Senior Protein Manager

The Farmer’s Dog was born from a mission to change the landscape of pet health, providing dogs and their humans with honest, smart, and simple care. We’re starting by radically improving the $90 billion pet food industry, replacing bags of highly-processed pellets with a personalized subscription service that sends complete and balanced, freshly-made dog food directly to customers’ doors. Our ultimate goal is to create innovative, delightful and personalized experiences across all aspects of pet care, and we believe our direct-to-consumer business model, holistic approach to growth, and dynamic culture uniquely position us to shepherd this backwards industry into the future.
To date, The Farmer’s Dog has delivered over 1 billion meals nationwide and raised over $150M in funding to help us build a company as healthy as the dogs who are eating those meals. Join us as we continue to develop ways of bringing peace of mind to customers, health to their companions, and much-needed change to the way people feed and care for their pets.

#LongLiveDogs

The Senior Manager, Protein Procurement is a strategic leadership role within Procurement, reporting to the Procurement Director. This role partners closely with the Director to translate procurement strategies into actionable category plans that align with key business objectives. The position owns the end to end sourcing lifecycle, including market intelligence, contracting, supplier management, cost optimization, risk mitigation and cross-functional communication.

This leader is a self starter who can interpret complex protein markets, proactively identify risks and opportunities and translate them into clear, actionable guidance for the business. Success in this role requires strong judgment, data driven decision making, executive ready communication and the ability to execute against complex, high impact business goals.

One Team: We don’t think of ourselves as “Acquisition Marketers”, “Engineers”, “Data Analysts”, or “Product Managers”. Beyond denoting skill sets and areas of expertise, we don’t think departments matter. We’d rather align ourselves to the goals we’re working to achieve and make sure we have necessary subject matter expertise to drive meaningful impact. We strive to orient ourselves around customer problems TOGETHER – getting the right people, with the right context, in the right rooms/Zooms to solve problems holistically.

We are skeptical about everything and precious about nothing:  Ideas can and should come from anywhere, and we aren’t tied to our own. We proactively source input. We talk to our customers and leads regularly and are quick to change course if we know there’s a better or more impactful way to solve problems.

We consider the customer journey in all of our decisions:  We know that no interaction exists in a silo and therefore understand how important every single one is.  We ensure our strategy sets prospective and new customers up for success and drives long-term retention.  We answer questions and address problems early and proactively.  We understand the value of different channels, initiatives, and messages and know how to articulate impact and advocate for prioritization holistically.

We Execute For Impact: We don’t subscribe to “best practices” or “industry KPIs”. We’re uninterested in how we compare to “benchmarks”; instead we orient ourselves around being the best we can possibly be. Similarly, we don’t subscribe to rigid or classical expectations of roles – i.e. acquisition is hyper-focused on improving customer retention and experience.

We Are Focused and Work Without Assumption: We are not beholden to ideas. We have goals and believe everything beyond that is a series of hypotheses to validate. To that end, we seek to work in sequence and not in parallel. We constantly ask ourselves, “what’s the most important hypothesis I should be working on right now? How do I confirm or reject that hypothesis as fast as possible?”. We rarely have timelines/deadlines and are constantly taking in new information and adjusting our priorities accordingly. We don’t expect to be perfect the first time.

• Develop and execute the protein sourcing roadmap in alignment with commercialization goals, product quality standards, cost optimization targets and supply chain resilience objectives.
• Serve as the protein category subject matter expert, owning market intelligence, supplier landscape analysis and technology awareness across the category.
• Lead RFPs, conduct contract negotiations and supplier performance reviews to drive continuous improvement across key category KPIs including supplier quality, cost variance and service performance.
• Provide accurate cost forecasts, leveraging market indicators and scenario modeling to inform and guide category strategies.
• Translate complex market and supplier data into actionable insights for leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Own supplier and cost optimization initiatives by identifying opportunities to reduce total category spend while sourcing the highest quality ingredients at competitive terms.
• Manage supply continuity and obsolescence risks, implementing proactive mitigation strategies to minimize disruptions.
• Partner with R&D, FSQR and Commercialization to ensure protein sourcing deliverables are seamlessly executed in support of new product development and commercialization initiatives.
• Track project timelines, sourcing deliverables and supplier readiness, proactively escalating potential delays or risks.
• Lead, mentor and develop a high performing protein team, fostering a culture of ownership, data driven decision making and proactive problem solving.
• Elevate the team’s strategic thinking on markets and risks, translating tactical insights into actionable recommendations for the business.

• You have 7+ years of experience in sourcing, procurement, or operations, preferably within consumer goods, food, or related manufacturing.
• You bring 3–5+ years of experience in protein category management.
• You are a self starter with strong analytical and financial aptitude, comfortable working with commodity markets, cost model and scenario analysis.
• You have a proven track record of developing and executing category strategies that deliver measurable business impact across cost, quality and supply assurance.
• You are an effective communicator, able to convey complex market and sourcing narratives clearly across multiple levels of the organization.
• You are a confident negotiator and influencer who builds strong supplier partnerships while maintaining clear governance and commercial discipline.
• You balance strategic thinking with operational follow through, ensuring plans translate into results.
• You’re an effective team leader and mentor, capable of balancing tactical execution with strategic alignment.
• You are proficient in Excel, e-procurement tools, and comfortable working within Google and Microsoft Suites.
• You’re willing to travel up to 25% of the time.

We are an in-office culture, made of in-office people who thrive on the collaboration and magnetism of working in a shared space. We are seeking individuals who excel in this type of environment, where being present fosters deeper connections and engagement.

At TFD, we believe Belonging is a shared commitment to creating a workplace where every person feels respected, valued, and empowered to be themselves. When people feel a true sense of belonging, they do their best work, take smart risks, and bring forward diverse perspectives — leading to stronger decisions and deeper relationships.
We anchor this belief in a simple phrase: “Everyone’s welcome at the dog park.” No matter your background, identity, or role, there’s space for you here. There’s no one way to show up at the dog park— just shared space, mutual respect, and the freedom to be yourself. Being included is just the beginning, it’s about contributing your voice, growing through challenges, and building trust through shared goals. This philosophy guides how we lead, how we hire, how we communicate, and how we grow.
                    
We continuously evaluate to ensure we are creating a consistent experience that cultivates belonging for all employees, from hiring and performance reviews to talent development. We also believe Belonging happens in everyday moments of connection; lunch with a new teammate, a shared laugh, or a quick story about your weekend. Our structure includes biannual employee surveys, manager training, TFD camps, and support from Humans to ensure we’re listening and learning from our Team.

Together, these efforts reflect what Belonging means at TFD: a culture where everyone can thrive.

• Dog-friendly office in Greenwich Village
• Market-competitive compensation and equity packages
• Comprehensive Healthcare, Dental, and Vision
• Company supported mental health benefits
• 12 week paid parental leave
• Competitive 401k plan with company match
• Flexible PTO 
• Discounted fresh food for your pup
• Your pet interrupting video calls (and in-person meetings) is now a feature, not a bug

The Farmer's Dog, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic or status. For more information, please visit Know Your Rights.

TFD complies with applicable federal, state, and local disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities.  If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [email protected].

We’re happy to answer any questions you may have about the position or our hiring process - please reach out at [email protected].