Director of Direct Materials

CSP•Auburn Hills, MI

12d•Hybrid

About The Position

CSP is the industry leader in the formulation and molding of lightweight, advanced composite components for the transportation industries. As an innovative, full-service Tier One supplier, we offer an entrepreneurial environment where you’re only limited by your own imagination. In addition to our team-focused environment, we provide industry-leading benefits, called BENEfits4U. Our comprehensive offering includes: affordable medical, dental, and vision care; flexible spending accounts; life insurance; 401k with company match and much, much more.

Requirements

Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or related field; advanced credentials (MBA, M.S. in Engineering or Materials Science) are advantageous.
10+ years in direct materials procurement or category management within automotive Tier-1 or advanced manufacturing, with demonstrated people leadership and team development experience.
Proven track record of building and leading procurement teams; experience defining team structures, recruiting, and developing category management capability in a multi-site automotive environment.
Demonstrable success delivering cost savings and supply resilience across production parts, paint/coatings, and/or composite raw materials; experience with dual-sourcing under PPAP qualification constraints.
Demonstrated success running multi-site RFP/e-auction programs and negotiating MSAs with major direct material suppliers.
People Leadership and Team Building: demonstrated ability to build, structure, and develop a procurement team from the ground up; strong coaching mindset with experience recruiting and developing commercial talent in an automotive environment.
Direct Materials Category Leadership: proven mastery across production parts, paint/external paint, and/or raw materials in an automotive Tier-1 context, including PPAP, APQP, and OEM customer-specific requirements.
Advanced Sourcing and Negotiation: contract architecture (MSA, pricing agreements, indexation), e-sourcing/RFx, TCO and should-cost modeling, market intelligence across multiple categories.
Technical Credibility: strong understanding of metallic components, paint/coatings, and/or composite materials; ability to engage Engineering, R&D, and Operations with credibility.
Cross-Functional Leadership: disciplined matrix execution with Engineering, Quality, Operations, and Program Management; executive presence and clarity of communication.
Digital Fluency: ERP (QAD preferred), eProcurement, contract lifecycle management, performance dashboards, and master data governance.

Nice To Haves

advanced credentials (MBA, M.S. in Engineering or Materials Science) are advantageous.

Responsibilities

Build, structure, and lead the Direct Materials procurement team: define roles and headcount requirements, recruit talent, set performance objectives, and develop individual capabilities across the team.
Lead, mentor, and coach direct reports — including the Senior Commodity Manager SMC — fostering a high-performance, ownership-driven culture with clear accountability for category results, program delivery, and supplier management.
Establish team operating rhythms, governance cadences, and a shared culture of commercial excellence, cross-functional partnership, and continuous improvement aligned to CSP’s values.
Own and execute comprehensive category strategies across the full direct materials portfolio: SMC & DLFT raw materials (resins, fiberglass, pigments/thickeners, fillers, SMC chemicals), production parts (stampings, castings, extrusions, fasteners, seals/gaskets, latches/hinges), and paint & external paint (primers, paints, external paint services).
Establish structured sourcing cycles (RFx/e-auctions), index-based pricing, market baskets, and dual-/multi-sourcing roadmaps; implement governance, decision frameworks, and KPIs for cost, quality, delivery, and risk across all categories.
Translate formulation, process, and engineering constraints into commercial sourcing strategies; lead value engineering (VAVE) and target costing programs with R&D and Engineering across raw materials and production parts.
Run sub-category RFPs with aligned scoring, TCO evaluation, and should-cost analysis; build validated supplier panels with award strategies and dual-source readiness across all three category pillars.
Lead global RFPs for stampings, castings, extrusions, fasteners, seals, and latches; benchmark across OEM programs and leverage cross-portfolio opportunities where applicable.
Drive supplier localization, co-location, and domestic sourcing strategies; identify opportunities to reduce tariff exposure, logistics cost, and lead times in alignment with Operations.
Own sourcing strategy and supplier governance for paint raw materials (primers, paints) and external paint services (~$70M); drive consolidation, benchmarking, and contract coverage in a category currently managed with limited enterprise leverage.
Collaborate with Operations and Engineering on specification standardization and demand management; identify opportunities for insourcing, GPO leverage, or supplier rationalization to reduce total cost.
Develop executive-level relationships with strategic suppliers across all categories; negotiate MSAs and pricing agreements with escalator/de-escalator mechanisms and SLA-based performance frameworks.
Ensure full contract coverage across the direct materials portfolio; implement robust performance monitoring (PPM, OTIF, audit scores), corrective action tracking, and SQD coordination for qualification and PPAP readiness.
Build resilience through second sourcing, geographic diversification, and inventory risk buffers; maintain a living risk register across all direct material categories.
Orchestrate customer approval timelines, PPAP, and lab validation plans; manage change controls, communications to plants and customers, and IATF 16949 / OEM compliance requirements.