Einstein Bros Bagels · 15 hours ago
Senior Category Manager
Denver, CO
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$124K/yr - $130K/yr
5+ years expEinstein Bros Bagels is part of Bagel Brands, which focuses on bringing joy through breakfast. The Senior Category Manager is responsible for leading category strategy and strategic sourcing for direct spend categories, ensuring optimal product sourcing to support business performance across all brands and channels.
CoffeeFood and BeverageFood ProcessingRestaurants
Responsibilities
Own end-to-end category strategy for assigned direct spend categories, including supplier strategy, risk management, cost optimization, and long-term planning
Manage approximately $80M in annual spend across a portfolio of 120+ SKUs, with a strong focus on critical categories such as bagels and proteins
Develop and maintain category roadmaps aligned to business priorities, innovation pipelines, and financial targets
Recommend sourcing strategies that balance cost, quality, reliability, scalability, and risk
Lead strategic sourcing initiatives, including RFPs/RFQs, supplier evaluations, negotiations, and contract execution
Negotiate complex agreements, including pricing structures, intellectual property safeguards, co-development arrangements, and ensuring robust contractual risk protections for the company
Conduct regular supplier business reviews, monitoring performance against quality, service, cost, and risk metrics
Develop and maintain supplier performance scorecards and drive corrective actions as needed
Establish contingency plans to mitigate supply risk, including sole-source exposure
Manage commodity risk through ongoing market monitoring, benchmarking, and proactive mitigation strategies, including hedging where appropriate
Maintain and oversee the internal Cost of Goods model, ensuring accuracy and transparency
Partner closely with Finance to forecast inflation, model scenarios, and communicate cost impacts to leadership
Identify and execute year-over-year cost savings initiatives while maintaining quality and service standards
Partner with R&D, Marketing, Operations, and Quality to source products for LTOs, new concepts, and menu innovation
Support new product development and commercialization by identifying supply options, assessing risk, and recommending sourcing approaches
Communicate leading indicators, market trends, and external factors that may impact cost, supply, or risk to internal stakeholders
Ensure supplier compliance with Bagel Brands’ quality, regulatory, and certification requirements
Analyze spend, market data, and supplier performance to generate insights that inform strategy and leadership decisions
Provide concise, accurate, and actionable reporting to Supply Chain leadership and cross-functional partners
Identify opportunities to improve sourcing processes, tools, and ways of working to increase efficiency and effectiveness
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree required
Minimum of 5 years of experience in strategic sourcing or category management within a food, beverage, packaging, or restaurant environment
Strong experience with sourcing strategy development, supplier negotiations, and contract management
Demonstrated ability to manage complex projects, timelines, and cross-functional stakeholders
Strong analytical and financial acumen, with the ability to model cost impacts and interpret market data
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
Detail-oriented with strong organizational and communication skills
Ability to operate independently while collaborating effectively within a matrixed organization
Benefits
Bonus: 15%
Long Term Incentive Eligible
Company
Einstein Bros Bagels
Einstein Bros. Bagels, the largest fast-casual bagel franchise in U.S, was founded in 1995 in Lakewood, Colorado.
5001-10000 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
Hector Briones
Chief Marketing Officer
Recent News
Food Business News
2025-08-30
2025-08-21
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