Manager, Direct Materials

What we do- Aspen•Northborough, MA

19h

About The Position

Aspen Aerogels is seeking a strategic, hands-on Direct Materials Manager to lead direct materials category management for manufacturing operations in the United States and Mexico, working with a global supply base. The role owns supply security, cost and supplier performance for the direct materials portfolio. It is a player-coach position: the Manager personally leads critical categories—batting, silanes, wet and dry chemicals, and industrial gases—while leading and developing a team of Global Category Leaders. The role co-develops and executes multi-year category strategies, delivers the annual direct materials cost-out plan, mitigates supplier risks and secures capacity commitments to ensure continuity of supply for automotive and industrial customer programs. The Manager is accountable for direct materials results, including cost-out delivery, supply continuity and supplier performance, and makes decisions within delegated authority, escalating only on defined thresholds. The Manager leads direct materials category management for the US and Mexico, co-developing three-to-five-year category strategies with the Director of Global Sourcing and owning their execution through category priorities and annual plans. The role personally owns category plans, commercial negotiations and supplier relationships for batting, silanes, wet and dry chemicals, and industrial gases. It owns suppliers commercially regardless of location, partnering with the Global Sourcing Leader, Asia on identification, development, audits and on-the-ground follow-up for Asia-based suppliers. The position secures supply for critical and capacity-constrained materials through annual volume commitments, long-term agreements and qualification of additional sources. It maintains a supplier risk register covering capacity, financial, geopolitical and country-of-origin risks, including customer sourcing restrictions across all supply tiers, and develops mitigation plans. It owns the direct materials cost-out portfolio and opportunity pipeline, coordinates project plans and cross-functional actions, and secures Finance validation of savings from negotiation, dual sourcing, material substitution, should-cost analysis and value engineering. The Manager leads supplier performance management, including scorecards, corrective actions and quarterly business reviews, and leads supplier changes and new-source qualification with Engineering, Quality and Program Management, including APQP/PPAP and customer notification requirements. The position consolidates commodity, capacity and pricing intelligence into early sourcing actions; makes sourcing, supplier selection and commercial decisions within delegated authority; and owns the weekly direct materials operating review. It partners with Planning on the hand-off between strategic sourcing and day-to-day execution, and works cross-functionally with Planning, Operations, Engineering, Quality, Program Management and Finance to align sourcing plans with demand, product launches and cost targets. The role directly supervises Global Category Leaders – Direct Materials. It sets objectives and priorities, coaches and develops team members through individual development plans, conducts performance reviews, builds primary and backup coverage for critical categories, and participates in hiring and onboarding. Travel to manufacturing sites and supplier locations globally may be required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business or a related field.
At least 7 years of experience in direct materials strategic sourcing, category management or procurement.
At least 2 years leading people or teams.
Hands-on sourcing expertise in fibers/batting and chemicals supply chains.
Proven track record of delivering multi-million-dollar cost savings and securing supply in capacity-constrained markets.
Advanced negotiation skills, including index-based pricing, long-term agreements, should-cost modeling and total cost of ownership analysis.
Experience with ERP systems and spend analytics; strong Excel skills.
Ability to travel to manufacturing sites and supplier locations globally as required.
High integrity in supplier and business dealings.

Nice To Haves

MBA or other advanced degree.
Experience with other engineered materials.
Automotive and/or advanced materials supply base experience.
Working knowledge of IATF 16949, APQP/PPAP and customer-specific requirements.
Microsoft D365 experience preferred.
Power BI experience.
Lean Six Sigma certification or Kaizen facilitation experience.

Responsibilities

Lead direct materials category management for manufacturing operations in the United States and Mexico.
Co-develop three-to-five-year category strategies with the Director of Global Sourcing and own execution through category priorities and annual plans.
Personally own category plans, commercial negotiations and supplier relationships for batting, silanes, wet and dry chemicals, and industrial gases.
Own commercial supplier relationships for direct materials categories, including contracts, pricing, performance and cost-out, partnering with the Global Sourcing Leader, Asia on Asia-based supplier identification, development, audits and follow-up.
Secure supply for critical and capacity-constrained materials by locking annual volume commitments, negotiating long-term agreements and qualifying additional sources.
Build and maintain a supplier risk register covering capacity, financial, geopolitical and country-of-origin risks, including customer sourcing restrictions across all supply tiers; develop and execute mitigation plans.
Own delivery of the direct materials cost-out portfolio and develop the pipeline of new opportunities, including plans, milestones, cross-functional actions and Finance validation of savings.
Lead supplier performance management, including scorecards, corrective actions and quarterly business reviews.
Lead supplier changes and new-source qualification with Engineering, Quality and Program Management, including APQP/PPAP and customer notification requirements.
Consolidate commodity, capacity and pricing intelligence from Category Leaders and the Global Sourcing Leader, Asia, and turn it into early sourcing actions.
Make sourcing, supplier selection and commercial decisions within delegated authority; resolve issues at the appropriate level and escalate only on defined thresholds.
Own the content, actions and follow-through of the weekly direct materials operating review covering cost-out progress, supply risks and open escalations.
Partner with material planning teams to ensure an effective hand-off between strategic sourcing and day-to-day execution, including purchase orders and deliveries.
Partner with Planning, Operations, Engineering, Quality, Program Management and Finance to align sourcing plans with demand, product launches and cost targets, including the monthly cross-functional cost-out review.
Directly supervise Global Category Leaders – Direct Materials; set objectives and priorities, coach and develop team members, create individual development plans and conduct performance reviews.
Build primary and backup coverage for every critical category and participate in team hiring and onboarding.
Travel to manufacturing sites and supplier locations globally as required.