{"id":1638957,"url":"https://alion.io/job/e-a-sween-sr-category-buyer","title":"Sr Category Buyer","company":{"id":3854178,"name":"E.A. Sween","domain":"easween.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/e-a-sween","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"UltiPro","truth_index":null},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Eden Prairie, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":83000,"max":87000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":87000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Microsoft Excel","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-31T19:17:04Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-15","last_verified_at":"2026-11-05T00:50:47Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":65,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":65},"description":"Who We Are\nSince 1955, we have been on a mission To Passionately Feed Millions Daily with High Quality Food People Enjoy! We are a third-generation family-owned and professionally managed organization with a commitment to strategic growth. We continue to be successful because of talented people, just like you, who choose to join our family and call E.A. Sween home. We pride ourselves on fostering a welcoming, respectful, and rewarding culture where employees are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work each and every day. At E.A. Sween, our team members are seen, heard, and appreciated not just for what they do, but for who they are. We hope you’ll join us!\nWhat We’re Seeking\nA strategic Senior Category Buyer that will push the team forward, using their vision and implementation of appropriate measures to ensure optimal execution of sales and marketing strategies to customers.\nThis position is primarily on site in our Eden Prairie, MN office (1 day WFH)\nCompensation: The target salary range for this position is $83,000-$87,000 annually, consistent with our internal compensation framework. This position is classified as Grade 13, with a full pay range of $66,097-$99,200. You are eligible for an incentive bonus up to 5% of your annual salary, prorated based on your start date. Final pay will be determined by your experience, skills, internal equity, and available budget.\nWhat You’ll Do (Responsibilities)\nManage relationships with industry partners to ensure “customer of choice” profile. Follow macro and micro economic trends and inform the organization of implications and potential choices for execution. Lead buying initiatives by sourcing quality materials at competitive prices to support plants production while ensuring on time delivery. Align cross-functionally with internal partners to adequately support potential innovation or new tools. Create category strategies to ensure EA Sween has access to the best suppliers and industry capabilities available to achieve our goals.\nMaterial Management:\nEnsure adequate supplier capacity and customer service levels for raw materials to production facilities.\nEnsure adequate service level of in-network raw materials and finished goods.\nMaintain appropriate level of relationships and contract management with suppliers.\nManage market metrics to inform internal partners of dynamics in the industry that would impact organizational effectiveness.\nEstablish service level agreements and contracts for appropriate raw materials.\nRisk Management:\nDrive strategy on evolving supplier’s capabilities based on customer demand, service, cost, and industry dynamics.\nDevelop and manage key KPIs for controls such as on-time ship, cost, throughput, capacity, yield loss, labor, etc.\nDevelop and drive supplier relationship management to keep in good standing and be a “Customer of Choice.”\nKeep abreast of industry trends to include evolving demographics, industry changes, emerging potential supply chain risks, and consumer interests.\nDevelop and manage continuity of supply of raw materials.\nCreate a regular process to utilize external expertise to analyze and assess key market dynamics, i.e., materials and underlying commodities. Form a perspective with the broader team and communicate regularly with key internal stakeholders.\nOrganizational Design and Support:\nWork cross-functionally with Production, Planning, Transportation, Food Safety, Sales, Marketing, R&D, etc. to support our sales and marketing efforts.\nParticipate in cross functional continuous improvement initiatives that drive cost savings from end to end of the business.\nTechnical Expertise:\nUnderstanding of industry dynamics and work with ambiguity.\nAbility to think strategically 3-5 years out.\nDrive key metric implementation and management.\nSupplier relationship management.\nPeer to Peer collaboration on goal setting.\nLeadership and development of procurement resources.\nWhat You’ll Need (Qualifications)\nBachelor’s degree with a strong mathematics, statistics, or business background.\nAdvanced analytical skills.\nInterpersonal effectiveness and negotiation skills under pressure.\nMinimum of 5 years of diverse Procurement and Supply Chain experience.\nAdvanced excel skills.\nAbility to analyze and anticipate changes in market conditions, ability to implement appropriate tools and utilize effectively.\nPhysical Demands and Work Environment\nGenerally, an office/desk position using a computer and phone.\nMust be able to work occasional extra hours, evenings, and weekends if necessary.\nMust be able to work on multiple projects at a time.\nTravel 20% -30% of the year.\nHow You’ll Find Success at EAS\nValue People Most of All:Show respect & care, embrace diversity, and empower others.\nCommit to Safety Everyday:See something say something do something, practice safe behavior, and celebrate safety success.\nInvest in Our Company to Thrive:Share ideas to improve, learn & grow, and embrace change.\nThink Before Doing and Act Decisively:Make thoughtful decisions, work together to find solutions, and do what’s right.\nWelcome Constructive Straight Talk:Be honest and respectful even when difficult, be open to ideas and feedback, and ask questions to understand.\nServe Up Exceptional Experiences:Provide value to customers, take pride in your work, and help others to be successful.\n Enjoy What You Do!:Have a positive attitude, Live the Spirit of E.A. Sween, and celebrate success.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5436,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Food & Beverages","Natural Resources","Snack Food"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-01T21:42:59Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":14,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.488,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":64,"expected_fill_days":15,"reasons":["conf:0","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":87000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/e-a-sween-sr-category-buyer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/e-a-sween-sr-category-buyer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-05T05:50:28Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":6964,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-06T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3854178},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3854178"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fe-a-sween-sr-category-buyer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fe-a-sween-sr-category-buyer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fe-a-sween-sr-category-buyer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/e-a-sween-sr-category-buyer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fe-a-sween-sr-category-buyer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":1638957}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"easween.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":1638957},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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