Raw Material Sourcing Manager

About the role

The Raw Material Sourcing Manager is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, negotiating, and purchasing raw materials used in cosmetics and personal care manufacturing. This role focuses on securing high-quality cosmetic ingredients, active and functional chemicals, specialty chemicals, fragrances, surfactants, oils, extracts, polymers, preservatives, and other formulation-related materials.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end sourcing and purchasing activities for cosmetic and personal care raw materials used in manufacturing.
• Identify, qualify, and manage suppliers for active ingredients, functional chemicals, specialty chemicals, surfactants, emollients, oils, extracts, preservatives, fragrances, and other formulation materials.
• Evaluate supplier capability, pricing, quality, lead time, regulatory documentation, technical fit, and long-term supply stability.
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, minimum order quantities, lead times, supply agreements, and service levels.
• Partner with R&D and Product Development teams to source new ingredients for innovation projects, reformulations, cost savings, and customer requests.
• Carefully coordinate with Quality and Regulatory teams to obtain required documentation such as COA, SDS, allergen statements, composition data, country of origin, compliance declarations, and supplier questionnaires.
• Support alternative sourcing and dual-sourcing strategies to reduce supply risk and improve cost competitiveness.
• Maintain awareness of raw material market trends, supplier capacity, pricing movements, and potential supply disruptions.
• Manage purchase orders, delivery schedules, supplier follow-up, and issue resolution for assigned raw material categories.
• Support purchasing of packaging components, secondary materials, and other indirect production-related materials as needed.
• Prepare spend analysis, sourcing reports, supplier performance reviews, and cost-saving updates for management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Cosmetic Science, Chemical Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in raw material sourcing, chemical procurement, ingredient sourcing, or strategic purchasing, preferably in cosmetics, personal care, chemical, pharmaceutical, or consumer goods manufacturing.
• Experience sourcing cosmetic ingredients, active and functional chemicals, specialty chemicals, fragrances, surfactants, oils, extracts, or other formulation-related materials.
• Knowledge of supplier qualification, technical documentation, regulatory requirements, and procurement systems such as Workday, SAP, Oracle, or similar ERP platforms.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and procurement reporting tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification such as CPSM, CIPS, CPM, or equivalent.
• Experience working directly with ingredient manufacturers, distributors, fragrance houses, specialty chemical suppliers, and packaging suppliers.
• Knowledge of import/export, logistics, MOQ management, lead-time planning, and global raw material supply risk.

Competencies

• Raw Material Sourcing Strategy
• Cosmetic Ingredient Knowledge
• Specialty Chemical Category Management
• Supplier Relationship Management
• Negotiation and Cost Optimization
• Techical Documentation Review
• Supply Risk Management
• Cross-Functional Collaboration with R&D, Quality, Regulatory, and Production
• Data Analysis and Spend Management
• Attention to Detail

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Raw material cost savings achieved
• Supplier on-time delivery rate
• Raw material supply continuity and shortage avoidance
• Supplier quality and documentation completion rate
• Alternative sourcing / dual-sourcing implementation
• Purchase order cycle time and delivery follow-up accuracy
• Stakeholder satisfaction from R&D, Quality, Production, and Planning teams

Pay

The anticipated compensation range is 69,000.00 - 137,000.00 USD Annual. Actual compensation will be determined based on various factors including qualifications, education, experience, and location.