Staff Technical Category Manager – Plastics (Technical CBM)

Staff Technical Category Manager – Plastics (Technical CBM), China

The Staff Technical Category Manager – Plastics (Technical CBM), China is a technical, China-based category leader responsible for the end-to-end sourcing and supplier management of injection-molded and extruded plastic components, resins, and tooling. The role owns supplier qualification, process and tooling performance, and cost/negotiation strategy for the plastics commodity, partnering closely with R&D, Manufacturing Engineering, and Quality to ensure supply continuity and part quality for a regulated, high-growth product portfolio.

What You'll Be Doing

Own the China plastics commodity strategy, including injection-molded, extruded, and thermoformed components, engineering resins, and associated tooling/molds.

Source, qualify, and manage plastics suppliers across molding, tooling, and resin compounding, including on-site technical audits of molding capability (tonnage range, cavitation, cleanroom/class requirements).

Lead RFI/RFQ processes and cost breakdown (should-cost) analysis for molded parts, decomposing quotes into resin/material cost, cycle time, tooling amortization, labor, and overhead/margin.

Manage the full tooling lifecycle: mold ownership and asset tracking, tool transfer between vendors, tool build/T0-T1 tryout schedules, preventive maintenance, and end-of-life/mold disposition.

Partner with Manufacturing and Quality Engineering on DFM/DFA reviews, mold-flow analysis, and process validation (IQ/OQ/PQ, PPAP/FAI) to resolve warpage, shrinkage, sink marks, flash, and dimensional/cosmetic defects.

Lead new supplier onboarding and qualification, support quality with supplier audits, and validate/monitor supplier production capacity to ensure supplier continuity.

Negotiate contracts and pricing mechanisms with suppliers, including resin index/price pass-through clauses, tooling amortization terms, MOQs, and total landed cost.

Drive supplier performance management (SQE scorecards, PPM/Cpk, on-time delivery) and lead corrective action (8D/CAPA) for plastics-related quality escapes.

Qualify and maintain dual/second-source suppliers for critical plastic components to mitigate single-source and geopolitical/supply-continuity risk.

Support New Product Introduction (NPI) by selecting molders early in development, driving DFM feedback, and managing engineering change notices (ECNs) through production.

Ensure supplier compliance with material traceability, RoHS/REACH, and other applicable regulatory and customs/import-export requirements.

Uphold internal and external policies, regulations, and laws.

Follow regulatory requirements and ISO 13485.

What You'll Bring to the Team [Competency/Qualifications]

B.S. in Mechanical/Industrial/Polymer Engineering, Materials Science, or related technical field, or equivalent work experience.

8+ years' experience in strategic sourcing or supplier/category management, with a significant focus on plastics/injection molding commodities.

Hands-on technical knowledge of injection molding and extrusion processes, mold design/construction, and engineering thermoplastics/resins (e.g., PC, ABS, POM, PP, PEEK, LCP, TPE).

Demonstrated experience managing mold tooling assets, including tool transfers, amortization schedules, and multi-cavity tool qualification.

Working knowledge of PPAP/FAI, process capability (Cpk), mold-flow simulation, and root-cause/corrective-action methodologies (8D, fishbone, 5-why).

Strong should-cost and cost breakdown analysis skills for molded/extruded components.

Fluent Mandarin and English, with the ability to work directly and technically with China-based molders and tooling shops.

Experience with RFI/RFQ implementation and execution.

Superb communication skills.

Advanced ability to collaborate and negotiate.

Excellent organizational and time management skills.

Exceptional analytical and strategic thinking abilities.

Willingness to travel within China (and occasionally internationally) to audit, develop, and maintain supplier relationships.

Able to analyze, prepare, and deliver presentations to management. Proficient with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. SAP knowhow preferred.

Experience in the Life Science, Medical Device, or Diagnostics industry, and/or plastics component sourcing for regulated products, preferred.