Sr. Sourcing Manager, New Product Introduction
About Pendulum
Pendulum® is leading a revolution that is occurring around the world to improve physical and mental health by first understanding, then restoring and enhancing the human microbiome.
Studies have shown that our microbiome (the bacterial communities in and on our bodies) is linked to everything from metabolism and diabetes, to longevity, weight loss, healthy immune systems, cancer prevention, feelings of well-being, inflammatory bowel disease, and even healthy skin. We have just scratched the surface on understanding the impact that our microbiome has on our lives. During early life we develop a diverse and balanced microbiome that plays a critical role in shaping our long-term health. Over our lives, a combination of diet, lifestyle, antibiotics, and aging can decrease the effectiveness of our microbiome.
Pendulum recognized the enormous impact they could have on people’s lives if they were able to address the imbalances in the microbiome. To accomplish this, Pendulum created proprietary probiotic pipelines and a unique discovery platform to identify key, novel bacterial strains and the prebiotics that feed them. The company has also built and developed the world’s first manufacturing technology to produce bacteria in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment at scale.
The medical probiotics that Pendulum has formulated have transformed the consumer probiotics market into a new category of therapeutic offerings that deliver the power and efficacy of a pharmaceutical with the safety and accessibility of a natural probiotic. Due to Pendulum’s explosive revenue and customer growth over the last two years, the company earned a spot on Forbes Magazine’s exclusive “The Next Billion Dollar Startups” list.
If you’re interested in improving the lives of people globally and you love working in a cross-functional, collaborative, inspiring environment, please continue reading.
The Opportunity
We are looking for a Sr. Sourcing Manager, New Product Introduction to own the sourcing workstreams that enable Pendulum’s innovation pipeline from concept through commercial launch.
This person will be the primary sourcing partner to Product, which owns the overall product launch timeline. The Sr. Sourcing Manager will establish the sourcing roadmap, own raw material strategy, and drive supplier and raw material readiness. The right candidate brings strategic sourcing expertise, strong project-management skills, and the ability to create structure in ambiguous situations.
What You'll Do
- Own the sourcing workstream for new products from concept through commercialization.
- Translate product concepts and technical requirements into executable sourcing strategies.
- Own raw material strategy across probiotics, active ingredients, excipients, flavors, and other emerging categories.
- Partner with Product to establish achievable sourcing milestones and proactively resolve risks that threaten committed launch dates.
- Keep stakeholders and leadership informed of sourcing progress, risks, tradeoffs, and decisions
- Own sourcing strategies and commercial relationships across Pendulum’s raw material portfolio.
- Build supplier networks that support innovation, commercial supply, cost competitiveness, and continuity.
- Lead supplier identification, selection, qualification, commercial readiness, and material availability for new products.
- Lead supplier negotiations involving pricing, contracts, payment terms, capacity, forecasts, and long-term agreements.
- Develop second sources and new supplier relationships that improve capability, resilience, or speed.
- Establish supplier expectations and lead performance reviews focused on quality, delivery, responsiveness, innovation, cost, and continuous improvement.
- Serve as the sourcing subject-matter expert throughout product commercialization.
- Partner closely with Product, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Planning, Packaging, Contract Manufacturing, Manufacturing, and Finance.
- Build tools and processes that improve launch predictability, supplier visibility, and sourcing execution.
- Lead strategic sourcing initiatives outside established category ownership as business priorities evolve.
Raw Material Strategy
Supplier Leadership
Cross-Functional Execution & Sourcing Representation
Who We’re Looking For
- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- 8+ years experience in strategic sourcing, supplier management, raw materials, new product introduction, or supply chain within a manufacturing environment.
- Experience sourcing complex materials within nutraceuticals, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, cosmetics, or another regulated industry.
- Experience partnering with cross-functional teams to commercialize new products by developing effective sourcing strategies.
- Demonstrated experience leading supplier negotiations, including the ability to assess cost drivers, evaluate supplier pricing, and identify negotiation opportunities.
- Strong analytical skills, including spend analysis, should-cost modeling, pricing analysis, and financial evaluation.
- Advanced proficiency with Netsuite ERP as well as Google Sheets and/or Microsoft Excel.
- Strong project-management skills without needing to be the overall program manager.
- Ability to bring structure, priorities, and clear action plans to ambiguous challenges.
- Strong commercial judgment and supplier-development capability.
- Clear, proactive communication with technical, commercial, and executive stakeholders.
- Ability to independently drive multiple sourcing workstreams to completion.
- Curiosity and flexibility to take on new categories and emerging business challenges.
- The Product team has a trusted sourcing partner who independently drives NPI sourcing activities.
- Sourcing milestones, risks, and supplier readiness are clearly defined and actively managed.
- Fewer launch issues result from materials, suppliers, commercial terms, or sourcing execution.
- Pendulum has stronger raw material strategies and a more resilient supplier network.
- New sourcing challenges are addressed quickly without gaps in ownership.
Experience & Education
Competencies & Attributes
What Success Looks like
In the first year, success means that:
Travel & Work Environment
- Hybrid role based in San Francisco, CA, with an expectation of working in the office 2-3 days per week.
- Occasional travel (approximately 10-20%) to supplier and manufacturing sites.
Salary & Benefits
- $162,900 - $181,000
- Medical, Dental, and Vision
- Commuter Benefits
- Life & STD Insurance
- Company match on 401 (k)
- Flexible Time Off (FTO)
- Equity