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Primary Purpose

The Senior New Product Introduction (NPI) Sourcing Specialist provides senior-level sourcing, supplier management, procurement, and material readiness leadership for assigned new product programs from early development through launch and stabilization.

This role serves as a key sourcing and materials leader within NPI, independently driving complex sourcing strategies, supplier selection, commercial negotiations, material readiness, and supply risk mitigation. The Senior Specialist connects Sourcing, Commodity Management, Supplier Management, Purchasing, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Planning, Program Management, and Finance to ensure materials are available at the right cost, quality, capacity, and timing to support successful product launches.

The Senior Specialist is expected to lead complex workstreams, influence cross-functional decisions, coach and develop less-experienced team members, and establish best practices that improve NPI sourcing and launch execution. This role operates with a high degree of autonomy and is expected to proactively identify risks, drive resolution, and escalate issues appropriately.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Sourcing & Supplier Management

• Lead sourcing activities for complex NPI programs, including RFQ strategy, supplier evaluation, quote analysis, negotiations, supplier selection, and commercial recommendations.
• Develop and execute sourcing strategies considering total cost, capacity, quality, lead time, technology, supplier capability, geographic risk, and long-term supply resilience.
• Lead sourcing of fabricated components, electrical components, assemblies, enclosures, and other materials required for NPI programs.
• Identify, evaluate, and qualify new, alternate, and dual-source suppliers to improve cost, capacity, quality, and supply resilience.
• Lead supplier negotiations using TCO, should-cost, market, volume, capacity, and competitive data to achieve program objectives.
• Establish and maintain effective supplier relationships and hold suppliers accountable to cost, quality, delivery, capacity, and launch-readiness commitments.
• Lead supplier design reviews and sourcing discussions to influence functionality, manufacturability, cost, quality, and launch timing.
• Partner with Commodity Management to align NPI sourcing decisions with broader commodity strategies and supplier agreements.
• Maintain and support Approved Vendor Lists (AVL), supplier documentation, sourcing records, and commercial agreements.
• Serve as a subject-matter resource for sourcing and supplier management activities within assigned programs.

Material Readiness & Procurement Execution

• Own material readiness for assigned NPI programs across prototype, development, validation, pilot, and production launch milestones.
• Lead execution of NPI purchase orders, order confirmations, supplier commitments, delivery schedules, and changes.
• Establish and maintain supplier material commitments aligned to program build plans and launch requirements.
• Proactively identify and resolve shortages, past-due orders, quality issues, capacity constraints, and schedule risks.
• Lead PPAP ordering, inspections, engineering approvals, and material readiness activities through production release.
• Develop material forecasts based on program build plans, demand requirements, supplier lead times, and capacity constraints.
• Partner with Planning, Purchasing, Operations, and Program Management to ensure material requirements are accurately reflected in ERP systems and program plans.
• Lead expediting, risk buys, advanced purchases, supplier recovery actions, and other recovery strategies when required.
• Lead the transition of materials and supplier relationships to Production Purchasing following PPAP and launch stabilization.

Cost & Commercial Management

• Lead evaluation of supplier pricing, tooling, NRE, logistics, tariffs, payment terms, and other commercial inputs.
• Maintain accurate Costed BOMs (CBOM), standard costs, sourcing data, and commercial assumptions.
• Identify and execute cost-saving opportunities through negotiation, alternate sourcing, volume leverage, VA/VE, design collaboration, and process improvements.
• Challenge supplier cost structures and develop fact-based recommendations for program and sourcing leadership.
• Lead resolution of PO, invoice, pricing, and commercial discrepancies with suppliers, Purchasing, and Finance.
• Support cost and sourcing analysis for engineering changes, material transfers, localization, and sustaining/EOL activities.
• Identify opportunities to incorporate cost productivity and sourcing improvements early in the product development process.

