Buyer

At Caribou Coffee we create day-making experiences that spark a chain reaction of GOOD ! This is our purpose. Our team brings this to life by focusing on what’s really important around here – TEAM, GUEST, BUSINESS ! It’s that simple. If you’re ready to work somewhere you can be yourself while making an impact on your community, creating life-long relationships, and serving the best coffee around, join our herd!

Apply today and be part of the ‘Bou Crew! Position Overview:   The Buyer works within the Sourcing and Inventory Management Team to develop and maintain a reliable, diverse supplier network and demand planning strategy that drives global retail sales growth , achieves c ost and expense objectives, and supports unit growth through optimized and efficient inventory asset utilization. The Buyer partners externally with s uppliers and distributors and internally with Inventory Analysts, Product Innovation, Store Operations, Coffee Operations, Supply Chain, Quality Assurance, Legal, License, Franchise, and Finance teams to implement sourcing and demand planning strategies and tactics in support of delivering Caribou’s Company goals and objectives .

The Buyer is responsible for Identifying, developing, and maintaining strategic vendor partnerships, managing contracts, and leading product cost negotiations to ensure the best quality goods and services at the best cost. The Buyer will also collect, validate , and aggregate multi-channel inventory demand forecasts to support inbound supply planning, efficient inventory flow, and reliable outbound replenishment.

Core Responsibilities :      Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Management   Execute Caribou’s strategic sourcing vision and roadmap to support growth objectives and sourcing - related ESG commitments and to inform the company’s annual operating and long-range planning processes    Manage a supplier matrix to ensure strong partnerships and reliable, cost-effective access to all inventory required to deliver sales, profit, and quality objectives across all business channels.

Partner with Culinary R&D , Category Management, Store Operations, Manufacturing , and Supp l y Chain Teams to develop and enable sourcing solutions that fully integrate into P roduct L ifecycle processes    Manage supplier relationships , including forecast and demand analytics , to inform negotiations and achieve best cost of goods    Obtain services and source materials from suppliers at the lowest total cost consistent with considerations of quality, reliability of source, risk to the business and urgency of need       Conduct regular business reviews with suppliers and internal business partners, executing sourcing strategies based on quality, delivery, cost, and market conditions    Recommend sources of supply to Category Managers; m aintain an accurate knowledge of supplier capabilities, industry trends, market pricing, and consumer insights    Facilitate the contract management process and negotiate new/expiring contracts for assigned categories to ensure new supplier onboarding and business continuity with existing suppliers    Work cross - functionally to lead new supplier certification and onboarding , including compliance with Caribou quality assurance, contract, and warehouse/ logistics requirements   Perform analytics , identify gaps , and develop projects to drive cost out of the business while protecting the quality and service objectives of the business     Maintain an item cost management model for assigned categories that provides visibility to all item cost components and support s ongoing cost monitoring with suppliers and distribution partners    Lead RFP process for new and existing assortment items to make informed assortment selection recommendations considering product cost breakdowns and associated logistics and transportation costs    Manage ERP (Great Plains) & FoodLogiQ item systems maintenance, including SKU and supplier master data, cost detail,