Arslan Ahmed
Oakville
Summary
Results-driven management professional with proven ability to lead teams to success. Strong focus on team collaboration, operational efficiency, and achieving measurable outcomes. Adept at strategic planning, process improvement, and fostering culture of accountability and excellence. Known for adaptability and consistently meeting changing organizational needs.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
Work History
Manager, Commodities
Loblaw Companies Limited
02.2025 - Current
- Own end-to-end supplier cost reviews and sourcing negotiations across HABA, OTC, and Natural Value categories, ensuring enterprise-wide alignment and cost competitiveness.
- Initiate and lead sourcing strategies tied to enterprise goals by identifying cost trends, leveraging market data (Mintec, AMS), and executing value-based negotiations.
- Present sourcing updates, risks, and strategic insights to Senior Director and Category Leaders, influencing enterprise sourcing outcomes.
- Manage vendor relationships and facilitate regular supplier meetings to address cost changes, supply disruptions, and compliance with merchandising standards.
- Work cross-functionally with Procurement Directors, Finance, Control Brands, and Supply Chain to resolve cost discrepancies and ensure pricing accuracy in SAP.
- Conduct market and ingredient cost analysis (e.g., Matcha, Cocoa, Coconut Sugar) to evaluate validity of proposed increases, often challenging over-inflated vendor claims.
- Lead the intake and audit of cost increase requests, ensuring all proposals are supported with verifiable data and align with Loblaw's sourcing and inflation-control strategy.
- Track and manage vendor audit disputes, including Over & Above rates, freight, and tariff impacts.
- Use Excel, SAP, ABI, and internal pricing tools to create cost justification models and performance reports to support sourcing strategy and financial planning.
Merchant – Cheese, Butter & Margarine
Loblaw Companies Limited
08.2022 - 02.2025
- Review, analyze, and negotiate Promo cost changes strategically, working with vendors, procurement, and merchandising teams to drive cost-effective solutions; Led successful cost improvement initiatives, reducing costs across multiple categories by leveraging strategic sourcing insights and market data.
- Collaborate with merchandising, operations, control brands, supply chain, loyalty, e-commerce, marketing, media, and other divisions to achieve business objectives; Drove market share growth by launching innovative products in collaboration with control brands, improving category performance.
- Analyzing YOY sales from ABI data and forecasting the promo product based on Ad position and events along with retails using JDA.
- Lead and manage end-to-end promotional programs, overseeing product selection, financial forecasting, vendor engagement, and pricing decisions while evaluating program success.
- Build and maintain positive relationships with category vendors and external partners, advocating for the company’s position and ensuring compliance with merchandising performance standards.
- Support Category Directors in assortment analysis, planogram design, and in-store merchandising strategies, working with Space Planners and Supply Chain to optimize performance.
- Oversee category financial performance, managing profit and loss, and driving market share growth through strategic initiatives and vendor negotiations.
- Lead product innovation efforts with control brands and private label teams, working on new product launches and program development to enhance product assortments.
- Initiated supplier RFPs and led cost improvement initiatives, resulting in sustained margin growth and supplier compliance across multiple high-volume categories.
Associate Merchant, Specialty Foods Procurement
Loblaw Companies Limited
10.2020 - 08.2022
- Supporting the objectives of category by undertaking a wide range of administrative activities while assisting Procurement directors in decision making.
- Interacting and communicating with vendors on new products and managing current products to ensure stores can merchandise the products.
- Consistently working with directors to gather accurate and beneficial information from vendors to further analyze future opportunities.
- Assist center of store merchandising team by ensuring AIC is clean from any sourcing errors and cost issues.
- Periodically building and tracking numerous ad-hoc and integrity reports such as Ethnic Listing Base and Cost Sheet.
- Proactively working closely with Data Analysts to list new articles and to ensure articles are setup correctly to avoid errors.
- Collaborating with Supply Chain team to confirm articles are Delisted or Active based on Directors' and Vendors' instructions
- Compiling over and above rates (O&A) and tracking Vendor Audits to confirm if they are valid from the backup.
Master Data Analyst
Loblaw Companies Limited
03.2020 - 10.2020
- Create and manage product information into SAP platform; Partner in troubleshooting and resolving master data discrepancies, SLA impacts, or other operational challenges affected by master data issues.
- Identify and facilitate continuous improvement initiatives by recommending processes to improve data accuracy upfront, proactively monitor data accuracy, and facilitate required data corrective actions with business owners in Merchandising, Supply Chain, Costing, and others.
- Work directly with Shoppers Drug Mart in transitioning their data into SAP; all data pertaining to master data records set up and maintained in SAP with accuracy.
- Contribute to ideas and actions towards continuous improvement of processes within master data and data quality.
Quality Assurance Analyst
Rogers Communications
09.2019 - 03.2020
- Met performance quality measures and provided value proposition; consistently achieved 90% of assigned sales targets in a high-paced sales environment.
- Focused on continuous process improvement and prospecting customers to ensure customer loyalty.
- Researched and provided client service and product solutions based on complex customer needs.
Project Accountant
Fengate Capital Management Ltd.
01.2019 - 06.2019
- Performed financial analysis, data entry, bank reconciliations, monitored accounts payable, and administered expense accounts for numerous financial projects using Excel, Yardi and NetSuite software.
- Assisted Project Managers to create and purchase order, monitor inventory levels and create period end reports for the ongoing projects using SAP.
- Leveraged the company's KPIs to make justified decisions and adhered to compliance policies to ensure success.
- Assisted Financial Analysts on multiple Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects and a Power Project worth $3 Million.
Education
No Degree - PMP
Project Management
Toronto, ON10-2025
BBA - Business Management
Ryerson University, Ted Rogers School of Management
Toronto, ON04.2019
Certificate - Business Management
Napier Edinburgh University, Scotland (Semester Abroad)
Edinburgh12.2018
Skills
- Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Negotiation
- Commodity Costing & Market Intelligence (Mintec, AMS)
- RFP Management & Supplier Selection
- Budget Management & Over & Above Negotiations
- Cross-Functional Collaboration (Merchandising, Control Brands, Replenishment)
- SAP, ABI, JDA, Microsoft Excel, Access
- Project Management, Process Improvement
- New Product Development & Category Strategy Support
- Supplier RFPs & Competitive Bidding
- Cost Leadership & Budget Accountability
- Supplier Performance Management
- Cross-Banner Sourcing & Enterprise Negotiation
Timeline
Manager, Commodities
Loblaw Companies Limited
02.2025 - Current
Merchant – Cheese, Butter & Margarine
Loblaw Companies Limited
08.2022 - 02.2025
Associate Merchant, Specialty Foods Procurement
Loblaw Companies Limited
10.2020 - 08.2022
Master Data Analyst
Loblaw Companies Limited
03.2020 - 10.2020
Quality Assurance Analyst
Rogers Communications
09.2019 - 03.2020
Project Accountant
Fengate Capital Management Ltd.
01.2019 - 06.2019
No Degree - PMP
Project Management
BBA - Business Management
Ryerson University, Ted Rogers School of Management
Certificate - Business Management
Napier Edinburgh University, Scotland (Semester Abroad)
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