Commodity Manager
Steel Partners · Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, United States
Every day, MTI Motion associates around the world set the future in motion by solving our customers’ most vexing motion-control challenges. Serving various industries including commercial aerospace, defense, oil and gas, and transportation, MTI Motion designs and manufactures an innovative portfolio of custom, precision motion-control products and solutions, including high-performance motors, drives and controllers, as well as windings, gears and ball screws.
We’re committed to promoting a collaborative team environment that focuses on accountability, respect, integrity, and teamwork to ensure customer satisfaction. We take pride in the work we perform and are committed to continuous improvement. In addition to offering a competitive benefits package, we strive to offer our employees opportunities to achieve career advancement.
MTI Motion is a wholly owned operating company within the Steel Partners family of companies and is headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, WI, with facilities worldwide.
POSITION OVERVIEW
The Commodity Manager will manage the sourcing of assigned category portfolio and associated activities. This includes, but is not limited to, maximizing supplier performance, cost, quality, and speed of execution, leading cost-savings and avoidance projects, and other sourcing-related activities. This role leads negotiations of long-term supply agreements and other contracts, which include pricing, terms and conditions, risk mitigations, working-capital strategies, and warranties.
The Commodity Manager will develop, implement, and manage global strategies to provide value in supply assurance, pricing, flexibility, quality, and delivery performance. This position benchmarks new processes, approaches, and technology. The Commodity Manager researches, identifies, and analyzes current and emerging procurement trends, develops a deep understanding of market conditions, and develops proposed global supply chain solutions focusing on total cost of ownership.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
Category Management
- Responsible for all areas of category management, including category business plans, global market and pricing analysis, and procurement support.
- Contribute to development of the company’s strategic category objectives and goals.
- Develop global category strategies with defined plans for cost savings, risk assessment and mitigation, and service-level agreements.
- Develop and execute category negotiation strategies with suppliers, including specific targets for purchasing, pricing, service, quality, intellectual property, tool ownership, exclusivity, and inventory to ensure continuity of supply and minimize risk.
- Monitor current category market conditions and technology roadmaps, identifying supply/demand challenges and opportunities to mitigate supply and demand challenges.
- Become a subject matter expert in assigned commodities through external research, benchmarking, and analyzing cost drivers and life-cycle costs. Provide market intelligence and category price trends. Develop deep understanding where our competition sources their components and materials, as well as determining the respective costs of same.
- Assist in the development and maintenance of should-cost models that are relevant to the global marketplace.
Sourcing Management
- Use strategic sourcing process to manage assigned categories and finished products. Identify all stakeholders for each major category and form cross-functional teams to define and implement a strategy that reduces cost, improves quality and delivery performance, and improves MTI Motion’s competitive position. Build a case for significant change and develop consensus among key stakeholders.
- Conduct comprehensive supplier analysis, including strategic direction, capacity, market and industry position, and risk assessment.
- Provide rigorous analysis of spend data and market trends and dynamics to prioritize and launch sourcing initiatives within designated spend/category categories.
- Analyze current spend and evaluate current suppliers. Consolidate spend across multiple manufacturing locations to create leverage, analyze purchasing trends, and develop sourcing alternatives. Identify opportunities for supplier consolidation and new high-potential suppliers on a global basis.
- Deliver 5% year-over-year net-cost reductions for commodities and programs that fall within assigned responsibility.
- Manage respective supplier relationships and performance, including but not limited to dispute resolution.
- Act as supplier interface for all RFIs, RFPs, and RFQs.
- Visit supplier facilities and accurately assess operational capacity, financial health, and capacity to award contracts in support of new product development (NPI) and production.
Project Management
- Provide guidance on recommended suppliers for new product introductions (NPI)
- Support new product introduction (NPI) programs as a team member by coordinating all sourcing and supplier qualification activities on a global basis.
- Manage multiple projects, coordinate activities of team, and track progress/schedules.
- Partner cross functionally to drive urgent closure of supplier performance and or quality concerns.