Vice President, Purchasing

We Deliver the Goods:

• Competitive pay and benefits, including Day 1 Health & Wellness Benefits, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, 401K Employer Matching, Education Assistance, Paid Time Off, and much more
• Growth opportunities performing essential work to support Americas food distribution system
• Safe and inclusive working environment, including culture of rewards, recognition, and respect

Why Join Core-Mark?

Core-Mark emphasizes personal growth and development for all associates. We believe that when you succeed, the company succeeds. We promote internally whenever possible and provide frequent training opportunities in several formats to help you meet your personal and career goals.

Position Summary:

As the Vice President of Purchasing, you will lead Core-Marks centralized purchasing function with accountability for purchasing strategy, inventory performance, and supply continuity across a diverse portfolio of highly regulated and non-regulated product categories. Serving as the enterprise authority on buying operations, you will drive execution across demand planning, vendor management, and procurement processes to maximize customer fill rates while optimizing working capital and inventory investment across a multi-billion-dollar procurement portfolio.

You will develop and execute a disciplined, data-driven purchasing strategy that balances service, cost, and inventory productivity. Acting as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, you will anticipate supply and market risks, strengthen vendor partnerships, and position the organization to deliver consistent, reliable service in a dynamic environment.

Leading a team of purchasing and supply professionals, you will standardize processes, enhance systems and tools, and drive operational excellence from purchase order through fulfillment.

This is an in-office position based at our Core-Mark corporate headquarters in Westlake, TX.

Responsibilities:

Lead enterprise purchasing operations across all Core-Mark U.S. OpCos (distribution centers), ensuring alignment to centralized buying strategy, processes, and performance expectations.

Own and drive customer fill rate and vendor fill rate performance, ensuring consistent product availability while minimizing disruption across the network.

Oversee demand planning capabilities, translating customer demand signals and promotional activity into accurate purchase forecasts that ensure supply continuity.

Establish and maintain strong vendor partnerships to secure supply, improve service levels, and deliver cost efficiencies, including management of primary vendors and third-party supply channels.

Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations across highly regulated product categories, integrating regulatory requirements into purchasing processes, vendor selection, and inventory practices.

Lead enterprise inventory management strategy, balancing fill rate, inventory turns, working capital investment, and space constraints to optimize overall performance.

Drive management of aged inventory, spoilage strategies, redistribution programs, and holding gain opportunities to maximize inventory productivity and financial outcomes.

Standardize and optimize purchasing systems, tools, and processes to ensure accuracy, compliance, and speed from purchase order creation through warehouse receipt and fulfillment.

Strengthen coordination between corporate purchasing and local buyers, ensuring alignment, accountability, and consistent execution across all operating companies.

Monitor supply market dynamics, vendor risk, and distribution channel constraints, developing contingency strategies to maintain product availability.

Lead and develop a high-performing purchasing organization of 100+ associates.

Serve as executive sponsor for key supplier relationships, driving accountability and performance across the supply base.

Perform other duties as required.

Required Qualifications

Bachelors degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field

12+ years of progressive experience in purchasing, procurement, or supply chain operations within distribution, retail, or consumer products environments

Demonstrated experience managing large-scale procurement operations with direct accountability for inventory, fill rate, and working capital performance

Experience operating at an executive level with direct interaction with senior leadership and Csuite stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

Experience within convenience distribution, foodservice, or highly regulated product environments with complex supply chains

Multi-site or national procurement leadership experience, including centralized buying models supporting distributed operations

Experience leading purchasing transformation, including systems, tools, and process standardization initiatives