Sourcing Director
SOURCING DIRECTOR
A fast-growing international food company with decades of heritage in processed meat and plant-based food products, now establishing its APAC headquarters in Thailand. The company is in plant-based food manufacturing facility in the region and is building a founding leadership team to drive regional sourcing, quality, and operational strategy.
Bangkok, Thailand (with frequent travel across APAC) | Reports to CEO / Owner
ROLE PURPOSE
The Sourcing Director will independently identify, evaluate, and qualify new suppliers of raw food ingredients and packaging materials across APAC, delivering meaningful cost savings against the company's current European and US supply base. This is a sourcing role not procurement, focused on supplier discovery through to first purchase, after which ongoing relationships are handed off to procurement teams. The role is a founding hire building the function from scratch as a one-person department, with potential to grow the team as the business scales.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Supplier Identification & Development
A fast-growing international food company with decades of heritage in processed meat and plant-based food products, now establishing its APAC headquarters in Thailand. The company is in plant-based food manufacturing facility in the region and is building a founding leadership team to drive regional sourcing, quality, and operational strategy.
Bangkok, Thailand (with frequent travel across APAC) | Reports to CEO / Owner
ROLE PURPOSE
The Sourcing Director will independently identify, evaluate, and qualify new suppliers of raw food ingredients and packaging materials across APAC, delivering meaningful cost savings against the company's current European and US supply base. This is a sourcing role not procurement, focused on supplier discovery through to first purchase, after which ongoing relationships are handed off to procurement teams. The role is a founding hire building the function from scratch as a one-person department, with potential to grow the team as the business scales.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Supplier Identification & Development
- Scout and identify alternative suppliers for raw food ingredients (soy protein isolates, flavors, oils, starches) and packaging materials across China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and broader APAC
- Attend industry trade shows and exhibitions to discover new supplier opportunities
- Conduct factory visits and initial supplier assessments before escalating to QA for formal audit
- Build and maintain a pipeline of qualified, cost-competitive suppliers
- Coordinate with QA to understand specifications, food safety requirements, and quality standards before initiating supplier engagement
- Manage the sample procurement and lab testing process for new ingredients
- Negotiate pricing, MOQs, and initial commercial terms with prospective suppliers
- Execute the full sourcing cycle through to first purchase, then hand off to procurement
- Benchmark APAC-sourced alternatives against current European/US pricing to quantify savings opportunities
- Report directly to CEO on sourcing pipeline, savings delivered, and supplier quality status
- Provide transparent, detailed documentation on all supplier interactions, pricing, and commercial terms
- Deliver quantifiable cost savings targets on priority ingredient categories within the first 12 months
- Work closely with QA teams across the group to ensure all sourced European, and company-specific food safety standards
- Coordinate with plant operations on material requirements, lead times, and logistics
- Provide APAC market intelligence and supplier alternatives to support the group's existing procurement needs
- Support the broader business with supplier landscape mapping across core ingredient and packaging categories
- Education: Bachelor's degree in food science, supply chain, business, or related field
- Experience: 8–10+ years in food ingredient sourcing, procurement, or supply chain within food manufacturing; demonstrated experience sourcing raw materials from China including factory assessment and negotiation
- Technical: Strong understanding of food ingredient specifications (proteins, flavors, functional ingredients, packaging materials); ability to read and interpret food specification documents; familiarity with food safety certification frameworks (BRC, IFS, FSSC 22000 or equivalent)
- Leadership: Individual contributor initially with scope to build and lead a sourcing team; strong cross-functional collaboration with QA, operations, and procurement stakeholders; impeccable integrity managing supplier relationships where commercial ethics are paramount
- Certifications: Food safety or supply chain certifications preferred but not required
- Industry: Food manufacturing (processed meat, plant-based food, alternative protein, RTE/RTC categories preferred); experience in OEM/contract manufacturing environments a plus
- Language: Fluent English (written and spoken); Mandarin Chinese proficiency (conversational to business level) strongly preferred
