Head of Procurement

Procurement & Upstream Supply Chain Leader

Location: Austin, TX

Ashton North is leading the search for a Procurement & Upstream Supply Chain Leader for a privately owned, engineering-driven manufacturer of highly customizable electronic products. The company needs a true head of procurement who has built or elevated procurement organizations, driven material cost and supplier performance improvements, and can bring discipline and clarity to sourcing strategy.

This is a high-impact role for a leader who plays offense, architecting and scaling a resilient, high-performance supply chain, delivering meaningful cost savings, and making supplier quality a non-negotiable to protect margins and product reliability.

What You’ll Own

• Full ownership of procurement and upstream supply chain strategy covering sourcing, contracting, cost structure, supplier performance, and quality outcomes

• Development of a high-performance supplier ecosystem for customizable, engineered products with strong accountability on quality, delivery, and cost

• Supplier consolidation, make/buy analysis, and vendor risk and opportunity reporting that gives leadership clear, proactive visibility

• Direct leadership of supplier negotiations and cost savings initiatives while ensuring quality and reliability stay top-notch

• Establishment of supplier scorecards and operating rhythm that drive continuous improvement in cost, lead time, quality, and responsiveness

• Talent assessment and team development within procurement including coaching, upgrading, and building a lean, high-functioning org

• Partnership with Engineering, Finance/FP&A, and Operations to align procurement planning with new product work, MRP/MES needs, inventory turns, and budget targets

What You Bring

• 10 years of upstream, procurement-led supply chain leadership within manufacturing, ideally supporting electronic products, embedded systems, or engineered hardware

• “Procurement-first” depth in strategic sourcing, supplier development, contracting, and cost strategy rather than warehousing or distribution-oriented scopes

• A track record of standing up, rebuilding, or materially upgrading procurement organizations and operating cadences

• Proven ability to drive sustainable cost reductions while holding supplier quality to uncompromising standards

• Strong financial fluency with command of cost models, margin mechanics, and procurement KPIs

• Clear communicator who can translate across engineering, operations, and finance and keep all three aligned

• High standards and low ego, leading through transparency, trust, and accountability

• Experience with tariffs and government compliance as they impact sourcing and landed cost

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred

What Success Looks Like

• Within 12 months, procurement is operating with a proactive cadence of reporting, supplier scorecards, and measurable cost and quality improvement

• Vendor performance is stabilized and predictable across quality, delivery, and responsiveness

• Material cost savings are delivered without tradeoffs to product quality or manufacturing execution

• The procurement team is lean, aligned, and clearly ahead of risk, cost pressure, and supplier constraints

• Internal stakeholders experience procurement as a strategic enabler, not a gatekeeper