Strategic Sourcing Specialist I

Job Summary

The Strategic Sourcing Specialist I supports engineering with sourcing, procurement, negotiation, and some selection of suppliers for specific materials during development of new products. The Strategic Sourcing Specialist I takes direction from Category Management, Supply Chain, Engineering, and New Product Engineering to assure proper strategic selection of new suppliers. Engages in all Supply Chain activities including quoting. Assists with supplier selection, solutions procurement of prototype or released materials to engineering projects as directed. Manages suppliers for on time delivery required to meet engineering schedules. Assists with enabling a smooth handoff of materials to Purchasing through the Material Release Process. Manages multiple MRO sourcing, cost negotiations, and conducts requests for quotes as required.

Essential Job Functions

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Assist with the research of potential suppliers for prototypes, generate request for quotes (RFQ’s) and various proposals, and communicates with suppliers verbally and in writing.
• Convert approved purchase requisitions into purchase orders. Communicate orders to suppliers and follow up with suppliers to ensure prompt delivery. Expedite as needed. Communicate confirmed delivery dates with requisitioner.
• Where such purchase orders involve a new supplier, collect required legal documentation (NDAs, etc.), validate tax ID numbers, negotiate payment terms, and enter data into appropriate databases.
• Serve as a liaison between the purchasing and engineering departments by communicating relevant information, recording purchasing tasks which originate from Engineering NPD projects or pre-release Engineering change notifications, and facilitating/coordinating Engineering’s and Quality’s involvement in the first article approval process.
• Communicate with vendors to investigate/resolve discrepant invoices and unbilled purchase receipts. Identify the root cause of problems and recommend countermeasures to prevent recurrences. Implement countermeasures as directed by management.
• Process assigned RMA activities for the department. Contact vendors to request RMA#s, complete appropriate internal paperwork (such as return-orders, debit memos etc.), and issue replacement purchase orders as appropriate.
• Participate in the Supply Chain actions for each NPD phase and gate reviews. Help to create and maintain the SAP tool to price and roll-up pre-release designs for comparison to targeted material costs versus current quote and design costs.
• Participate in Last Time Buy analysis and support as requested.
• Provide recommendations to continuously improve the quality of the process or methods employed in the day-to-day activities of the function and participate in implementation of changes.
• Effectively manages expenditures to reduce the total cost of ownership of material acquisitions.
• Works effectively in all inventory, planning and purchasing screens in SAP.
• Assist with supplier negotiations by collecting data and providing simple analysis as requested.
• Manage purchasing and inventory planning of assigned commodities.
• Responsible for the processing of defective items for assigned commodities.
• Assist with effective implementation of ECO’s for items in assigned commodities.
• Assist with the interpretation of contracts and work with the Director of Supply Chain to address related legal issues.
• Assists in the management of new supplier documentation processing. Work with Category Management for necessary documentation; surveys, risk assessments, financial reviews, etc.
• Manages supplier selection, negotiations, and request for quotations for various MRO materials and services.
• Manages a history and log of sourcing, agreements, and opportunities for various MRO categories.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.
  
  

Qualifications

Required :

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Supply Chain, Economics, or similar.
• 2-5 years; experience in Supplier Management
• Minimum of 1-2 years of Tier 1 ERP software experience (SAP, Oracle, or JD Edwards).
  
  

Desired (if Any)

• ISM or APS Certification.
• APICS Certification.
  
  

EQUIPMENT TO BE USED

Must Be Able To

• Use standard office equipment such as copier, fax, telephone, postage, etc.
• Operate computer and other electronic equipment
  
  

POSITION TYPE/EXPECED HOURS OF WORK

This is a full-time position, and hours of work and days are Monday through Friday within our core business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.

TRAVEL

Some light travel is expected for this position.