About Caliper Foods

Caliper Foods (https://caliperfoods.life) is a consumer packaged goods company that offers safe and standardized soluble cannabinoids to both consumers and manufacturers alike. 

Caliper Foods encompasses three distinct business lines: (1) Caliper Commercial Ingredients, which provides soluble CBD ingredients at scale to food, beverage, supplement, and other CPG manufacturers; (2) Caliper Consumer Goods, which sells its own line of CBD-infused products, and; (3) Stillwater Brands, which sells THC-infused products under the Ripple brand name in Colorado.

About the Job

We are looking for a Purchasing Lead to simultaneously systematize and run tactical and operational sourcing across all of our business lines. This person will be asked to manage the purchasing process for a multitude of materials and services. The successful candidate will know how to identify promising suppliers, negotiate fair terms for spot and repeat purchases, cultivate positive relationships with supply partners, and monitor and maintain inventory systems to inform purchase decisions and mitigate supply risk. Aside from the tactical day to day tasks, the role will also “block and tackle” for all departments when it comes to reviewing, negotiating, and spotting issues in purchase contracts. To succeed in this role, you must be someone who knows what they don’t know and is comfortable elevating issues when appropriate. We don’t expect you to be a lawyer (though paralegal experience is a *huge* plus), but we do expect you to know when it’s time to call a lawyer.

To succeed in this role, you must be the type of person who derives pleasure from creating order in chaos. You should be organized, process-oriented, multitasker, and diplomatic. You must be comfortable navigating uncharted waters in an emerging industry that lacks standardization while understanding how regulatory issues can affect purchasing in a food manufacturing environment. You need to be ready to misstep at times, learn, and move on. The goal is to ‘better’, not ‘perfect’.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Manage the day-to-day activities of the procurement function while creating and documenting your processes in trackable, auditable ways
• Identify inventory needs and execute POs for all raw materials, including product packaging, ingredients, supplies (production, warehouse and office), and equipment for three manufacturing facilities across two states
• Qualify and negotiate with vendors for marketing events, advertising inventory, print collateral, in-store merchandising, and product fulfilment to obtain favorable pricing, terms, availability, and delivery scheduling, identifying and leveraging economies of scale across business lines wherever possible
• Create shipping processes to minimize landed cost
• Review cross-functional purchase and services contracts with a focus on risk mitigation; identify contract terms that pose unacceptable (or misunderstood) risks, and where appropriate elevate issues to in-house counsel for further review and negotiation
• Work with manufacturing to set and maintain appropriate inventory levels based on production and demand forecasts
• Lead inventory management activities including implementing process enhancements to streamline the replenishment function
• Track purchases, monitor vendor quality, and maintain a current database of vendor information and performance
• Work with Finance to create purchasing reports to inform and improve future purchasing decisions
• Track purchase orders and deal with delivery and stock issues as they arise
• Resolve issues related to inventory returns, replacements, and credit arrangements
• Proactively involve senior staff with stock-out status and corrective action

What we’ll love about you:

• A process-oriented problem solver who can manage complex situations without panicking
• A team player with a distaste for mercenaries
• An organized, proactive nature that loves building systems and tools
• An emotionally mature adult who prefers to work with other emotionally mature adults
• An inquisitive, curious nature that views ignorance as an opportunity to learn or teach
• A willingness to admit error quickly and move immediately on to improvement
• A clear communicator in any format
• Excellent time management skills

What you’ll love about us:

• We are a company, not a cult. We expect you to put in an honest day’s work and then go home to your family. Fire drills are the exception, not the norm
• We are a team of competent, motivated, diverse, and decent adults
• We offer competitive compensation, 100% paid health benefits, sick leave, 401k, and a fun, relaxed office environment
• Compensation: $65-$85k/year
• We are a workplace of adults who value reasoned debate over political maneuvering. We try to do the right thing and, more importantly, we try to identify and admit when we don’t
• We offer flexible PTO for all full-time employees. We too value health, relaxation, and spending time with friends and family

• For more details on the culture we foster, visit: http://bit.ly/2F5zhPt

Qualifications:

• Five (5) years purchasing experience; food manufacturing or paralegal experience is a significant bonus
• High degree of competence in all aspects of contract management, negotiation, and administration
• Solid knowledge of U.S government procurement regulations
• Demonstrated ability to communicate professionally with people at all levels, both internally and externally
• Experience with formalized inventory management systems, processes, and theory
• Strong analytical/problem solving/process improvement skills
• A psychic need to always be prioritizing, following through, and meeting deadlines
• G Suite knowledge is beneficial. Come with experience or an eagerness to learn