Procurement Foresters (Forester)

  Drax Biomass Inc

  Gloster, Mississippi and Bastrop, Louisiana, United States

Drax Biomass Inc. is a development and operating company focused on manufacturing wood pellets for renewable low-carbon power generation from sustainable biomass. The company is currently operating two wood pellet manufacturing plants and a port facility in the Gulf Coast region.

The company is looking for two Procurement Foresters to join our team. One position will be assigned to our Amite BioEnergy facility located in Gloster, MS and the other will be assigned to our Morehouse BioEnergy facility located just north of Bastrop, LA. The positions will report to the respective plant Fiber Procurement Managers and will spend a significant amount of time in the field auditing supplier adherence to DBI sustainability requirements.

Responsibilities include:

• Be a proactive safety leader, creating a “Safety First” culture.
• Assist the Fiber Procurement Manager with daily plant and supplier interaction / needs.
• Develop and maintain role of key relationship manager with select fiber suppliers, ensuring all supplier relationships are well supported and provide feedback to suppliers as needed.
• Coordinate with / assist office administrative staff to maintain supply contracts, tract details and delivery schedules in the fiber supply management system (3Log).
• Must be familiar with wood fiber scaling and settlement systems.
• Maintain current market knowledge of fiber flows, competitor strategies and fiber pricing.
• Assist with fiber inventory management.
• Track all aspects of fiber supply sustainability as required by DBI policy; conduct random supplier compliance audits for documentation and forest operating practices that meet fiber purchase requirements (adherence to Best Management Practices (BMP’s) and other field aspects of tract management.
• Track supplier performance metrics (% delivery vs. order; turn-time; cost; quality, sustainability compliance, etc.)
• Collaborate with mill operating staff and leadership to ensure Drax Biomass facilities are considered a “destination of choice” and fiber supply products meet quality specifications.
• Must be able to work independently, plan forestry field activities and work alone in forest tract reconnaissance.
• Other duties as assigned by the Fiber Procurement Manager

A successful candidate should have:

• B.S. degree in Forestry from an institution accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF).
• Experience: 5-7 years’ general forestry experience, at least 4 years in wood procurement roles including experience managing a direct purchase gatewood program to support mill demand.
• Proficient with computers, MS Office programs and common forestry technical tools.
• Must be analytical and data-driven.
• Knowledge of forest certification systems such as American Tree Farm, Forest Stewardship Council, Sustainable Forestry Initiative

---