Food Purchasing Specialist Jobs

Food Lifeline, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger in Western Washington, is seeking a highly motivated, experienced, and driven Food Purchasing Specialist to develop and maintain procedures for all of Food Lifeline’s procurement activities. As a member of the larger Food Resources team, this position also serves as support for donation activities, acting as the point of contact for internal stakeholders, vendors, and donor partners.
Key Responsibilities

• Maintain a database of vendors, including potential and lapsed/inactive vendors that may be viable for future procurement activities.
• Monitor budgets and reconcile regularly with the Finance Department. Coordinate with Finance and Distribution departments.
• Supports sourcing team as needed through donor relations and donation product sourcing and management.
• Seek out and maintain meaningful vendor relationships including pricing, volume, and timing negotiations. Work with vendors partners to obtain competitive bids on potential purchases.
• Establish a working knowledge of sources, quality, costs, demand, and associated labor for potential purchase products.
• Serve as back-up to sourcing team, providing support as needed to maintain necessary levels of inventory and operation, achieving identified Food Resources goals.
• Communicate information on inbound products and programs to appropriate staff to be included on online ordering system or other external facing communications.

Our Ideal Candidate

• Care deeply about people experiencing hunger and hold them in the center of everything they do.
• You are an expert negotiator. You know about food safety handling procedures and regulations. You desire to maintain positive and meaningful relationships with vendors.
• You are passionate about feeding communities across Western Washington.
• Is a responsible leader in the management and coordination of food purchasing activities.
• Serves as a point of contact for all food resources purchasing-related activities for internal stakeholders and external partners. You have a deep understanding of food systems.
• Has a positive, can-do attitude and a deep commitment to Food Lifeline’s mission of ending hunger in Western Washington through a focus on racial equity and social justice.

To join our team as our Food Purchasing Specialist, please read the full job description and apply online on our website. Complete applications must include a resume and cover letter; this posting will remain open until filled.
https://foodlifeline.org/careers/
We are proud to be an equal-opportunity employer and seek to bring our values of diversity and inclusion to our hiring process. Beyond our commitment to non-discrimination, we encourage applications from candidates who can contribute to the diversity of our organization and who have lived experiences of inequity.