Margin is leaking through the supply base and the portfolio company either does not know where or cannot move fast enough to stop it. You come in to find it, capture it, and leave behind a sourcing function that holds the gain after you go.
This role sits close to EBITDA. Sponsors expect quantified, validated savings against a real baseline — not an announced savings number that never reaches the P&L.
What you'll own- Full spend baseline and category segmentation, typically inside the first month
- Vendor contract renegotiation across the top spend categories
- Supply base diversification and dual-sourcing for single-source and geographically concentrated exposure
- Raw material strategy, including tariff, freight, and commodity risk
- Inventory strategy: right-sizing, positioning against actual demand variability, and freeing working capital
- Implementation of demand and inventory forecasting tools, including AI-driven planning where the data supports it
- Sales and operations planning cadence, where one does not already function
- Supplier performance management and scorecarding
Baseline the spend. Rank categories by capture speed and value. Open negotiations on the top three. Deliver a documented savings pipeline the CFO will sign off on.
What you bring- 12+ years in supply chain, procurement, or integrated sourcing, with director-level ownership
- Demonstrated, verifiable savings capture — you can walk through the baseline, the mechanism, and the P&L landing
- Category depth in direct materials relevant to industrial manufacturing
- Experience standing up or repairing S&OP
- Working knowledge of planning systems and forecasting tools; enough technical fluency to evaluate a vendor claim
- Comfort renegotiating from a weak position when the supplier knows it
Strong plus: tariff and trade compliance exposure; nearshoring supplier qualification; distressed or liquidity-constrained environments; VDS-adjacent procurement consulting methodology experience.
Skills Required
- 12+ years of experience in supply chain, procurement, or integrated sourcing
- Director-level ownership experience
- Demonstrated, verifiable savings capture with baseline, savings mechanism, and P&L impact
- Category expertise in direct materials relevant to industrial manufacturing
- Experience establishing or repairing S&OP processes
- Working knowledge of planning systems and forecasting tools
- Technical fluency sufficient to evaluate planning or forecasting vendor claims
- Ability to renegotiate with suppliers from a weak negotiating position
- Tariff and trade compliance exposure
- Nearshoring supplier qualification experience
- Experience in distressed or liquidity-constrained environments
- VDS-adjacent procurement consulting methodology experience
What We Do
Value Driven Solutions (VDS) is an operational-excellence consulting firm serving middle-market companies, private-equity firms, and portfolio companies. It improves operational and financial performance through supply-chain optimization, operations, finance, technology, procurement, strategic consulting, and vetted interim executives. VDS also applies Lean Six Sigma, automation, robotics, AI, and analytics to strengthen efficiency, margins, capital efficiency, and enterprise value, with measurable, lasting results.
