Associate Supplier Manager

Job Summary:

The Associate Supplier Manager will coach small to medium suppliers to support Zoro’s purchasing requirements, which includes monitoring their suppliers’ shipping performance to increase on time shipments and minimizing cancellations.  The individual should possess strong communication, influencing and organizational skills to work in a shared email inbox, correspond with suppliers via email, phone and virtual meetings, and collaborate with relevant internal stakeholders to drive improvements.

Duties and Responsibilities:

You will coach suppliers to achieve a seamless, touch-free procurement transaction and on time delivery to customer

• Using reports, dashboards and supplier insights, identify the factors causing transactions that fail to meet Zoro’s requirements or customer expectations.  Make recommendations for improvement to performance metrics and advocate for our mutual customers.  
• Educate suppliers on internal processes and scorecard ratings to ensure all parties are clear on expectations and customer requirements, providing extra support to newly onboarded suppliers to ensure a positive customer experience. .  
• Monitor the performance of suppliers to ensure performance stabilizes and improves from tactics applied.  When necessary, escalate poor performance to internal partners to protect customer experience.
• Understand the levers to grow sales as they relate to operations and how the supplier can exceed the customer expectations in the market.
• Create and maintain accurate supplier records documenting anomalies, action items, milestones, and other relevant performance information.  Ensure supplier and SKU-level data is correct and stays updated in Zoro’s business systems.

You will display an  understanding of performance metrics and how your supplier portfolio affects customer satisfaction and adjacent teams

• Review supplier metrics, identify meaningful patterns and outliers, prioritize the most impactful work, and align with the supplier on an action plan to improve.  Monitor action items, commitments and milestones to ensure progress.
• Serve as the liaison between several internal and external groups to report and escalate supplier performance concerns based on supplier scorecard, performance targets, customer experience and transaction quality.  

You will support Zoro’s positive work culture

• Understand Zoro’s go-to-market strategy, competitive landscape, growth trajectory, and how your key suppliers’ capabilities support our strategy.  
• Maintain a continuous improvement mindset, foster productive relationships with adjacent stakeholders, and display an ability to adapt to change.
• Foster a positive work environment where diversity of backgrounds and opinions are valued, where team members support each other, and contribute to a positive team dynamic. 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (such as business, operations management, engineering, technology management or a related field) or relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Effective communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• Two years experience in procurement, supply chain or relevant field.