Adam Stewart has announced the promotion of Sophia McKenzie to the position of group manager, Procurement Division, Sandals Resorts International, effective April 5, 2021.

McKenzie spearheads this critical division impacting centralised purchases across the region as the company prepares for the future and positions itself for increased growth and expansion.

Stewart, executive chairman of the multiple award-winning resort company, explained that McKenzie will lead a team of over 60 to manage the supply chain activities for all Sandals and Beaches resorts across the Caribbean, and therefore hold direct oversight for the group’s entire purchasing and logistics operations.

“Her extensive portfolio includes sourcing, purchasing, shipping/logistics and database management, as well as implementing global sourcing strategies and improving purchasing policies and procedures to ultimately reduce supply chain risk and bolster supply assurance,” Stewart, who is also executive chairman of the Jamaica Observer, said in a news release on Friday.

McKenzie will also be responsible for initiating new partnerships to drive product supply innovation and continue to strengthen the group’s drive to enhance third-party linkages through targeted support of the region’s small and medium-sized enterprises.

McKenzie joined Sandals over 13 years ago in St Lucia where she was immersed in on-property revenue before moving on to finance. She later held regional revenue controller roles for three years covering all Sandals resorts in St Lucia and gained extensive hands-on knowledge of resort operations and revenue generation.

In 2015, she returned home to Jamaica and joined the leadership team within the corporate office’s Procurement Division. With a focus on revenue, she subsequently piloted the charge to systematically streamline the Revenue Department’s supply chain and fully centralise the department’s purchasing.

In 2019, her portfolio was further expanded as she transitioned to assuming and managing the entire supply chain for corporate operations and revenue departments.

Noting that McKenzie holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in International Business, Stewart described her as “a results-driven, goal-oriented and passionate leader who has shown progressive growth within our company and has worked assiduously with her team to implement initiatives which have significantly improved the efficiency of the company’s procurement processes”.

Added Stewart: “I am confident that her passion for developing sustainable and measurable internal processes and external linkages, coupled with her track record of successes, will continue to be a tremendous asset to our company as she makes her mark in this new role.”