Strategic Sourcing & Purchasing Manager
Location: San Marcos, CA (In Office)
Salary: $80,000–$105,000 per year (DOE)
Job Type: Full-Time
Schedule: Monday–Friday with occasional flexibility as needed
Travel: Primarily local, with occasional travel (1–2 industry trade shows per year)
About Veruca
Veruca is changing the way people shop for groceries. We deliver Costco favorites and everyday essentials in 30 minutes and at the same warehouse prices, with no membership required.
We're a fast-growing startup that owns our inventory, fulfillment, and customer experience from start to finish. As we continue to expand, we're looking for someone who can help us build the supplier relationships that will fuel our next stage of growth.
About the Role
This is not a traditional purchasing position.
We're looking for someone who enjoys building relationships, negotiating deals, and improving profitability. You'll be responsible for sourcing products across our entire grocery store, from produce, dairy, and meat to frozen foods, pantry items, household essentials, and local brands.
You'll own the entire supplier lifecycle: identifying opportunities, building relationships, negotiating agreements, executing contracts, placing purchase orders, managing inventory replenishment, and growing those partnerships over time.
One day you may be negotiating directly with a national food manufacturer. The next, you could be touring a local farm, attending a trade show, reviewing inventory forecasts, or working with our marketing team to showcase a local vendor partnership.
If you're someone who loves making deals, improving margins, and seeing the direct impact of your work on a growing business, we'd love to meet you.
What You'll Do
Strategic Sourcing & Vendor Partnerships
- Build direct purchasing relationships with manufacturers, distributors, local farms, growers, ranches, and food producers.
- Identify opportunities to purchase products directly and improve overall margins.
- Negotiate pricing, promotional funding, payment terms, and long-term supplier agreements.
- Execute supplier agreements and manage vendor relationships long-term.
- Continually evaluate supplier performance and identify new sourcing opportunities.
- Stay current on grocery, food, and consumer trends to identify new products and opportunities.
- Attend vendor meetings and industry trade shows.
Purchasing & Inventory Management
- Own purchasing and replenishment across all product categories.
- Create, manage, and track purchase orders.
- Forecast purchasing needs based on sales trends and inventory levels.
- Maintain strong in-stock levels while minimizing excess inventory.
- Monitor vendor lead times and product availability.
- Work closely with Operations to ensure products are available when customers need them.
Business Growth
- Improve gross margins through strategic sourcing and vendor negotiations.
- Develop relationships with local farms, producers, and specialty brands.
- Partner with our Marketing team to feature local vendors and create content highlighting supplier partnerships.
- Analyze sales, purchasing, and inventory data to improve profitability.
- Identify opportunities to expand our assortment with products that fit the Veruca customer.
Qualifications
- 3+ years of experience in purchasing, sourcing, category management, buying, or vendor management.
- 3+ years of grocery, food distribution, retail, wholesale, produce, CPG, or related industry experience required.
- Proven experience negotiating supplier pricing and agreements.
- Experience managing inventory and purchase orders.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent communication and relationship-building abilities.
- Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced startup environment where priorities evolve quickly.
- Proficient in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
- Bachelor's degree preferred but not required with relevant experience.
The Ideal Candidate
You enjoy building relationships just as much as analyzing numbers.
You're comfortable negotiating with both national brands and local producers. You understand that great purchasing isn't just about getting the lowest price, it's about creating long-term partnerships that benefit everyone involved.
You're proactive, resourceful, and always looking for opportunities to improve margins, streamline operations, and bring exciting new products to customers.
Most importantly, you're excited to help build something.
Why Join Veruca?
This is a unique opportunity to help shape the future of a rapidly growing grocery startup.
Your work won't be limited to one department, you'll directly influence our supplier network, product assortment, customer experience, and profitability. You'll have the opportunity to build relationships with brands of all sizes, work alongside company leadership, and make decisions that have an immediate impact on the business.
If you're looking for a role where your ideas matter and your work directly contributes to the growth of an innovative company, we'd love to hear from you.
Compensation & Benefits
- $80,000–$105,000 annually (DOE)
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- California Paid Sick Leave
- Opportunity for one flexible work-from-home day per week after onboarding and training
- Professional development and industry networking opportunities
- Direct impact on a fast-growing startup with significant room for career growth
Pay: $80,000.00 - $105,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
Application Question(s):
- How many years of grocery, food distribution, retail, wholesale, produce, CPG, or related industry experience do you have?
Work Location: In person
