A large multinational food and dairy organisation is seeking an experienced procurement consultant to lead a structured review of its supplier spend landscape and identify value creation opportunities across priority categories. The work involves validating spend baselines, analysing multi?year purchasing data, reviewing contract and supplier performance, and engaging stakeholders across operations, procurement, and commercial teams.

The consultant will play a central role in shaping commercial strategy, leading sourcing activities, and driving opportunity prioritisation across categories such as CIP chemicals, packaging, and ingredients. This is a senior role suited to a consultant with deep procurement expertise, strong analytical capability, and confidence operating in fast?moving production and manufacturing environments.

Key Activities

• Validate supplier spend baselines using accounts payable data, contract databases, historical spend (up to three years), and existing categorisation.
• Review and analyse spend and contract data to confirm accuracy, completeness, and suitability for opportunity assessment.
• Assess existing supplier contracts, past negotiations, and performance to identify leverage points and improvement opportunities.
• Engage with stakeholders across the business and procurement to:
• Understand current and historical supply arrangements
• Identify upcoming initiatives that may influence sourcing strategy
• Align findings with the existing initiatives pipeline
• Conduct structured opportunity assessment and prioritisation using:
• Internal insights
• Market and supplier benchmarks
• Industry procurement expertise
• Lead direct negotiations and end?to?end sourcing processes across priority categories.
• Operate effectively within production, manufacturing, or food preparation environments, acknowledging operational constraints and realities.
• Build and maintain strong relationships across a broad stakeholder network.
• Travel within and across ANZ as required.

Your Background

Essential

• 10+ years’ experience in strategic procurement, commercial negotiations, or sourcing leadership roles.
• Strong consulting background with ability to operate in ambiguous, fast?moving environments.
• Proven experience leading complex commercial engagements end?to?end.
• Deep category experience, ideally weighted as follows:

1. CIP chemicals
2. Packaging
3. Ingredients

• Strong analytical capability and experience interpreting spend and contract data.
• Experience operating in production/manufacturing/food preparation environments.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills at senior levels.
• Willingness and ability to travel within Australia and to New Zealand.

Desirable

• Prior procurement consulting experience for large food, FMCG, or industrial clients.
• Familiarity with supplier performance assessment frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience building category strategies or opportunity pipelines.