The role involves leading the global procurement of an Active Ingredient (AI) portfolio and its intermediates, managing third-party sourced custom-made as well as off-the-shelf AIs and their suppliers. This position requires working in a multicultural environment with global suppliers, including those from China, India, Europe, and the USA. The role demands in-depth knowledge of the chemistry of active ingredients, related supply contracts, and the AI global supplier landscape. The individual must be results-oriented and capable of implementing procurement best practices while balancing long-term business strategies with short-term agility to achieve cost-effectiveness and efficiency in the portfolio.
This position reports to: Global Head of Procurement
Role Responsibilities:
- Develop and implement procurement strategies for active ingredient portfolio.
- Ensure strategies align with business objectives through close cooperation with product marketing.
- Provide expert market knowledge / intelligence for the components within the allocated AI portfolio and their key competitor AIs
- Maintain and develop strong relationships with suppliers with a focus on risk mitigation and long-term partnership.
- Develop risk mitigation plans for your AI portfolio.
- Coordinate and negotiate contracts with suppliers, focusing on long-term supply stability and cost
- efficiency. Responsible for contract management and managing contract disputes.
- Conduct negotiations to ensure competitive pricing, quality, and supply reliability.
- Stay up to date with market dynamics, including raw material availability, pricing trends, and supply chain disruptions related to your portfolio.
- Lead a cross-functional team to improve supply resiliency for your portfolio, made up of internal stakeholders, Product Management, R&D, Regulatory, Quality, Legal and Supply Chain.
- Work closely with the Procurement Planner, Technical Lead & Procurement Market Intelligence Analyst to achieve team AI objectives.
- Responsible for supplier performance management and quality reviews for your supply base.
Education:
- Degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related fields.
- Ideal level of experience (5+ years) in similar roles in Agrochemical or pharmaceutical companies.
Experience / Skills / Abilities:
- Leads in procurement best practice, takes initiative and is results orientated
- Experience in working across functions and with external partners
- Willing to challenge the status quo and make improvements
- Strong teamwork / collaboration
- Strong legal background on contracts and dispute resolution practices
- Verbal and written skills in English required, Bilingual is a plus
Job Expectations / Working Conditions:
- Travel extensively, especially to China and India, to engage directly with suppliers and manufacturers.
- One primary requirement is working in the office five days a week
Top Skills
What We Do
Gowan Company is a Yuma, AZ-based, family-owned company that has evolved into a global player in the agricultural input industry. Over 50 years ago, Jon Jessen began his venture working in the fields alongside farmers to help them identify, and solve pest problems that threatened to compromise the health of their crops and their livelihood.
Today, the Gowan Group employs over 950 employees globally with entities in 11 countries including France, Italy, Spain, UK, Canada, and Mexico. The company’s products and services include crop protection products (insecticides, fungicides, etc.) as well as seeds and fertilizers. Contract formulation, manufacturing, and warehousing are also included in the comprehensive suite of products and services provided by Gowan. Based on recent sales growth over the past 5 years, Phillips McDougall has cited Gowan Company as one of the fastest growing agrochemical companies in the world.
Gowan employees are proud to be a part of this family-owned tribe, working together towards a common goal. Weekly “happy half hour” celebrations on Friday, monthly company luncheons, profit-sharing bonuses, excellent benefits, and many other perks make Gowan a truly great place to work.
