Job Description
Position Title: Vegetable Purchasing Lead
Position Type: Regular - Full-Time
Requisition ID: 40317
In every role, McCainers are ambitious, curious, and passionate about creating exceptional work experiences - together. With a customer-first mindset, we make doing business with McCain easy.
About the role. The
Vegetable Purchasing Lead is a critical role for a self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced, field-connected environment and enjoys balancing independent ownership with strong cross-functional collaboration. This role partners closely with growers, suppliers, and internal stakeholders to drive crop success, ensuring supply continuity, quality, and cost effectiveness.
Blending hands-on agricultural experience with financial acumen, data-driven decision-making, and digital tools, the Vegetable Purchasing Lead uses sound business judgment to solve complex challenges and deliver sustainable outcomes. With a strong customer-focused mindset-viewing manufacturing facilities as key internal customers-this role requires the ability to build trust, inspire partners across regions, and clearly communicate insights that translate into measurable business results.
What you'll be doing. - Build and manage strong relationships with sweet potato growers and suppliers through regular field, storage, and plant visits
- Own sweet potato crop oversight, including COP management, raw scheduling, quality checks, storage monitoring, and load-out execution
- Partner closely with manufacturing to review raw material performance and support factory customer service needs
- Lead supplier onboarding, new vendor/item approvals, and support new product and R&D initiatives
- Manage SAP and Coupa processes including contracts, forecasting, purchase orders, and payment workflows
- Drive inventory management, inbound logistics coordination, and raw material ordering as needed
- Identify regional and supplier synergies while leading continuous improvement and cost-savings initiatives
- Collect and analyze on-farm data using digital tools to generate insights and support sustainability programs and storytelling
- Serve as backup support for senior agricultural leadership and related procurement responsibilities
- Own and lead SOE meetings and cross-functional agricultural workstreams
What you'll need to be successful. - Self-starter mindset with the ability to work independently, prioritize effectively, and solve problems in a fast-paced environment
- Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to influence without authority
- Ability to build trust, inspire growers, and align partners around a shared vision for crop success
- Creative and analytical problem-solving skills grounded in sound business judgment
- Strong financial and analytical acumen, including comfort with Excel and forecasting
- Customer-focused mindset, with manufacturing facilities viewed as key internal customers
- Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Agronomy, Agricultural Economics, or a related field
- Hands-on experience working with one or more specialty crops and directly with growers or IQF suppliers
- Passion for digital tools, data-driven decision-making, and sustainable agriculture practices
- Proven ability to analyze data and translate insights into clear, actionable recommendations that drive business results
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook) to enhance productivity and communication
- Strong communication skills with the ability to engage professionally and respectfully with growers across regions
Additional information. - Travel: Up to 25% including international trips to Mexico, Central America, and South America.
- Language: Spanish language fluency would be be helpful to support our growers in Mexico, Central America and South America, but is not required.
About McCain. Click Here to learn more about McCain and how we provide you with opportunities to make an impact that matters.
Leadership principles. At McCain, our leadership principles guide how we engage with customers, collaborate as a team, and achieve success. We focus on understanding customer needs, driving innovation, empowering people, and taking ownership to clear obstacles and deliver results.
The McCain experience. We are McCain. This statement is a testament to our collective strength and our individual value. Your contributions play a vital role in our success. Our winning culture is rooted in authenticity and trust, empowering us to bring out the best in one another. Here, you'll find opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. Join us and experience why we're better together.
#LI-McCain25
#Hybrid
Compensation Package : $81,600.00 - $108,900.00 . USD annually + Bonus eligibility
The above reflects the target compensation range for the position at the time of posting. Hiring compensation will be determined based on experience, skill set, education and training, and other organizational needs.
Benefits: At McCain, we're on a mission to create a winning culture that puts employee safety and well-being at the heart of what we do, every day. We understand and appreciate that each person's needs are unique and ensure our benefits & well-being programs reflect that. Employees are eligible for the following benefits: health coverage (medical, dental, vision, prescription drug), retirement savings benefits, and leave support including medical, family and bereavement. Well-being programs include vacation and holidays, company-supported volunteering time, and mental health resources. Coverages are aligned with country, provincial and state governing plans and can vary by work level, location and nature of the role. Additional benefit detail available during the application process.
Your well-being matters to us, and we're here to provide you with the necessary resources to support you in being your best self at work - and at home.
McCain Foods is an equal opportunity employer. As a global family-owned company, we strive to be the employer of choice in the diverse communities around the world in which we live and work. We recognize that inclusion drives our creativity, resilience, and success and makes our business stronger. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.
McCain is an accessible employer. If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process (including alternate formats of materials or accessible meeting rooms), please
let us know and we will work with you to find appropriate solutions.
Your privacy is important to us. By submitting personal data or information to us, you agree that this will be handled in accordance with
McCain's Global Privacy Policy and
Global Employee Privacy Policy , as applicable. You can understand how your personal information is being handled
here. Job Family: Agriculture
Location(s): US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Appleton || US - United States of America : Illinois : Chicago || US - United States of America : Illinois : Oakbrook Terrace || US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Plover || US - United States of America : Wisconsin : Rice Lake
Company: McCain Foods USA, Inc.
Job Tags
Full time, Work experience placement, Work at office, Work from home,