Sr. Commodity Buyer - Direct Materials

ALL REALTRUCK Career•Ann Arbor, MI

9h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Commodity Buyer for Direct Materials will plan, direct and coordinate all corporate procurement functions related to specific commodity groups. This role will engage cross functionally to develop category strategies, plus plan and lead the sourcing process. This includes negotiation of purchase price, quality, availability, delivery, and other factors necessary to ensure the overall conformance of materials purchased. This role is a key contributor to the Purchasing Continuous Improvement (PCI) initiative to improve RealTruck (RT) productivity and margins. Annual commitment and delivery of P&L cost savings is a core function of the position.

Requirements

Must have experience with metals, specifically aluminum extrusions and aluminum sheet metal.
Strong understanding of the PPAP process.
Bachelor’s degree required.
6+ years of related automotive experience and/or training is required.
Direct Metal Commodity Buyer experience is a MUST.
ERP system experience is required.
Strong proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint for competitive analysis, commodity market indexes and sourcing requirements.
Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community.
Ability to understand contracts and negotiations to pricing strategies.
Ability to effectively present information to top management and public groups.
Write, speak and comprehend English.
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Nice To Haves

Purchasing Certification (CPM / SPSM) is a plus.
Commodity Hedging is a PLUS.
Strong interest in Procurement technology and productivity tools, (e.g. AI, Power BI, etc.)

Responsibilities

Evaluate and analyze category market trends; manage supply risk and minimize total costs. This includes optimizing commodity strategies, forward buying, tariffs, currencies and landed cost.
Collaborate cross functionally to understand and determine supply needs and product development / engineering and evaluation requirements in order to develop strategy and select the best suppliers.
Drive the RFQ process and effectively manage supplier performance for quality, price, delivery and service.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with suppliers including the development of new product concepts / optimized services.
Participate in supplier business reviews.
Use data gathering and analysis to develop short and long-term action plans for continuous improvement opportunities, initiatives and significant cost savings.
Collaborate with internal teams (Procurement, IT, Finance, Legal) to gather requirements, understand pain points, and design solutions that align with business needs.
Maintain close relationships with external suppliers to ensure process integration and performance improvements.
Act as a liaison between procurement and other business units to drive initiatives and projects forward.
Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for procurement processes, including cost savings, process efficiency, and supplier performance.
Leverage data analytics to generate insights and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
Develop dashboards and reporting tools to provide visibility into procurement operations.