Head of Sourcing – EIMEA

Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
WD-40 Company (UK)

As the Head of Sourcing you will, direct, lead and develop our EIMEA sourcing strategy. Develop and manage existing relationships, lead budgeting, and cost of goods forecasting for our EIMEA supply chain to optimize business continuity and achieve strategic goals.

This role will develop annual and long-term 3-to-5-year strategies, initiatives, and business cases to improve cost of goods, resource utilization, process improvements, business continuity (risk management), and the application and development and implementation of technology solutions for (cost modeling/management, indices, etc.).

What You’ll Be Doing

• Demonstrate servant leadership in the attainment of corporate, department and personal goals through developing and leading a highly effective team.
• Live the Company’s stated Values and Code of Conduct that others can emulate.
• Provide ongoing coaching/training, experiential learning, and talent development plans to optimize performance outcomes, growth, and engagement.
• Identify and provide necessary resources and information to overcome barriers to success and accomplish goals.

2. Sourcing

• Lead, develop and execute near term and long-term (3-5 year) Strategic Sourcing Process for EIMEA direct material spend (acquisition costs) to create and deliver sustainable value for the trading bloc.
• Lead, develop and execute sourcing strategies for identified Indirect spend categories to create and deliver sustainable value for the trading bloc. – road & sea freight ( in bound & outbound logistics) and warehousing.
• Direct the annual spend analysis process by brand, component & raw material category.
• Direct and conduct raw material, commodity and supplier market analysis by product and supplier category.
• Leads the identification of suppliers for raw materials, components, co-packers, and other services providers utilizing RFI/RFP/RFQ framework.
• Conducts, negotiates, and identifies new supplier opportunities taking into consideration multiple criteria to include, but not limited to, values alignment, culture fit, financial stability, quality, service, and cost.
• Directly responsible for the compiling and sign-off of all Tier 1 supply contracts for direct materials , which will include cross functional input from all key stakeholders to ensure full alignment across the business. All contracts will be initiated from a formal tender process encompassing RFI , RFP to contract conclusion.
• Lead, develop and implement Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) Program to assure alignment of performance to the company’s strategic and financial goals along with overarching culture fit.
• Develop the organizational strategies and metrics for the selection, segmentation, management, and development of suppliers.
• Lead negotiation, maintain and manage contracts with all fillers and direct material suppliers; Develop Statement of Work, define dispute resolution strategies, mitigate liability, assure corporate compliance and quality assurance.
• Manage ongoing performance of suppliers against contract.
• Lead continuous improvement efforts to identify opportunities to gain cost efficiencies through supplier negotiations, packaging adaptations, and analysis of market pricing.
• Define, provide oversight and leadership on the Cost Management Program; Develop, analyze, communicate, and manage cost models at appropriate levels of detail, to achieve cost transparency and accuracy of cost changes to both market based and contractual price changes.
• Lead supplier gap remediation, dispute resolution and sourcing activities to support on-going business goals and ensure available capacity to meet company’s demand requirements.
• Shares supplier relationship management advice with America’s and Asia Pac trading blocs, as needed.

4. Business Continuity

• Provides input and support into the strategic direction, leadership and planning for functional risk management to include input on design, recommendations for improvements, implementation, documentation and maintenance of risk management programs that consider business continuity risk, financial statement risk, and other significant risks. Communicate assessments in a timely manner to Senior Leadership as needed.
• Provide oversight and leadership in maintaining an actionable business continuity plan to ensure supply of both finished goods and components is maintained to support desired service levels.
• Responsible for annual supply risk assessment ( Risk template and ranking ) to identifying supply market changes and implement appropriate action plans to close gaps in order to mitigate supply risk.

5. Budgeting and Forecasting

• Develops the company’s cost of goods budgeting and forecasting policies and strategies for Acquisition Costs. Prescribes the appropriate tools and processes to be employed by the organization, and coaches the company towards the integration of a Strategic Cost Management discipline in order to improve resource allocation and effectiveness.
• Directs the company’s cost of goods sold (acquisition) management program. Leads the development and prioritization of strategic cost management initiatives and goals to improve the company’s cost of goods sold.
• Present to Country Managers every quarter and to Executive Management bi- annually on Commodity trends and COG’s price forecasting to furnish relevant data for business decision- making on pricing.

6. Perform other related activities as needed to support corporate objectives. Act in the best interest of the company by applying stated company values/code of conduct and acting in congruence to company strategies and priorities.

What You’ll Bring To The Role

• An extensive sourcing background, preferably within the FMCG/Manufacturing industry.
• Strong prior leadership and coaching expererience.
• Experience leading sourcing in an outsourced manufacturing structure.
• Previous Regional or European stakeholder management and sourcing – Highly desirable.
• Have lead supplier relationship management with high level supplier negotiation experience.

Total Rewards

Our competitive and comprehensive benefits package provides you protection, security, and peace of mind. We offer life-enhancing health, wellness, and financial programs, including profit incentive rewards, healthcare, generous pension contributions. In addition, we want you to recharge and take time off, so enjoy short-day Fridays, paid holidays, and an additional paid week off between Christmas and New year to spend with family and friends!

About Us

At WD-40 Company, we believe that purpose-driven and values guided people create amazing outcomes. Our “why” is refreshingly simple – we exist to create positive lasting memories in everything we do.

Why You Should Apply

• A strong values-aligned organization where contributions are acknowledged and rewarded, and where 91% experiences a sense of belonging.
• A learning-based culture where 85% of our people believe they can achieve their career objectives .
• Over 94% employee engagement as of the Februrary 2025 global employee survey results.
• 99% of our people report that they “love to tell people that they work for WD-40 Company”!

Please, only consider employment with WD-40 Company if you feel as strongly about our values as we do: We live, breathe, and play by our values every day.

Thank you for considering WD-40 Company in your career search!

At WD-40 Company we foster a culture of inclusion where all individuals are recognized, valued, respected, and experience a sense of belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to individual characteristics that make us unique such as our backgrounds, experiences, qualities, talents, traits, beliefs, and preferences.