Commodity Manager-Metals

Twin City Fan & Blower•Plymouth, MN

1d•$89,000 - $110,000

About The Position

The Commodity Manager owns metal sourcing strategy and supplier relationships for carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum across manufacturing locations. The role evaluates domestic mills, service centers, and processors; develops primary and backup sourcing options; analyzes spending and purchasing patterns; aligns supply decisions with production, inventory, and market needs; and maintains a documented category strategy. The position monitors metal pricing, lead times, capacity, availability, surcharges, freight, processing costs, and other market indicators. It evaluates supplier price changes, communicates market developments and business implications, and recommends purchasing, contracting, or inventory actions. The Commodity Manager leads commercial negotiations and supplier reviews, manages agreements and escalations, and partners with Quality and Engineering on qualification, audits, discrepancies, and supplier development. Working with Buyers, Planning, Operations, Engineering, Finance, and other stakeholders, the role supports purchasing practices, supply issues, demand and capacity alignment, material specifications, new product introductions, and supplier transitions. It uses Epicor, Passport, Power BI, and Excel across two ERP systems and manual and automated processes to analyze spend, pricing, receipts, inventory, supplier performance, cost comparisons, savings, and data gaps. The role is also responsible for continuous improvement in metal purchasing, total-cost reduction, category reporting, supplier reviews, and escalation practices. The successful candidate demonstrates ownership, sound commercial judgment, market knowledge, clear communication, collaboration, and a continuous improvement mindset. Compensation is $89,000–$110,000, dependent on experience, with eligibility for an annual discretionary bonus tied to overall organizational performance.

Requirements

5–8+ years of purchasing, sourcing, or commodity management experience, including at least 5 years directly managing metal purchases or metal supplier relationships.
Demonstrated experience with carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum, including sheet and angle; familiarity with plate, coil, and other manufacturing-relevant forms.
Strong working knowledge of domestic metal markets, mills, service centers, and processing capabilities.
Understanding of material grades, gauges, dimensions, weight-based pricing, and applicable specifications.
Experience analyzing metal pricing structures, market trends, surcharges, conversion costs, and freight.
Proven ability to lead supplier negotiations, establish agreements, and manage supplier performance.
Ability to communicate market changes and recommend actions based on operational and financial impact.
Strong Excel, analytical, and total-cost comparison skills.
Experience working in ERP systems and adapting to manual and automated purchasing processes.
Effective written and verbal communication skills.
Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant experience is considered.
Ability to manage changing priorities, address supply and production needs, communicate proactively, and collaborate across functions and locations.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing metal sourcing across multiple manufacturing locations.
Established knowledge of domestic mills and service centers serving industrial manufacturers.
Experience with fabricated metal products and processing such as slitting, cut-to-length, leveling, or blanking.
Experience developing index-based pricing agreements or other structured metal purchasing arrangements.
Familiarity with material certifications, traceability, and supplier quality requirements.
Experience managing supplier transitions and qualifying alternate material sources.
Experience with Epicor, Passport, Power BI, or similar procurement analytics tools.
Professional certification such as CPSM, CPM, CPIM, or CSCP.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute sourcing strategies for carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum across manufacturing locations.
Evaluate domestic mills, service centers, and processors for capability, capacity, competitiveness, quality, and reliability.
Establish primary and secondary sourcing options to reduce supplier concentration and supply disruption risk.
Analyze spend, material requirements, and purchasing patterns to identify consolidation, standardization, and sourcing opportunities.
Align supplier allocations and sourcing decisions with production requirements, inventory objectives, and market conditions.
Maintain a documented category strategy with actions, owners, and expected results.
Monitor metal pricing, mill lead times, capacity, availability, alloy surcharges, and relevant raw-material and economic indicators.
Evaluate supplier price changes against market information and negotiated agreements, and recommend purchasing, contracting, or inventory actions.
Provide regular market updates explaining changes, expected business impact, and recommended actions.
Communicate material cost and availability changes to leadership, Buyers, Planning, Finance, and quoting stakeholders.
Own commercial relationships with assigned metal suppliers and establish performance expectations.
Lead negotiations covering pricing, volume commitments, lead times, payment terms, freight, and other commercial conditions.
Develop and maintain supply agreements with clear pricing mechanisms, service requirements, and escalation processes.
Conduct supplier business reviews covering delivery, quality, capacity, cost, responsiveness, and improvement actions.
Lead escalations and corrective actions for recurring delivery, quality, and service issues.
Partner with Quality and Engineering on supplier qualification, audits, material discrepancies, and supplier development.
Partner with Buyers to translate category strategies into consistent purchasing practices and support day-to-day supply issues.
Work with Planning and Operations to align demand, supplier capacity, replenishment practices, and inventory coverage.
Partner with Engineering to evaluate material specifications, alternate sources, and opportunities to improve yield or reduce waste.
Support new product introductions through material sourcing, supplier selection, and capacity validation.
Coordinate supplier transitions to protect production continuity and manage remaining inventory and commitments.
Use Epicor, Passport, Power BI, and Excel to analyze spend, purchase prices, receipts, inventory, and supplier performance.
Partner with Buyers and Planning to maintain accurate supplier pricing, lead times, and purchasing parameters.
Build cost comparisons accounting for material grade, gauge, dimensions, weight, processing, freight, and purchasing units.
Track sourcing savings and cost avoidance using documented baselines and Finance-aligned validation methods.
Identify data gaps and process limitations, and establish practical controls to support reliable decisions.
Improve metal purchasing practices across locations while accounting for plant-specific requirements.
Identify opportunities to reduce total cost through material utilization, order quantities, processing arrangements, and supplier performance.
Establish consistent category reporting, supplier reviews, and escalation practices.
Demonstrate TCF Core Values in supplier and internal interactions.
During the first 60 days, learn TCF products, manufacturing processes, metal specifications, and plant requirements; review spend, supplier allocations, agreements, pricing structures, and open risks; build stakeholder relationships; assess purchasing practices and tools; issue an initial market update; and identify immediate gaps requiring action.
By 90 days, independently manage assigned supplier relationships and commercial escalations; complete a category assessment; present a prioritized category plan with measurable objectives; establish recurring market communications and supplier reviews; begin priority negotiations or corrective actions; and align with Buyers and Planning on allocations, inventory, and escalations.
After 12 months, maintain and execute the category strategy; implement sourcing and supplier improvements; establish appropriate agreements and qualified backup sources; use market intelligence consistently; deliver documented, validated results; and serve as the internal resource for metal markets, supplier capabilities, and commercial strategy.