Supplier Risk & Program Leadership

• Lead supplier risk assessments covering capacity, lead time, quality, financial, geographic, tariff/trade, and supply continuity risks.
• Develop and drive mitigation plans for single-source, constrained, long-lead, and high-risk components.
• Lead alternate/dual sourcing, supplier contingency planning, capacity expansion, and other supply resilience initiatives.
• Represent Supply/Sourcing as a senior contributor on NPI core teams, program gates, build readiness reviews, and launch activities.
• Influence cross-functional decisions by clearly communicating material status, supplier commitments, commercial considerations, risks, and recommended actions.
• Independently lead resolution of complex cross-functional issues that may impact cost, quality, capacity, or launch timing.
• Escalate significant supplier, material, commercial, or launch risks with clear recommendations and recovery plans.
• Provide sourcing leadership and subject-matter expertise for high-visibility or strategically important NPI programs.

Leadership, Coaching & Team Development

• Coach and mentor junior and developing NPI Sourcing Specialists and other team members in sourcing strategy, supplier management, negotiation, material readiness, and NPI processes.
• Serve as a day-to-day resource and escalation point for less-experienced team members.
• Lead knowledge-sharing sessions, lessons-learned reviews, and development of sourcing and material-readiness best practices.
• Help establish consistent standards, tools, processes, and expectations across NPI Sourcing.
• Provide informal leadership to cross-functional teams and project workstreams without requiring direct people-management responsibility.
• Lead working sessions and drive teams toward clear decisions, owners, and actions.
• Support onboarding and development of new team members and contribute to capability-building across the organization.
• Demonstrate leadership through accountability, collaboration, influence, and proactive problem solving.

Systems, Data & Process Excellence

• Maintain accurate material, supplier, PO, cost, and sourcing information within SAP, Ariba, and other applicable systems.
• Ensure NPI project documentation, sourcing records, risk assessments, supplier commitments, and mitigation plans are complete and current.
• Establish and improve standard work for sourcing, supplier management, material readiness, and launch execution.
• Identify systemic issues and lead process improvements that improve sourcing effectiveness, launch readiness, cost, and supply resilience.
• Develop and leverage data, dashboards, and reporting to improve visibility to sourcing, material, supplier, and launch risks.
• Support development and implementation of NPI sourcing tools, templates, governance, and best practices.
• Ensure procurement documentation supports company policies, quality requirements, and internal audit expectations.

Key Outcomes

• Materials are available on time to support NPI milestones and successful production launch.
• Competitive supplier cost and accurate CBOM/standard cost are established and maintained.
• Supplier delivery, quality, capacity, and launch commitments are proactively managed.
• Material and supplier risks are identified early and effectively mitigated.
• RFQ, sourcing, negotiation, PO, PPAP, and launch activities are executed with appropriate rigor and speed.
• Cross-functional teams have clear visibility to supplier commitments, material readiness, cost, and risks.
• NPI sourcing decisions support broader commodity, cost, and supply resilience strategies.
• Effective knowledge transfer and coaching improve the capability of the broader NPI Sourcing team.
• Standard work and process improvements continuously improve NPI sourcing and launch performance.
• Successful transition from NPI into Production Purchasing and sustaining operations.

Required Capabilities

• Significant experience in NPI sourcing, procurement, materials, purchasing, supply chain, supplier management, or a related discipline.
• Strong understanding of RFQs, supplier selection, commercial negotiations, TCO, POs, BOMs/CBOMs, PPAP, engineering changes, and NPI processes.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex sourcing and supplier-management activities with limited direction.
• Strong understanding of supplier capacity, lead times, delivery performance, cost structures, quality, and supply risk.
• Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and drive decisions in complex, ambiguous situations.
• Strong negotiation, problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional projects or workstreams and drive issues to resolution.
• Ability to coach, mentor, and develop less-experienced team members.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, including the ability to communicate complex sourcing and supply risks to leadership.
• Strong organization and follow-through in a fast-paced, multiple-program environment.
• Ability to balance strategic sourcing considerations with tactical material execution and launch requirements.
• Experience with SAP, Ariba, or similar ERP/procurement systems preferred.
• Experience in a manufacturing, industrial, engineering, or complex product-development environment preferred.

“We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.”