American sourcing strategies aligned with company objectives.
• Lead sourcing, procurement, supplier management, category management, and governance activities across the region.
• Provide leadership to a sourcing organization consisting of approximately 24 employees.
• Direct sourcing strategy and performance across approximately $472 million in annual managed spend.
• Lead category management initiatives utilizing market intelligence, cost modeling, strategic negotiations, and supplier performance management.
• Establish and maintain sourcing governance, compliance standards, and approval processes.
• Serve as a member of the executive leadership team and contribute to enterprise-level decision-making.
• Build and manage executive-level supplier relationships and strategic partnerships.
• Conduct executive business reviews with key suppliers.
• Develop and implement supplier risk management and mitigation strategies.
• Deliver annual savings objectives and measurable value creation initiatives.
• Improve working capital performance and total cost of ownership outcomes.
• Ensure uninterrupted supply of critical materials, services, and capital resources.
• Create sourcing resiliency through supplier diversification and strategic contracting programs.
• Lead sourcing-related sustainability and ESG initiatives.
• Support procurement transformation efforts, including technology modernization and process improvement initiatives.
• Build organizational capability through talent development, succession planning, and leadership coaching.
• Foster a culture of accountability, safety, transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

• Proven success leading large-scale sourcing, procurement, or supply chain organizations.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing enterprise-wide sourcing strategies.
• Strong leadership capabilities with experience managing large teams and complex stakeholder environments.
• Expertise in supplier management, strategic negotiations, contracting, and risk mitigation.
• Ability to influence executive leaders and drive cross-functional alignment.
• Strong financial and business acumen with the ability to connect sourcing initiatives to enterprise value creation.
• Experience operating in complex manufacturing or industrial environments.
• Ability to balance strategic leadership with operational execution.
• Strong communication, decision-making, and relationship-building skills.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or a related discipline.
• 12–15+ years of progressive sourcing, procurement, or supply chain leadership experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading large sourcing organizations and enterprise-wide procurement strategies.
• Experience managing substantial spend portfolios, preferably greater than $300 million annually.
• Experience within industrial manufacturing, packaging, paper, chemical, forest products, or related industries preferred.
• MBA or other advanced degree preferred.
• Previous Vice President-level sourcing or procurement leadership experience preferred.
• Experience with ERP implementation, procurement transformation, or global matrix organizations preferred.
• Ability to travel regularly to manufacturing facilities and supplier locations.

Work Environment:

This position is based in the greater Dayton, Ohio area and supports manufacturing, operational, and leadership teams across North America. The role requires regular interaction with executive leadership, manufacturing facilities, suppliers, and cross-functional stakeholders. Travel to production sites, supplier locations, and leadership meetings is expected as part of the position.