About the role: 

The Sourcing Manager will report directly to the Head of Operations and be responsible for executing all sourcing related functions at Taimba. Responsibilities will comprise:

• Strategic Execution
  • Identification, purchase and delivery of produce from small, medium & large-scale farmers to the Taimba Warehouse in the most cost-effective ways
  • Negotiating and managing sourcing activities for produce across various regions
  • Collaborating with management to implement the annual growth plan, achieving predetermined growth in the sourcing department by meeting and surpassing volume targets across all products 
  • Implementing farmers and co-operatives acquisition and retention strategies to secure daily and future supply, and increasing the farmer supply base on month-on-month basis 
  • Evaluating the efficiency of the existing procurement processes and procedures and establish new processes for improvements
• Sourcing Management
  • Managing the sourcing for the company and ensuring that the sales team is always adequately supplied with quality produce at the best market prices without any out-of-stock situation
  • Negotiating for the best prices and ensuring that the landing price of produce are in line with the agreed gross profit margins
  • Visiting agricultural production areas to determine where Taimba should grow it’s sourcing base, having preliminary discussion with farmers and farmer groups on the Taimba model and plugging them in.
  • Facilitating contractual agreements between the company and farmers and farmer groups
  • Collecting and compiling farmer and other stakeholder details as well as other sourcing information as may be required
  • Giving support to contracted farmers as pertains professional advice relating to farm inputs and quality production
  • Develop collaborative relationships with key stakeholders across the company to strategically develop, implement and optimize sourcing processes. 
  • Overseeing the planning, managing & growing of the company’s supply portfolio in a transparent and scalable fashion.
  • Ensuring proper packaging of products as per the company standards and deliveries are done within the agreed times
  • Develop calendar of harvesting plans across all the regions with projected farm gate prices across the year
• Stock Management
  • Be in charge of stock right from the farmer level to the point of distribution and assume responsibility for any loses that may happen
  • Coordinating and ensuring the best way of handling and transporting food produce is withheld along the whole supply chain
  • Coordinating purchase, delivery and receiving of produce in the packhouse as well as stock issue to the sales team
  • Maintaining accurate stock records all the time using the established methods and formats
  • Ensuring no unnecessary stock always and minimizing stock wastage in the packhouse to less than 2% 
  • Ensuring the best practice is maintained in stock management including but not limited to FIFO and EOQ models
  • Cary out weekly stock take exercises to reconcile physical verses book records and address any variances that may occur
  • Ensure no stock is released to the sales reps unless they are cleared by the finance department daily
• People Management
  • Ensure all personnel in sourcing department operate in compliance with procedural and legal requirements
  • Evaluating performance of team members and providing guidance regarding development
  • Ensure adequate rewards and penalties are enforced for performance delivery
  • Coach, motivate and develop the sourcing team for them to achieve and surpass the set targets
  • Actively participate in all HR issues around your team including ensuring highest standards of discipline is maintained 
  • Ensuring the sourcing teams have the right skills, tools and talents to excel in their roles and develop within the organization
  •  Ensure vehicles and other assets are used for sole purpose of shipments and not abused
• Budgeting & Reporting
  • Preparing monthly sourcing budget, tracking expenditures, analyzing variances and initiate corrective actions
  • Weekly activity reporting to executive leadership and evaluating team performance from data and metrics
  • Weekly provide harvest projections and as when required by the management including volume dispatches, prevailing prices across different regions, availability and any other reports as may be required 
  • Ensuring all required reports are submitted on-time as required
• Planning & Process Oversight
  • Preparing monthly forecasts and managing resources to ensure stock availability
  • Planning and monitoring day-to-day running of the department to ensure smooth execution
  • Implementation of continuous improvement initiatives, which include supply chain cost optimization, identifying areas of improvement and implementing process improvement projects
  • Take accountability to ensure system stocks and physical stocks match

Key KPIs: The Sourcing Manager’s performance will be evaluated on the below criteria – 

1. Average Gross Margins of 20% per month
2. Landing price =< 10% Mariketi price
3. Stockouts < 1% across all produce and all days
4. Waste to purchases < 1%

The ideal candidate will have: 

1. At least 3-4 years’ experience in sourcing from farmers
2. At least 2-3 years’ experience in managing a warehouse for highly perishable produce
3. At least 1-2 years’ experience in managing a team
4. A Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, business or other relevant field
5. Experience using technology for all business operations
6. Experience in using MS Office tools with proficient knowledge of Excel, Word and PowerPoint
7. Ability to work in a rapidly growing company with multiple projects and deadlines
8. Ability to self-manage tasks to meet the roles KPIs

Female candidates are encouraged to apply

How to apply:

To apply for this role, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/NLB3pVeuVhp5Wd4c7

Deadline for application: 10 March 2020

All shortlisted candidates will undergo an on-site testing