Director, Equipment Procurement
Restaurant Supply Chain Solutions, LLC

Restaurant Supply Chain Solutions, LLC, a Yum! Brands Co-op, is currently seeking a Director, Equipment Procurement to join the Equipment Procurement Team.

Position Overview:

The Director, Equipment Procurement, is a vital member of the Development and Equipment Solutions (DES) leadership team. The role is responsible for leading the strategic sourcing and procurement efforts to support our dynamic network of restaurants (~$150 million in spend) across Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and The Habit Burger Grill) and A&W. The system represents a network of over 18,000 restaurants and circa 1,000 franchisees.

The Director is a visionary leader that develops, secures alignment, and implements the strategic ambition for restaurant Back of House (BOH) equipment categories for each brand while collaborating with key stakeholders across RSCS, Yum! Brands Corporate, each Brand Corporate team and the Franchisee community. The role will provide thought leadership to the key stakeholders in procurement best practices, sourcing strategy, continuous improvement, supplier management, cost optimization and innovation. This is a pivotal role in delivering industry leading solutions enabling sustainable growth for each brand and our franchisees.

Strategic Leadership

• Develops, secures alignment, and implements the strategic vision for equipment category across all brands.

Recognized thought leader for continuous improvement and innovation.

• Leads the team in the development and execution of breakthrough sourcing strategies and negotiations that draw

from thorough category/industry analysis and a deep understanding of the business and restaurant operations.

• Leads team through the development of advanced market intelligence and data analytics techniques to make

informed strategic decisions, including but not limited to the gathering, analyzing, and interpreting of market

trends and industry dynamics to provide insightful reports. Collaborate with brand engineering teams and

strategic suppliers to align strategies with current market dynamics and franchisee needs, ensuring the

implementation of data-driven approaches to optimize performance and drive growth.

• Ensures that short and long-term strategies and supplier decisions effectively support the business success

across all critical elements including team member and food safety, quality, supply assurance, innovation and

sustained competitive pricing.

• Provides critical leadership and ensures sourcing strategies achieve Brand, Yum! and RSCS objectives for

sustainability and supplier diversity.

• Collaborates with Commodity Risk Management (CRM) to assess and manage inherent feedstock market risks within

the equipment category. Proactively collaborates with suppliers to structure Agreements that enable effective

risk management approaches and looks for new opportunities to manage exposures within the category.

• Proactively identifies future business trends, opportunities for innovative solutions, and develops new

partnerships, as needed, to best meet the emerging needs of the business.

Organization Development and People Management

• Responsible for the ongoing development and definition of roles and responsibilities within the team, ensuring

alignment with organizational goals and operational efficiency. Implement tailored training programs that

enhance key competencies, such as negotiation and influencing skills, to empower team members to excel in

stakeholder engagements and decision-making processes. Foster a culture of continuous learning and development,

providing mentorship and support to enhance professional growth and effective team dynamics.

• Responsible for attracting and retaining a "world class" equipment procurement team.

• Ensures effective deployment of Procurement objectives and alignment to personal work objectives. Ensures

development plans are in place and monitors progress of individuals on the team.

• Ensures accurate, timely execution of key work processes (Contracting, RFPs, Price Changes, DES RMI,

NetSuite/Supplier Portal Data Maintenance, and Technology Fee Collection) and effective use of supporting

systems/tools (NetSuite, Power BI).

• Role model for "World Class with Class" values and leads the team in the development and application of these

principles to sustain RSCS's cultural strategy.

Collaboration

• Closely collaborates with Brand resources on equipment supplier approval, efficiency of design,

innovation and commercialization to achieve desired objectives. Ensures effective supply base capability to meet

innovation needs.

• Collaborates with cross-functional resources and influences decision-making to achieve improved system solutions

across a variety of areas including marketing calendar/promotional timing, supply contingency, inventory,

innovation, cost savings, and equipment costs.

• Proactively engages cross-functional partners to support broader strategy considerations to support more

effective solutions. Develops a deep understanding of business, changes required, and potential risks associated

with strategy shifts. Proactively addresses these considerations in strategies.

• Shares category, supplier, and procurement knowledge with counterparts to expand organizational knowledge and

capability.

• Closely collaborates with DES teammates in Development, Customer Support, and S&OP and RSCS Brand Ops to develop

and execute strategies to support new development, remodel, and replacement needs. Ensures supplier capacity and

capability to successfully deliver against these strategies.

• Develops and effectively leverages supplier relationships to maximize value delivery and ensure supplier focus,

resource allocation, and execution support Brand/Franchisee needs for success.

Position Skills / Core Competencies

• Ability to develop strategic vision and align resources to execute against it.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to aid in building effective relationships, assess business

needs and deliver results.

• Strong negotiation skills and demonstrated ability to influence internal and external outcomes.

• Ability to penetrate details, analyze situations, synthesize disparate information to make sound decisions in a

dynamic environment.

• Acts with a sense of urgency and ability to determine when a need for thoroughness versus speed is appropriate.

• Effective coach/mentor to develop individuals to increase organization capacity and capability.

• Effectively manages external business relationships to gain support for RSCS strategies and create incremental

value.

• Demonstrated capability to effectively assess business risks, develop and execute strategies to mitigate.

• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks and critical issues simultaneously.

• Strong collaboration skills with the ability to enable individuals with competing priorities to achieve goals.

• Advanced communication and presentation skills, both written and verbal.

• Other duties as assigned by management.

• Some travel required.

Key Contacts/Interfaces (External and Internal)

• Suppliers

• Brand engineering

• YUM! Brands

• Franchisees

• Accounting

• Procurement

• Brand Operations

• Finance/Planning

• Warehouse/Transportation

• Commodity Risk Management

• Development and Equipment Solutions Customer Support and S&OP

Required Experience, Education, and Skills:

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in procurement or supply chain.

• Prefer experience with QSR or CPG procurement or within the restaurant equipment industry.

• Bachelor's degree required in business or related field. Master's or MBA preferred.

• Experience with leading and developing teams.

• Strong negotiation skills

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

• Strategic leadership

• Analytic skills

• Detailed cost analysis

• Inventory management.

• Equipment industry knowledge

• Knowledge of equipment specifications

• Knowledge of feed stock markets

• Supplier development

• Planning and forecasting

• Contingency planning

• Strong computer skills in Microsoft (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word)