Director of Purchasing

Description

The Director of Purchasing will build and own the purchasing, inventory, and cost-management systems that support our sixteen restaurants. This is a hands-on, systems-minded role responsible for translating culinary specifications into disciplined purchasing practices, accurate costing, reliable inventory controls, and strong vendor performance. Working closely with the Director of Culinary, you will own Restaurant365 data and processes, vendor and item masters, recipes, pricing, theoretical-versus-actual reporting, inventory standards, and vendor relationships, while designing and implementing new systems such as purchase orders and formal receiving. The right person understands that a standard only matters if the field can execute it.  Success means creating consistent, practical systems that improve cost control, purchasing discipline, inventory accuracy, and performance across all sixteen restaurants.

REPORTS TO

Chief Executive Officer

SCHEDULE

This is a full-time, salaried exempt position. The role is remote, with regular travel to restaurants and the Home Office in Northern and Southern California.

REQUIRED ATTRIBUTES

• Systems-minded. Understands that a standard nobody can execute is not a standard
• Works with culinary rather than against it. Specifications are a chef’s decision, cost is yours, and the interesting work happens where those meet
• Willing to build something and then hand it to the field to run
• Self-directed. This role is remote and the work will not be supervised day to day

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF PURCHASING

Systems and Restaurant365

• Own the vendor master and item master in R365. Additions, deactivations, naming conventions, units of measure, and ongoing accuracy across all sixteen restaurants.
• Map invoices to items and general ledger accounts so that costing is accurate at the item level.
• Build and maintain recipes in R365 from specifications provided by the Director of Culinary. Own yields, conversions, units of measure, and the build itself.
• Develop, implement, and maintain theoretical versus actual usage reporting, including ownership of the resulting exception review and follow-up.
• Design and implement the transition to purchase orders and formal receiving processes as neither exists today. Own the design, the configuration, the standards and the training materials. Area Directors, the Director of Culinary and the Training department own the rollout and enforcement in the field.
• Own order guides and item availability by restaurant.

Vendor and Contract Management

• Maintain the approved vendor list and approved product list for all restaurant purchasing: food and beverage, chemicals, paper and packaging, smallwares, and restaurant service contracts.
• Full authority to consolidate, renegotiate and change vendors where it makes the business better.
• Negotiate and hold pricing agreements, bid schedules, rebates and deviation programs.
• Manage the primary distributor relationship, including order guides, item availability and service standards.
• Run vendor scorecards covering fill rate, price accuracy, delivery performance and product quality, on a defined cadence.
• Resolve vendor issues and credits, and make certain credits are received.

Pricing and Cost Management

• Publish a current price file on a defined cadence so restaurants and culinary know what items cost.
• Track market movement in volatile categories, particularly seafood and produce, and flag it before it appears in a P&L.
• Cost new menu items and limited time offers with the Director of Culinary before they reach a menu.
• Lead the period cost review with Area Directors and the Director of Culinary.
• Accountable for aligning cost of goods across restaurants and narrowing the performance gap between our best- and worst-performing locations.

Inventory

• Write the standards every restaurant manager works to: counting, receiving, storing, invoicing and transfers.
• Own count sheets, par levels and the inventory calendar. Move the company from monthly counts to twice per period.
• Audit count accuracy and work variances with Area Directors and the Director of Culinary.
• Own waste and spoilage tracking and reporting.

Sourcing Standards and Compliance

• Uphold our sustainable sourcing standards and maintain clear documentation to substantiate our claims. When sourcing standards and cost come into conflict, surface the tradeoff directly—never compromise a commitment we make to our guests.
• Own product specifications and the substitution approval process.
• Maintain vendor food safety documentation, recall procedures and product traceability.

New Restaurants and Projects

• Vendor setup, item files and order guides for new restaurants.
• Smallwares and opening order management.

HOW WE WILL KNOW IT WORKED

• A complete item, specification and price file across all sixteen restaurants.
• Food cost dispersion narrowed.
• Theoretical versus actual usage running and in operators’ hands.
• Purchase orders and formal receiving designed, piloted and rolled out.
• Inventory counted twice per period in every restaurant.

Requirements

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND SKILL SET

• Five or more years in restaurant purchasing or supply chain, multi-unit
• Working knowledge of Restaurant365. Experience building item masters, recipes and theoretical costing in R365 or a comparable platform
• Demonstrated experience implementing purchase order and receiving processes in a restaurant environment
• Track record of negotiating and consolidating vendor programs
• Full-service restaurant experience preferred. Seafood experience is useful and not required
• Ability to travel regularly to California

PHYSICAL  

• Ability to sit, stand, and walk for varying periods throughout the workday.
• Ability to frequently use a computer, keyboard, mouse, telephone, and other standard office equipment.
• Must be able to reach, bend, stoop and frequently lift to 25 pounds.

COMPENSATION

Salary Range: $110,000 to $140,000 per year