Job Summary

The Strategic Sourcing Specialist is responsible for the commercial and contractual strategy on the negotiation of goods and services for this company’s manufacturing operation in the United States.

Job Responsibilities

• Negotiate contracts and agreements. Develop strategies for goods and services based on an understanding of market knowledge, business requirements and balance leveraging with competition
• Develops negotiating strategy with input from internal customers, acts as key commercial expert during negotiations, acts as primary contact for target suppliers. 
• Negotiate legal and commercial terms to achieve optimal business results. Identify key contract risks and the associated mitigation strategies
• Build strong working relationships with internal customers to understand their requirements, drivers and timelines.
• Challenge operational procedures. Through the financial analysis and Total Cost of Ownership modeling process, research and/or identify ways to improve the pricing, quality, service and technology. Using collaborative creativity, bring new ideas to the table and challenge the current operational routines to identify opportunities to build positive impact changes within the organization
• Increase the overall value to the company. Through the use of financial analysis and TCO modeling, negotiate hard savings and/or benefits to lower the overall manufacturing cost to the organization. Create Key Performance Indicators to ensure supplier performance on value added benefits
• Take the lead in the implementation process. Follow the negotiations process through from “cradle to grave” including implementation to ensure that completed negotiations are fully utilized within the company and that maximum savings and benefits are realized. Leads the adoption and use of procurement technologies including e-sourcing tools
• Develop the negotiations plan. Work closely with Operations and Planning to develop and refine the negotiations strategy and plans of the region for the upcoming year. Review macroeconomic indicators to determine the prevailing market conditions and evaluate potential savings and benefits that could be available
• Manage relationships across all department lines. Professionally communicate and interact with all levels of management both inside and outside of Procurement. This will include the Operations, Supply Chain, Accounting, Legal, Risk Management, Planning and Controllership departments
• Create strategic alliances with vendors. Develop and maintain long-term supply partnerships with the vendor base to work together and find different avenues for reducing the total cost
• Adhere to all of  this company's, OSHA, and MSHA rules and regulations at all times and wear proper safety equipment while on plant grounds
• Meet or exceed company safety standards
• Perform other job responsibilities as assigned by management

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in Engineering, Business or Supply Chain Management, Master’s Degree in Business Administration preferred
• 6 years industrial procurement experience related to supply chain strategy and national negotiations

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of supply chain processes and best practices including strategic sourcing, market analysis, contracting methodologies, risk analysis, principles of contract law and supplier performance management.
• Strong influencing and negotiation skills in order to interact with suppliers and co- workers in a team-based environment
• Analytical skills to aggregate, normalize and analyze spend data to identify trends and prioritize strategic procurement opportunities. Leveraging data and non-data driven insights to develop a point of view and facilitate decision making
• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, establish targets, and develop implementation plans in support of business objectives
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with various disciplines and levels within the organization
• Ability to operate efficiently in a fast paced, challenging environment
• Financial analysis - economic profit, cash flow, time value of money, make versus buy, currency, payment terms impact, etc
• Strong networking, interpersonal and teamwork/collaboration skills
• Must be self-motivated and demonstrate strong written and verbal communication skills
• Proficient use of standard business software products such as SAP, Microsoft Office

Working Conditions

• Capable of working in an open concept office environment

Physical Requirements

• Requires walking, sitting, lifting, pushing, pulling, and climbing to a significant degree
• Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force frequently.   Job involves sitting most of the time, but also involves walking or standing for brief periods of time
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear, in order to communicate to employees/visitors