Sourcing Specialist (Food & Agricultural Commodities)

JOB SUMMARY:

Responsible for identifying, evaluating, and developing suppliers for agricultural commodities. The role focuses on securing competitive supply sources, managing supplier relationships, and ensuring quality and cost efficiency to support the company’s trading and sales objectives.

Main Responsibilities and Duties:

1. Acknowledge on commodities or food basis (e.g., sugar, rice, oil, corn, starch, coffee).
2. Identify and approach mills, farms, exporters, processors, and aggregators at origin.
3. Build and maintain a qualified supplier database by region, production capacity, reliability, and commercial terms.
4. Support initial assessments of supplier capability, quality standards, delivery performance, and financial credibility.
5. Collect and compare price quotations, delivery terms, lead times, and payment conditions from suppliers to assure the best selection.
6. Monitor global commodity supply markets, production trends, and seasonal patterns.
7. Analyze supplier cost structures in order to support Trading in FOB / CFR / DDP cost comparisons and origin benchmarking.
8. Review and negotiate contract clauses related to quality, delivery windows, penalties, and documentation requirements.
9. Monitor and report on crop conditions, production forecasts, weather impact, export policies, taxes, quotas, and port/logistics constraints at origin.
10. Coordinate with operation team to track origin premiums/discounts, freight trends, and their impact on landed cost.
11. Provide regular market updates and sourcing insights to Trading and Commercial teams.
12. Coordinate with Operations to track shipment schedules, document readiness, and inspection status.
13. Support resolution of delivery delays, quality deviations, short/over shipments, and supplier claims.
14. Maintain ongoing communication with suppliers to ensure commitment, transparency, and timely response.
15. Support collection and maintenance of supplier compliance, ESG, traceability, and quality certifications.
16. Ensure supplier and contract information is accurately recorded in CTRM/SAP systems.
17. Follow internal SOPs and sourcing governance processes.
18. Represent sourcing team in industry events and supplier meetings.

• 3+ years’ experience in sourcing, procurement, or trading support within commodities.
• Having food or commodities background/experience.
• Strong English communication skills (email, calls, and negotiation support); knowing Chinese is preferable.
• Willingness to travel to origin locations, factories, and ports.
• Knowledge of Incoterms, payment terms, and international trade procedures.
• Proactive, detail-oriented, and comfortable working in fast-moving trading environments.
• Ability to engage with team members, customers, management, and sales teams.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to deliver reporting that supports strategic decision-making.
• Strong problem-solving skills.