Director of Procurement

Who We Are:

FLANDERS is a world leader in renewing machines for heavy industry, specializing in the largest and most intricate applications. Our expertise encompasses distributing, servicing, repairing, designing, and manufacturing electric rotating machines. Additionally, we take pride in offering cutting-edge AI-powered condition-based monitoring, customized controls, seamless systems integration, and advanced automation solutions.

What We Are Looking For:

The Director of Procurement is a leadership position that will be responsible for improving the cost, quality, and lead times of goods and services for all FLANDERS repair shops and field services businesses in the United States. This position is the supplier partner to and has direct impact on the financial performance of the assigned business units with responsibility for process definition, deployment, results and improvement, strategy development and implementation oversight of local purchasing practices in the regions and delivery to a budget for material deflation and indirect savings.

The Director of Procurement will develop and manage a team responsible for all aspects of supplier development, purchasing and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM). The product portfolio is very diverse and requires different sourcing design models to ensure customer expectations are met. This position will negotiate, influence, and resolve supplier issues to achieve customer satisfaction targets at the optimal cost to the business units.

What You Will Do:

• Develop an overall sourcing strategy for the business that includes supplier consolidation, process standardization, base and variable cost reduction, transaction cost removal, and process digitization that meets budget.
• Develop budget goals and KPIs which include supplier rationalization, productivity, lead-time reduction, working capital improvement, quality, and delivery performance.
• Develop and execute sourcing plans including but not limited to soliciting quotations, recommending suppliers, evaluate quotations, negotiating pricing, conducting cost analysis, and ensure that the proper legal agreements are correctly prepared.
• Direct and lead supplier discovery, RFI, RFQ, site visits and other strategic sourcing activities.
• Develop and maintain strong supplier relationships through effective communication.
• Take personal responsibility for ensuring any issues raised by suppliers or internal customers are responded to and resolved.
• Develop and optimize executive level relationships with suppliers.
• Coordinate transition management and risk mitigation with Supply Chain Leadership.
• Review policies and procedures and provide input to management concerning operation of the strategic sourcing function/process.
• Design and deploy processes that are consistent with the identified strategy through teaming with the other Supply Chain Leaders.
• Team with Business Unit Leaders, ensure appropriate sourcing metrics are in place and deployed to measure progress against initiatives.
• Collaborate with manufacturing and service leaders to select and manage required suppliers who have the capacity and capability to meet the material and subcontract needs of the business.
• Provide overall project management for key supplier transition, development, and second level savings projects.
• Optimize the use of information systems and technology for tracking, analysis, reporting, administration, and communication between Business Units and suppliers.

What You'll Need:

• Bachelor's degree required (MBA preferred). Exceptional experience and skill may be considered in lieu of education.
• 10 years strategic sourcing and procurement leadership experience
• Broad supply chain (nearly end-to-end) experience
• Strong business acumen, analytical, and problem-solving skills are required.
• Lean Six Sigma Continuous Improvement experience (certification strongly preferred)
• Leadership experience in supply chain management, sourcing, and/or procurement
• Previous experience in a national heavy industrial manufacturing business preferred
• Experience building and leading national sourcing teams with an emphasis on raw material, components, and services
• Experience with factory support and improving sustaining operations
• Strong analytical skills, emotional intelligence, organizational skills, and presentation skills
• Extensive experience in implementing a Category Management and broad-based Sourcing model into an organization, with multiple categories of materials, components, and services
• Work effectively with key suppliers, Engineering, Supplier Quality, Logistics, Manufacturing, Finance, IT, and other internal key stakeholders to maximize overall performance of alliance agreements and all commodity suppliers
• Strong commodity knowledge and project management experience
• Ability to develop business cases, project plans, status, and issue reports
• Ability to lead advanced negotiations with cross-functional teams; develop complex negotiations strategies; demonstrate negotiations capability including adjusting to individual styles and tactics; coach and guide others on negotiations process, tools, and methodology
• Ability to direct work of multiple reports and supervise concurrent tasks while effectively prioritizing and coordinating work assignments to meet deadlines.
• Ability to gain and maintain the cooperation and participation of others
• Team player/consensus builder