Snr Director, Purchasing Direct Materials

Tenneco•Plymouth, MI

About The Position

The Purchasing Director, Direct Materials is responsible for developing and executing purchasing strategies that deliver material cost improvement, supply continuity, quality, working-capital performance, and long-term competitiveness. This leader oversees direct-material sourcing, commodity management, supplier negotiations, program purchasing, supplier performance, and supply-risk mitigation. The role partners closely with Operations, Finance, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Commercial, and Program Management to translate business priorities and market intelligence into measurable results. The successful candidate will have strong automotive direct-material purchasing experience and demonstrated knowledge of carbon steel and stainless steel markets, including cost drivers, index mechanisms, conversion economics, tariffs, trade actions, regional supply dynamics, and supplier structures.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Finance, Metallurgy, Materials Science, or a related field.
10+ years in progressive leadership experience in direct-material purchasing, strategic sourcing, commodity management, or supply chain.
Demonstrated experience leading purchasing teams and managing a complex direct-material portfolio.
Strong working knowledge of carbon steel and stainless steel markets, cost structures, indices, supply chains, and commercial mechanisms.
Experience leading complex supplier negotiations and developing long-term commercial agreements.
Demonstrated success delivering material-cost reduction, working-capital improvement, and economic recovery.
Strong financial, analytical, negotiation, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills.
Experience managing supplier risk, capacity constraints, performance issues, and continuity-of-supply concerns.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally based on business needs.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute direct-material commodity and supplier strategies aligned with business and financial objectives.
Lead the purchasing business plan, forecast, annual operating plan, and material-cost outlook.
Deliver validated cost savings and working-capital improvements through negotiation, competitive sourcing, localization, VAVE, supplier productivity, payment terms, and supply-base optimization.
Lead purchasing actions related to commodity movements, tariffs, duties, freight, foreign exchange, and economic recovery.
Ensure savings, forecasts, and financial assumptions are accurate, documented, and aligned with Finance.
Partner cross-functionally to identify cost opportunities, support customer recovery, and resolve issues affecting cost, quality, delivery, cash, launches, or supply continuity.
Maintain strong knowledge of carbon steel and stainless steel markets, supply chains, and commercial practices.
Understand key metals-market drivers, including raw materials, alloy surcharges, energy, mill capacity, regional supply and demand, product form, conversion costs, freight, tariffs, and published indices.
Evaluate market and index movements to validate supplier pricing and develop effective negotiation and index-based agreement strategies.
Understand the economics of mills, service centers, processors, stampers, fabricators, and other tiers within the metals supply chain.
Apply market-based analysis to other assigned direct-material commodities.
Lead major supplier negotiations involving cost, productivity, payment terms, contracts, capacity, tooling, quality, delivery, and commercial claims.
Make sourcing decisions based on total cost, capability, capacity, quality, delivery, financial condition, geographic exposure, and launch readiness.
Develop executive relationships with strategic suppliers while maintaining clear commercial and performance expectations.
Drive supply-base optimization through localization, Best Cost Country sourcing, dual sourcing, rationalization, and alternative-source development.
Serve as the senior purchasing escalation point for significant supplier issues.
Ensure supplier selections and agreements comply with purchasing policies, competitive-bidding requirements, and authorization levels.
Identify and mitigate supplier risks related to capacity, financial health, quality, delivery, logistics, geopolitical events, trade restrictions, sole sourcing, tooling, and raw-material availability.
Develop contingency plans for high-risk suppliers and commodities, including alternate sources, capacity options, tooling plans, and decision triggers.
Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to balance continuity of supply, inventory, lead time, and working-capital requirements.
Lead performance reviews and corrective-action plans for strategic, constrained, and underperforming suppliers.
Partner with Supplier Development and Quality to improve supplier performance.
Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing direct-material purchasing team with clear priorities, accountability, and succession plans.
Build team capability in commodity management, negotiation, financial analysis, supplier management, and executive communication.
Ensure purchasing activities comply with company policies, delegation-of-authority requirements, contractual standards, and applicable laws.
Maintain appropriate documentation for sourcing decisions, approvals, commercial agreements, and savings.
Promote ethical supplier relationships and protect confidential information.