Milk Procurement Manager

Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Agriculture, Dairy Technology, Food Science, Business Administration, Economics, or a related field; professional procurement/supply chain qualification is an advantage.
• 7-10 years of experience in milk procurement, dairy supply chain, agricultural procurement, or FMCG procurement, with at least 3-5 years in a managerial/supervisory role.
• Must have hands-on experience procuring approximately 200,000-250,000 litres of raw milk per day.
• Strong practical experience managing dairy farmers, cooperatives, aggregators, milk collection centres, transportation, supplier contracts, and milk quality.
• Strong understanding of milk procurement pricing, supply planning, collection logistics, cost management, reconciliation, and supplier performance.
• Experience in the Kenyan dairy sector is strongly preferred.
• Strong commercial, negotiation, analytical, leadership, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with SAP/ERP systems, data analysis, and procurement reporting is an advantage.
• High integrity and willingness to work extensively with farmers, suppliers, and field procurement operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute milk procurement strategies and supply plans aligned with production requirements, seasonality, and market demand.
• Manage relationships with dairy farmers, cooperatives, aggregators, and other suppliers, including supplier onboarding, performance, contracts, retention, and commercial negotiations.
• Oversee milk collection centres, collection routes, transportation, weighing, cooling, reconciliation, and operational efficiency.
• Ensure raw milk quality compliance through testing, supplier monitoring, rejection controls, and corrective actions in coordination with Quality teams.
• Manage milk pricing, incentives, procurement costs, budgets, margins, and cost-reduction initiatives while maintaining reliable supply.
• Monitor milk volumes, quality, pricing, rejection, collection, transport, and supplier performance using SAP/ERP and management reporting.
• Identify and control supply, quality, cost, fraud, leakage, and reconciliation risks across the procurement and collection network.
• Work with Production, Quality, Finance, Logistics, and Agriculture/Extension teams to improve supply planning, farmer productivity, milk quality, and overall procurement efficiency.
• Lead and develop the milk procurement team, ensuring performance, accountability, compliance, and strong supplier relationships.