Sr. Manager, Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing

Description

The Sr. Manager, Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing leads Harmonic Drive LLC’s total procurement function — both production (direct materials) and non-production (indirect) spend — and operates as a strategic, hands-on leader of the Purchasing team. This is a player-coach role: approximately 80% of the position is focused on strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, category strategy, and team leadership, with the remaining 20% dedicated to hands-on buying and expediting for the most critical or complex needs. This role establishes and matures purchasing discipline over non-production categories (e.g., MRO, capital equipment, facilities, professional services, and other indirect spend) that have not historically been centrally managed, while continuing to ensure production materials meet customer demand, quality, and inventory targets.

Requirements

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

• •Develop and execute strategic sourcing strategies across both production and non-production spend categories to optimize total cost, quality, delivery, and supply risk.
• •Establish Harmonic Drive’s first formalized non-production/indirect purchasing program — including approved vendor lists, spend visibility, and purchasing controls for categories such as MRO, capital equipment, facilities, and professional services.
• •Lead, train, mentor, and manage Buyers/Planners; act as a player-coach by personally leading the most critical or complex sourcing events, negotiations, and buys.
• •Negotiate pricing, lead times, and contracts with suppliers across both production materials (including metals, castings, machined components, and electro-mechanical parts) and non-production categories — including terms and conditions, blanket purchase orders, long-term supply agreements, consignment agreements, and NDAs — escalating complex clauses (e.g., indemnification, IP, liability caps) to Legal/VP of Operations as needed.
• •Ensure customer contract flow-down requirements (e.g., quality, traceability, specification, and regulatory terms) are accurately and consistently cascaded into supplier purchase orders and agreements.
• •Create and negotiate safety stock agreements with customers to help ensure on-time delivery and protect against supply variability.
• •Own and develop supplier relationships, including monitoring supplier capacity, conducting performance reviews, and building scorecards for key suppliers.
• •Review requisitions and purchase orders to ensure proper authorization, completion, and timely release.
• •Expedite orders as needed to ensure on-time delivery for urgent projects and changes.
• •Monitor SCARs and NCMRs and drive supplier corrective action in partnership with the Quality team.
• •Coordinate with Engineering on specification changes affecting sourced components and materials.
• •Identify excess and obsolete (E&O) inventory tied to sourced materials and drive supplier-side resolution, partnering with Finance, which owns E&O reserve and write-off decisions.
• •Serve as a key point of contact for quality auditors (e.g., AS9100/ISO 9001 surveillance and customer audits) regarding supplier records, purchasing documentation, and procurement process compliance.
• •Maintain accurate quotes, lead times, and vendor/item data within the ERP system.
• •Recommend and implement improvements to purchasing procedures to maintain ISO 9001/AS9100 compliance.
• •Identify, qualify, and onboard new domestic and international suppliers to diversify sourcing and mitigate supply chain risk.
• •Represent Purchasing in cross-functional planning, engineering, and leadership discussions.
• •Other responsibilities as required.

Required Competencies

• •Demonstrated strategic sourcing/category management experience with a total-cost-of-ownership mindset.
• •Strong negotiating, analytical, and communication skills, both verbal and written.
• •Proven ability to operate as a player-coach — balancing strategic leadership with direct, hands-on buying when needed.
• •Solid working knowledge of supplier contracts and terms — able to read, negotiate, and manage routine agreement language, identify risk, and know when to escalate complex legal terms to Legal or senior leadership.
• •Experience purchasing metals, castings, machined components, electro-mechanical parts, and outside processing services (e.g., heat treat, anodizing, passivation), or similar manufacturing materials and components required.
• •Working knowledge of an ERP system required (Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O, Dynamics AX, SAP, Oracle, or similar); Dynamics 365 F&O experience a plus.
• •Comfortable leveraging spend analytics, e-sourcing, and AI-assisted procurement tools to support data-driven sourcing decisions.
• •Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail; ability to multi-task and adjust to changing priorities and short deadlines.
• •Must be able to work independently and lead a hard-working, supportive team.
• •Strong computer skills (MS Word, Excel, Power BI, Outlook).
• •High energy, proactive, self-motivated, and a team player.
• •Experience in an AS9100/ISO 9001-regulated manufacturing environment preferred.

Required Education and Experience

• •Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, or related field required.
• •10+ years of progressive purchasing/strategic sourcing experience within a manufacturing organization, ideally spanning both production and non-production procurement.
• •5+ years of supervisory experience training, leading, and mentoring buyers/planners.
• •Demonstrated experience purchasing metals, castings, machined components, electro-mechanical parts, and outside processing services (e.g., heat treat, anodizing, passivation), or similar raw materials and components required.
• •Experience with ERP systems required (Dynamics 365 F&O, Dynamics AX, SAP, Oracle, or similar).
• •Demonstrated experience reading, negotiating, and managing supplier contracts and agreements (terms and conditions, blanket POs, long-term supply agreements, consignment agreements, NDAs) required.
• •Professional certification preferred (CPSM strongly preferred; CPIM or CPM also considered); candidates without current certification must be willing to obtain one, with company-sponsored support, within an agreed timeframe.

• Key Performance Indicators
• Performance in this role will be evaluated against the following, in addition to standard operational purchasing metrics:

• •Spend Under Management — growth in the percentage of total company spend (production and non-production) actively sourced and controlled through formal purchasing processes, with particular focus on establishing baseline visibility and control over previously unmanaged non-production/indirect spend.
• •Supplier Risk Visibility — development and maintenance of risk scoring/visibility across key suppliers (financial, operational, geopolitical, and single-source exposure), enabling proactive risk mitigation rather than reactive response.
• •Supplier Corrective Action Closure Time — speed and effectiveness of driving supplier resolution on SCARs/DMRs, reflecting supplier accountability and quality partnership.
• •Realized Savings vs. Cost Avoidance — sourcing value delivered, tracked and reported separately as hard (realized/budgeted) savings versus soft (cost avoidance) value, in partnership with Finance.
• •Contract Compliance Rate — percentage of supplier spend governed by properly executed, up-to-date agreements with accurate customer flow-down terms, versus spend occurring under expired, informal, or non-compliant terms.

• Supervisory Responsibility
• This position supervises the Purchasing team (Buyers/Planners).

• Work Environment
• This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment.

• Physical Demands
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employ