Senior Buyer - Glass

Volvo Car Corporation•Ridgeville, SC

22d

About The Position

The Senior Buyer develops and executes sourcing strategies for direct material commodities supporting advanced and new vehicle projects, ongoing production, and Volvo Cars’ U.S. manufacturing and regional operations. The role owns complex sourcing decisions, supplier commercial relationships, cost competitiveness, and supply continuity for assigned commodities. The Senior Buyer leads strategic sourcing and complex negotiations; drives cost reductions, commercial recoveries, and localization; integrates cost engineering into procurement decisions; manages supplier performance and risk; supports vehicle launches and engineering changes; and mentors Buyers. The role works with global stakeholders across Purchasing, Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Finance, Logistics, and Program Management within globally aligned processes and governance. The position requires deep knowledge of automotive direct-material sourcing and manufacturing economics, strong commercial and financial judgment, and the ability to lead complex initiatives and influence cross-functional stakeholders. Experience sourcing automotive seating and interior components is a plus. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, with strong emphasis on Excel.
In-depth knowledge of the automotive industry, including suppliers, systems, processes, manufacturing economics, and direct material sourcing.
Minimum of 7 years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, supply chain, cost management, or the automotive industry.
Experience managing direct material commodities and supplier negotiations in a manufacturing environment.
Demonstrated success delivering cost reductions, commercial recoveries, sourcing decisions, and supplier performance improvements.
Experience supporting vehicle launches, engineering changes, production environments, or complex program timing requirements.
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
Strategic sourcing and commercial leadership, including commodity strategy, RFQ execution, supplier selection, localization, negotiations, and supply-base optimization.
Strong financial and business acumen connecting procurement decisions to cost, margin, cash flow, working capital, customer impact, and competitive positioning.
Advanced cost and value analysis, including should-cost modeling, cost-driver assessment, benchmarking, manufacturing economics, tooling, capital recovery, and design-to-cost.
Ability to anticipate and mitigate supplier financial, capacity, quality, delivery, geopolitical, and launch risks.
Executive-level communication and influence, including translating complex commercial issues into clear recommendations and aligning leaders, teams, and suppliers.
Structured, analytical decision-making; ability to challenge assumptions, resolve conflicts, prioritize demands, and independently lead complex initiatives from strategy through implementation.
Accountability for cost competitiveness, sourcing quality, supplier performance, launch readiness, continuous improvement, and developing Buyers through coaching and best-practice deployment.
High integrity, sound judgment, professionalism, and a collaborative, solution-oriented mindset aligned with long-term business objectives.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or equivalent advanced business or technical education.
Experience sourcing automotive seating and interior components, including seats and upholstery, hard trim, and headliners.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute commodity and supplier strategies aligned with business objectives, vehicle programs, cost targets, localization priorities, technology roadmaps, and global category direction.
Lead end-to-end sourcing for complex direct material commodities, including market analysis, RFQs, supplier selection, business cases, negotiations, contracting, transfers, resourcing, and implementation.
Deliver cost competitiveness and margin improvement through productivity, localization, commercial recoveries, claims resolution, cost avoidance, and control of pricing, tooling, capacity, and engineering changes.
Integrate Cost Engineering into sourcing and negotiations using should-cost analysis, benchmarking, cost transparency, design-to-cost, and fact-based challenges to supplier quotations and investment assumptions.
Own strategic supplier relationships and performance as the primary commercial interface for negotiations, escalations, agreements, and resolution of cost, quality, delivery, capacity, and financial issues.
Protect supply continuity by assessing supplier financial, operational, capacity, quality, geopolitical, and launch risks; lead contingency plans and mitigation for production-critical components.
Ensure sourcing and supplier readiness for vehicle launches, engineering changes, volume shifts, and production requirements through cross-functional governance.
Drive cross-functional decisions and communicate financial impact and supplier exposure to management.
Mentor Buyers and advance sourcing standards, negotiation practices, and continuous improvement.
Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned based on business needs.