Purchasing Director

About Andes.

Founded in 2011, Andes Global is a leader for the America’s in the frozen and refrigerated meat trading industry, focusing on Pork, Beef, Poultry, and Vegetables.

Our offices, customers, and vendors are located around the region and the globe, including 20 countries we sell to and +10 countries we currently buy from.

Position Summary.

Andes Global Trading is seeking a dynamic and strategic Director of Purchasing to lead our global protein procurement strategy.

This high-impact role manages all purchasing functions, drives product and supplier development, ensures operational efficiency, and leads a high-performing team of buyers.

The Director is expected to deliver measurable results aligned with our sales strategies while fostering strong vendor relationships and team culture.

The role is essential to inventory performance, cost optimization, and continuous improvement across our beef, poultry, seafood, vegetables, pork and value added categories.

At Andes we are proud to be a hands-on, fast-moving, and entrepreneurial company.

The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-moving environment, has an entrepreneurial mindset, is a great cultural fit, and brings the appropriate structure to ambiguous, often rapidly changing environments.

Key Accountabilities:

• Leadership & Team Management Lead, inspire, and develop a results-driven purchasing team; assess needs, recruit, and onboard accordingly.
• Conduct monthly and quarterly reviews to establish goals, KPIs, and development plans for team members.
• Oversee bonus execution, monthly commissions, and expense management.
• Address personnel issues related to attendance, performance, and conflict resolution.
• Ensure team completion of all trainings, company tasks, and monthly reports.
• Foster a collaborative and accountable team culture aligned with Andes' core values.
• Strategic Procurement & Sourcing Lead strategic sourcing initiatives, protein category planning, and demand forecasting.
• Manage cash flow and inventory positioning to support seasonal trends and sales strategies.
• Source and purchase meat products (beef, poultry, pork) in compliance with specifications.
• Design and build growth strategies for new product categories and vendor expansion.
• Maintain vendor diversification and ensure A/P compliance.
• Supplier & Vendor Management Develop and nurture strong relationships with suppliers, meat plants, brokers, and traders.
• Conduct quarterly business and credit line reviews with key vendors.
• Negotiate pricing, contracts, terms, and delivery schedules using budget insights and market knowledge.
• Supervise contract performance to ensure fulfillment and risk mitigation.
• Collaboration & Communication Align closely with sales and logistics to meet customer expectations and improve operating efficiency.
• Support sales with real-time offers, sourcing plans, and customer-specific strategy execution.
• Monitor and support the sales cycle from offer to order finalization.
• Participate in key industry events, trade shows, and food expos (e.g., A-Trade).
• Operations & Process Improvement Create and enforce purchasing policies, inventory business rules, and documentation workflows.
• Drive process improvements around open positions, product coding, and cost sheets.
• Ensure purchasing data and reports are timely, accurate, and actionable.
• Manage logistics alignment and after-sales support including timely claim resolution.
• Technology & Data Analytics Utilize tools such as SAM, AI, ASTRO, SAP, and Power BI to streamline procurement operations.
• Analyze market trends (e.g., Steiner, Urner Barry) and supplier performance data to inform purchasing decisions.
• Lead category-level insights.
• Organizational Involvement Represent Andes in key trade organizations (e.g., USMEF, USAPEEC, CPI, MICA, AMI).
• Engage in leadership roles and foster partnerships that advance company visibility and influence.
• Performance Measures Achievement of purchasing volume, margin, and profitability targets.
• Vendor and product development milestones; diversification and category expansion.
• A/P and credit term compliance with minimal quality or delivery complaints.

Efficiency metrics:

• inventory turnover, claim resolution, purchasing report accuracy.
• Team satisfaction and development progress based on internal feedback and goal attainment.
• Strategic cost savings, process improvements, and technological innovation adoption.

Required Experience and Skills:

• 5–7+ years of senior leadership experience in protein procurement: Beef, Pork, Poultry.
• Seafood is a plus.
• Proven record in vendor negotiation, sourcing strategy, and contract management.
• Strong analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills; Spanish fluency preferred.
• Experience with ERP/procurement tools (e.g., SAM, SAP, Power BI); data-driven mindset.
• Deep knowledge of North and South American meat markets and suppliers.
• Ability to thrive under pressure in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Committed to company values:

• honesty, transparency, accountability, and excellence.
• Why work for Andes Global Trading?
• At ANDES, we recruit and hire people who think like owners as we are entrepreneurial in spirit.
• We own our unique values-based culture, and our work environment is deeply rooted in honesty, transparency, communication, commitment, responsibility, and most importantly, an amazingly genuine attitude.
• We value our employees and offer competitive compensation and benefits package including health insurance for our employees, dental, vision, paid time off, life insurance, disability coverage, and access to individual retirement account plans with company matching.
• We pride ourselves on our fun and energetic environment that also provides our employees with a great sense of belonging as people are at the heart of all we do!
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