Sherry Essien

Strategic Supply Management and Procurement Leader with 10+ years of experience leading sourcing strategy, contract lifecycle management, supplier negotiations, ERP-enabled procurement transformation, supplier performance, and operational excellence across energy, manufacturing, industrial, and consumer operations. Managed procurement portfolios exceeding $25M, led teams of 3-20, negotiated logistics, freight, software, ERP, and supplier agreements, and delivered $500K+ in annual savings through strategic sourcing, supplier consolidation, and commercial governance. Recognized for partnering with executive stakeholders across Operations, Engineering, Finance, Legal/Compliance, and Supply Chain to improve cost, reduce risk, strengthen operational continuity, and build scalable procurement processes.

• Attention to detail
• Business analysis
• Cash handling
• Communication
• Continuous Improvement
• Customer service
• Data analysis
• Data entry
• Data visualization
• English
• Executive Reporting
• Financial analysis
• Food safety
• Food service
• Forklift operation
• Inventory management
• Inventory Optimization
• Leadership
• Logistics
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft Word
• Occupational safety
• Organization
• Power BI
• Problem solving
• Project management
• Quality assurance
• Retail operations
• SharePoint
• SQL
• Supply chain management
• Teamwork
• Time management
• Warehouse operations

1. Procurement & Process Improvement Lead

   Intelligent Wellhead Systems (Acquired by Pason)

   Sep 2022 to Present

   • Lead enterprise procurement transformation across energy and industrial operations, delivering $500K+ in annual savings through global sourcing strategies, supplier consolidation, multi-year agreements, and performance-based negotiations across steel, aluminum, engineered components, fabrication, freight, software, and operational services. • Own full procurement and contract lifecycle activities including requisition intake, requirements validation, RFQ/RFP development, vendor selection, bid evaluation, negotiation, contract execution, contract administration, renewals, supplier onboarding, supplier performance reviews, and operational issue resolution. • Partner with Operations, Engineering, Finance, Legal/Compliance, R&D, Materials Management, Logistics, and executive stakeholders to align sourcing decisions with field operations, production, maintenance, facilities, manufacturing timelines, commercial controls, and supply continuity. • Review commercial terms including payment terms and termination clauses, escalating legal or contractual risk where required while ensuring supplier obligations, approvals, documentation, and authority-matrix controls are followed. • Led Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central implementation across Procurement, Finance, and Operations, improving real-time visibility, spend control, approval traceability, reporting accuracy, and audit readiness. • Built supplier governance framework with scorecards, quarterly reviews, onboarding standards, and performance controls to improve accountability, compliance, delivery reliability, and continuous improvement. • Reduced excess inventory by 20% by building demand planning models, category structures, procurement SOPs, supplier rationalization processes, and forecasting tools that improved working capital availability. • Produced and presented executive dashboards used for procurement forecasting, budget planning, margin analysis, sourcing decisions, risk identification, and long-range operational planning. • Train and support new team members, requisitioners, and cross-functional users on procurement policies, systems, processes, supplier engagement, and adoption of improved workflows.

2. Inventory & Logistics Controller

   Vertex Downhole

   Sep 2021 to Jul 2022

   • Managed $5.4M+ in global sourcing, logistics, and inventory operations across North America and the Middle East, supporting upstream oil and gas activity, engineered equipment, field operations, production, maintenance, and supply continuity. • Negotiated logistics carrier and freight agreements that improved inbound performance by 22%, reduced delivery risk, and strengthened cross-border execution across critical supplier lanes. • Collaborated with Engineering, Production, Operations, and Finance to validate material costs in BOMs, improve procurement accuracy, support supplier selection, and maintain valuation integrity in ERP systems. • Implemented KPI-led inventory controls, supplier MOQ forecasting, and consumption models that improved cycle-count accuracy by 40% and reduced carrying costs by 15%. • Led supplier audit and compliance reviews for international vendors, maintaining ROHS, REACH, Conflict Minerals, customs, shipping, and audit-ready documentation standards. • Developed analytics dashboards to support procurement decisions, capital allocation, executive reporting, supplier planning, and commercial visibility.

3. Operations & Order Fulfillment Manager

   Engage Building Products

   Sep 2019 to Sep 2021

   • Led cross-functional operations team of up to 30 across procurement, production, logistics, customer service, fulfillment, and project coordination while supporting $26M in annual sales and 160+ concurrent projects. • Directed $2M+ in direct procurement across packaging, aluminum extrusions, hardware, fabrication inputs, and project materials, building long-term sourcing roadmaps to improve cost, availability, and delivery certainty. • Reduced supplier lead times by 88% through procurement workflow redesign, supplier onboarding, QC alignment, production scheduling improvements, and fulfillment model optimization. • Implemented KPI-based coaching framework, role clarity, workload prioritization, and performance routines that increased on-time delivery by 25% and improved accountability across operating teams. • Built forecasting, supplier evaluation, and financial control models used by leadership for quarterly purchasing strategy, inventory planning, risk mitigation, and margin improvement. • Sourced and scaled supplier partnerships across design, project management, and production timelines, balancing cost, quality, availability, and customer service.

4. Operations Supervisor

   Planet Organic Market

   Sep 2017 to Sep 2019

   • Managed end-to-end procurement, vendor negotiations, and replenishment for $1M+ in rotating inventory, improving margin performance through pricing reviews, supplier terms, and demand-aligned purchasing. • Reduced shrinkage by 18% through sourcing SOPs, replenishment discipline, quality controls, and inventory visibility across high-velocity SKUs. • Negotiated inbound shipping and supply agreements that lowered logistics spend by 12% while improving delivery reliability and vendor accountability. • Developed SOPs, scorecards, and reporting tools adopted across multiple retail locations and referenced by regional leadership.

5. Assistant Operations Manager

   The Chopped Leaf

   Aug 2014 to Jun 2017

   • Directed procurement and inventory practices across multiple quick-service restaurant locations, centralizing vendor protocols and reducing stockouts by 22%. • Created onboarding and operational training programs used to develop 20+ staff, improve retention, and standardize procurement, inventory, quality, and cash controls. • Improved delivery accuracy and turnaround time by 20% through order management redesign, supplier quality controls, and recurring audit practices.

1. Not stated

   Bachelor of Commerce, Operations Management