Position Summary
Strassburger Meat & Seafood LLC is seeking a highly analytical, results-driven Meat Buyer & Inventory Manager to oversee the purchasing, inventory management, and profitability of our protein products. This role is responsible for sourcing high-quality meats and seafood at competitive prices while maintaining optimal inventory levels to support production and customer demand.
The ideal candidate possesses strong knowledge of meat markets, commodity pricing, supplier negotiations, inventory control, and ERP systems. This individual will play a critical role in controlling food costs, minimizing waste, maximizing inventory turns, and ensuring an uninterrupted supply.
Key Responsibilities
Procurement & Purchasing
- Purchase fresh and frozen beef, pork, poultry, seafood, lamb, veal, and specialty protein products.
- Monitor daily meat commodity markets and pricing trends.
- Negotiate pricing, contracts, rebates, and payment terms with suppliers.
- Develop and maintain strategic supplier relationships.
- Source alternative suppliers to reduce supply chain risk.
- Evaluate vendor performance based on:
- Price competitiveness
- Product quality
- Yield performance
- On-time delivery
- Service levels
- Ensure all purchased products meet USDA, FDA, HACCP, and company quality standards.
- Coordinate purchases with Sales, Production, and Operations to support customer demand.
Inventory Management
- Maintain optimal inventory levels to meet customer service goals while minimizing carrying costs.
- Monitor daily inventory balances across all warehouses.
- Analyze inventory turns and days on hand.
- Reduce obsolete, slow-moving, and excess inventory.
- Perform daily inventory reconciliations.
- Investigate inventory variances and implement corrective actions.
- Ensure accurate lot tracking and product traceability.
- Coordinate monthly cycle counts and annual physical inventories.
- Maintain inventory accuracy above 98%.
Cost & Margin Management
- Analyze:
- Purchase price variances
- Yield performance
- Gross margins
- Inventory shrink
- Product cost trends
- Collaborate with Finance to maintain accurate product costing.
- Recommend selling price adjustments based on market changes.
- Develop purchasing strategies to improve gross profit.
- Monitor commodity market risks and recommend hedging opportunities when appropriate.
Production Planning
- Work closely with Production to ensure adequate raw material availability.
- Coordinate production schedules based on:
- Customer demand
- Inventory levels
- Product shelf life
- Supplier lead times
- Minimize production downtime caused by material shortages.
Supplier Management
- Conduct quarterly supplier performance reviews.
- Maintain approved supplier list.
- Identify new suppliers to improve cost competitiveness.
- Resolve quality or delivery issues promptly.
- Participate in supplier audits when required.
Reporting & Analytics
Prepare and present weekly and monthly reports including:
- Inventory valuation
- Inventory turns
- Days of inventory on hand
- Purchase price variance (PPV)
- Supplier scorecards
- Gross margin analysis
- Waste and shrink reports
- Slow-moving inventory
- Forecast accuracy
- Product availability
- Stockout analysis
Compliance
Ensure compliance with:
- USDA regulations
- FDA regulations
- HACCP
- GMP
- SQF/BRC (if applicable)
- Company food safety policies
Qualifications
Required
- Minimum 5 years of purchasing experience in the meat, seafood, food manufacturing, or food distribution industry.
- Strong knowledge of meat fabrication and protein products.
- Experience with ERP inventory systems.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
- Strong analytical and negotiation skills.
- Excellent communication and organizational abilities.
Preferred
- Experience in USDA-inspected processing facilities.
- Commodity purchasing experience.
- Knowledge of futures markets and commodity pricing.
- Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma experience.
- APICS/CPIM certification.
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) is a plus.
Pay: From $85,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
