Commodity Manager

Position Summary: Strategically develop and implement commodity/supply chain strategies to deliver maximum value, leverage, and standardization for our batteries, racks and transformers commodities.  Within the scope of the strategic sourcing process, drive cost out of the supply chain by managing the following: 

• Commodity and negotiation strategies including Terms and Conditions Supplier selection/de-selection, evaluation and rationalization of Supply chain solutions, including supplier managed inventory (VMI), supplier consignment, safety stock levels, etc. 
• Employ total cost of ownership (TCO), “should be” costing, commodity benchmarking, and low cost country sourcing methodologies to drive materials’ savings initiatives in line with profit plan and overall business objectives.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver year over year cost savings and productivity.
• Lead product development commodity strategies in line with corporate initiatives to improve supply chain efficiencies and reduce the total cost of supply chain management. 
• Provide commodity support to New Product Teams as required to meet target costs and establish program cost models. 
• Build collaborative working relationships with other Supply Chain departments to collectively optimize business performance.
• Develop ongoing planning to reflect changes in the supplier and industry landscape, matching the needs of the organization, and communicate this information on an ongoing basis.
• Negotiate and execute purchase orders or supplier contracts as needed to support the critical business needs. 
• Establish and maintain measurable key performance metrics for all levels of procurement activities to include but not limited to supplier performance, supplier quality, internal order placement performance, buyer activity levels, financial (AP) performance, and material shortage elimination. 
• Manage material flow to ensure inventory is maintained to the optimum level to support on time customer deliveries while keeping inventory holdings at the appropriate levels. 
• Manages all activities that develop relationships with suppliers. 
• Develops an overall supplier base which creates and sustains a competitive advantage, via global market exploitation, leveraging spend, and leveraging of technologies. 
• Define an end-to-end strategy focusing on total life cycle management. 
• Owner of RFI's, RFP's and RFQ's - ensuring all commercial terms are agreed and documented.
• Ensures NDA, SOW's and Master Purchase Agreement are positioned appropriately before business is initiated.
• Drive price negotiations processes to ensure that Vertiv’s commodity pricing are best in class.
• Address all areas of category management including category business plans, global market and pricing analysis and procurement support.
• Monitor current category market conditions, technology roadmaps and identify supply/demand challenges & opportunities.
• Analyze current spend and evaluate current suppliers. Consolidate spend across supply base to create leverage, analyze purchasing trends and develop sourcing alternatives. Identify new high potential suppliers on global basis.
• Develop key performance measures for chosen suppliers and negotiate on multiple variables to award longer-term strategic contracts that result in significant cost reduction and improved service levels.
• Lead the vendor selection process with engineering teams.
• Evaluate supplier business proposals and present recommendations that will result in cost savings, avoidance or containment.
• Develop sourcing and negotiation strategies that deliver against business objectives and achieves sustainable relationships with suppliers.
• Create competitive environments with suppliers to support a negotiation strategy.
• Evaluate and provide guidance on final selection of suppliers; Perform value analysis for final selection of suppliers.
• Evaluate supplier core competencies and competitive positioning using industry cost models.
• Deliver specific productivity and cash flow targets in alignment with overarching goals and objectives, with a focus on Total Cost of Ownership
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize and work in an extremely fast-paced environment.

Qualifications:

• 5+ years progressive experience in Purchasing & Sourcing with extensive experience in the manufacturing industry, preferably in a strategic setting in a mid to large size organization.
• Expertise with batteries, racks and transformers is a plus. 
• Solid track record meeting substantial material cost reduction targets 
• Bachelor’s degree in Purchasing, Production/Operations Management, or Engineering or equivalent business experience. 
• NAPM (A.P.P. C.P.M.) or APICS (CPIM, CIRM) certification preferred. 
• Bachelor's degree
• Detail-oriented, analytical and results-driven.
• Motivated problem solver.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to build cross-functional relationships.
• Ability to manage and manipulate large amounts of data quickly.
• Ability to work in a fluid environment without closer supervision.
• Ability to coordinate multiple group efforts within the company to achieve objectives. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• Excellent organizational and problem solving skills. 
• Superior communication skills, ability to articulate points to executive management.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks, with awareness of deadlines.
• Ability to identify processes needing improvement, and to recommend improvements

The successful candidate will embrace Vertiv’s Core Principals & Behaviors to help execute our Strategic Priorities.  

OUR CORE PRINCIPALS:  Safety.  Integrity. Respect.  Teamwork.  Diversity & Inclusion.

OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

• Customer Focus
• Operational Excellence
• High-Performance Culture
• Innovation
• Financial Strength

OUR BEHAVIORS

• Own It
• Act With Urgency
• Foster a Customer-First Mindset
• Think Big and Execute
• Lead by Example
• Drive Continuous Improvement
• Learn and Seek Out Development
• Foster a Customer-First Mindset
• Lead by Example