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Senior Manager, Supply Chain - National Brands

Direct Supply · Milwaukee, WI · Full time

Posted Sep 3, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a supplier strategy you shaped that grew a category and expanded margin at the same time.

What they are checking: Track record of creating value with suppliers rather than only squeezing price.

How do you develop a team of sourcing professionals with very different experience levels?

What they are checking: People leadership that builds capability instead of the leader doing all the hard negotiations.

Tell me about a time you turned an ambiguous situation into clear priorities for your team.

What they are checking: Ability to set direction under uncertainty, a skill the posting names directly.

Tell me about a decision you owned that went badly. What did you do next?

What they are checking: Accountability and learning, which matter for a leader making large cross-system trade-offs.

What would you do

How do you partner with Product Merchandising when their growth plans and your supply constraints pull in different directions?

What they are checking: Cross-functional judgment, since the posting stresses close partnership with merchandising.

A key national brand supplier misses service levels for three months running. Walk me through your approach.

What they are checking: Escalation discipline, from root cause and corrective plans to backup sourcing, while protecting customers.

Senior living customers depend on steady supply of everyday products. How do you weigh cost savings against supply continuity?

What they are checking: Whether they protect the end customer when a cheaper option adds supply risk.

About the work

National Brands supply chain covers cost, service, supplier performance and revenue growth. How would you build a scorecard that balances all four?

What they are checking: Whether they can measure competing goals without letting one, like cost, quietly damage the others.

Where would you use AI or automation in sourcing work, and where would you insist on human review?

What they are checking: Judgment on escalation and review, which the posting ties to owning decisions.

How do national brands differ from private label when it comes to your negotiating leverage and risk?

What they are checking: Category strategy knowledge, including how brand ownership shifts power in supplier talks.

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The full job description

As published by Direct Supply.

Position Summary: Direct Supply is building the future of healthcare technology with industry-leading products, solutions and platforms to help improve the lives of millions of seniors and those who care for them. In the Senior Manager, Supply Chain – National Brands position, you’ll lead the strategy, performance, and execution of our National Brands supply chain. You’ll drive results across cost, service, supplier performance, and revenue growth, partnering closely with Product Merchandising and supplier partners to accelerate category growth and expand margins. You’ll lead and develop a team of sourcing professionals, shape supplier strategy, and ensure successful execution of key objectives and enterprise initiatives. Skills Needed: • Set Direction & Strategy - Define where we are heading, why it matters, and what is needed to achieve results. Turn ambiguity into clear priorities and connect day-to-day work to strategy. Use a whole-system view to balance customer, business, capability, and long-term implications and focus teams on the highest-impact opportunities. • Exercise Judgment & Own Decisions - Navigate complex, cross-system tradeoffs involving business outcomes, risk, speed, and long-term impact. Use critical thinking to determine where human review or escalation is required, challenge assumptions, and take ownership for results and decisions. • Design & Scale Work Systems - Design how people, processes, decisions, data, technology, and AI work together. Redesign workflows, clarify roles and decision rights, remove friction, create feedback loops, and build scalable work systems that improve the whole system for quality, speed, customer experiences, and results at scale. • Mobilize Leaders & Teams - Align leaders, stakeholders, and teams across functions, dependencies, and competing priorities. Build commitment to shared outcomes, navigate dynamics, remove systemic barriers, and drive coordinated execution and transformational change. • Lead & Build Capability - Engage, develop, and recruit top talent with domain depth, systems thinking, AI fluency, and the adaptability needed for the future. Create the context, coaching, feedback, tools, accountability, and culture that enable people and systems to raise the bar and scale impact over time. • Demonstrated success developing supplier strategies and vendor partnerships that drive business value and operational performance. • Proven ability to l ead commercial negotiations and secure agreements that improve profitability, reduce risk, and support growth. • Demonstrated ability to align suppliers and cross-functional stakeholders to execute initiatives and achieve business objectives. • Proven capability to leverage data, technology, and process improvements to drive efficiency and enhance decision-making. What You’ll Do and Impact: • Lead and develop a team of sourcing professionals, driving accountability, capability growth, and achievement of OKRs. • Drive National Brands supply chain performance to support category growth, margin expansion, and execution of business plans. • Develop and execute supplier and sourcing strategies that optimize cost, service, quality, and growth while strengthening supplier partnerships. • Lead commercial negotiations, procurement initiatives, and supplier performance management to deliver cost savings, financial value, and operational improvements. • Lead execution of key enterprise initiatives, including Momentum 2026, Supplier 2.0, and Supply Chain Reinvention. • Improve supply chain performance through enhanced service levels, reduced lead times, increased supplier responsiveness, and continuous improvement practices. • Advance supplier digital connectivity, data enablement, and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) capabilities to improve scalability, visibility, and decision-making. • Drive productivity and process transformation through DS 2.0 behaviors, AI adoption, and technology-enabled solutions. • Partner with Category, Product Merchandising, Sales, Finance, and Operations teams to align supplier strategies with assortment, pricing, margin, and service-level objectives. Experience: • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, or related field required • 7–10 years of experience in supply chain, strategic sourcing, or procurement. • Experience developing supplier strategies, leading commercial negotiations, and managing supplier performance. • Proven track record of delivering cost savings, revenue growth, and operational improvements. • Experience leading and developing teams, including people leaders and senior individual contributors. • Strong financial acumen with the ability to translate business objectives into measurable results. • Experience partnering cross-functionally with merchandising, product, sales, finance, and operations teams. • Experience leveraging analytics, AI, and digital tools to improve decision-making and business performance preferred. • Ability to travel by car and/or plane up to 20%. • Valid, unexpired driver's license with satisfactory driving record. Additional Items of Interest: • Experience in distribution, resale, or vendor-managed supply chains • Experience with e-auctions or strategic sourcing tools • Experience improving quoting or order-to-cash processes Job to be performed in the location listed. Generous benefit package available. © 2013 to 2026 Direct Supply, Inc. All rights reserved.

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