Primary responsibility is to support procurement systems and resources (i.e. spend analytics, data mining, reporting) and leverage internal and external data to drive a competitive advantage and value. • Conduct spend analysis, risk analysis, and opportunity assessment to identify strategic sourcing opportunities, cost reductions, and quality/process improvements. • Gather, prepare, and present pricing and economic data for use in contract negotiations.• Assist category mangers with the development of category project plans and profiles.• Develop and manage regular department reporting requirements including key metrics, status of sourcing events, and communicates updates to team.

I am the primary contact on back of the house smallwares sourcing requests for 8 restaurant concepts, interfacing directly with the executive chefs and senior culinary leaders. I manage a catalog of approximately 1,500 SKUs from over 100 different suppliers, representing $20MM in annual spend. I effectively source and negotiate supply relationships for internal clients and proactively drive down costs through process simplification and competitive bidding. I resolve technical and pricing issues and ensure predetermined schedules are met. I Identify repetitive challenges and suggest corresponding process improvement opportunities. I lead sourcing efforts from project identification through contract and acts as a liaison to restaurant brands. I also regularly report the savings and progress of projects to senior leadership.A few of my accomplishments in this role have been:• I played a key role in a portfolio optimization project that resulted in over $4MM in annual savings, a 10% year over year reduction.• I worked on a cross-functional team to integrate the smallwares catalog of the recently acquired Cheddars Scratch Kitchen into the Darden Distribution Model, yielding a savings of over $700K on a $3.5MM annual spend. • I helped simplify and consolidate the tongs and turners inventory, eliminating over 20 SKUS in the warehouse.

I served as the frontline contact for Darden’s 1,500+ restaurants for any smallwares or capital equipment related needs. I took over 200 requests every week and provided world-class service to ensure the timely delivery of products. I maintained and updated the supplier database and completed necessary paperwork and reports. I conveyed relevant information with internal cross-functional teams in a candid and professional manner. I ensured a high level of customer service to all internal and external customers including responsiveness and clearly managed expectations. I was promoted from this role within 6 months.

I was brought into a new role to create and improve processes surrounding the operations, inventory management and purchasing activities of the Parts and Service division of the company. I created an electronic based process to track equipment repair from intake to customer delivery, increasing the efficiency of the operation and decreasing the downtime of our customer’s equipment. I partnered with a new supplier to source lower cost replacement parts that resulted in an increased margin on repairs of 30-40%. I assisted in external communications for purchase orders with vendors and provided support resolution of purchase issues. I analyzed department metrics to identify areas of improvement.