Strategic Sourcing Manager

Acron Aviation Inc•Grand Rapids, MI

5h•Onsite

About The Position

At Acron, our ambition is to relentlessly reimagine and reshape the value chains by which we deliver results to our customers, suppliers, and internal/external stakeholder communities in pursuit of innovations that create safer skies. Acron employees strive to achieve world-class results through our values: always putting our customers first, taking ownership of our results in line with a founder mentality, moving fast, and speaking candidly. We are seeking a Strategic Sourcing Manager (SSM) to own category strategies and sourcing execution for assigned direct and third-party commodities in an aerospace manufacturing environment; deliver measurable cost savings, reduce risk, and improve supplier quality and delivery through data-driven market analysis, competitive sourcing, and rigorous contracting/negotiation. Additionally, the SSM ensures alignment with aerospace standards and customer flow-downs (e.g., AS9100, AS9145 APQP/PPAP, AS9102 FAI), as well as applicable ITAR/EAR and DFARS requirements. The successful candidate will earn the respect, trust, and collaboration of the Acron organization through inspirational leadership qualities essential to the realization of our vision. This leadership, centered on motivating teams and individuals to deliver performance levels perceived as unattainable, will shape culture, instill values, innovate, and continuously improve existing business methods to create value. The team exemplifies passion, courage, teamwork, ingenuity, ownership, efficiency, and candor in all that it does to delight our customers, suppliers, and stakeholders. This role will be on-site in Grand Rapids, MI, and require up to 25% travel to the multiple Acron and supplier business sites, both domestic and international.

Requirements

Bachelor’s in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, or related; 7–10+ years strategic sourcing/category management in a manufacturing environment (aerospace/defense strongly preferred).
Demonstrated success delivering year‑over‑year cost savings and cash improvements (PPV, deflation, terms, inventory).
Advanced negotiation expertise (should‑cost/TCO, indexation/hedging, LTAs).
Working knowledge of AS9100, AS9145 (APQP/PPAP), AS9102 (FAI), AS5553, ITAR/EAR, and DFARS purchasing/flow‑down expectations.
Strong initiative/self‑starter with bias for action; comfortable leading cross‑functional teams and driving change without formal authority.

Nice To Haves

MBA or MS (Supply Chain/Engineering)
Certification in Supply Chain Management (CSCP, CPSM, CPIM)
PMP certification or equivalent Program Management certification
Aerospace industry experience
Experience in electronics and/or contract manufacturing
PowerBI experience
SAP super user experience
Experience working within a Private Equity environment

Responsibilities

Category Strategy & Market Intelligence
Develop 3-year category roadmaps covering make/buy, dual-source strategies, supply risk heatmaps, and capacity plans.
Build should-cost/TCO models, indexation, and hedging strategies; use market benchmarks (metals/energy/labor) to set target prices and guardrails.
Track PPV/deflation, payment terms, inventory turns, cash, and value engineering benefits; manage a visible savings pipeline with quarterly targets.
Sourcing Execution
Run structured RFx and e-auctions; execute fact-based bid analytics and award scenarios; document selection criteria and recommendation memos.
Negotiate LTAs/SLAs with clear commercial terms (volume, lead time, MOQ, flexibility, price-adjustment formulas, IP, exit clauses).
Partner with Engineering/Quality/Operations to launch and transfer parts; ensure readiness gates and sourcing tollgates are met.
Contracting, Compliance & Governance
Draft, negotiate, and administer contracts that incorporate required FAR/DFARS flow-downs and customer clauses; coordinate with Legal/Programs for reviews and approvals.
Ensure proper handling and transfer of export-controlled data (ITAR/EAR); maintain supplier attestations and training; flow the right clauses to sub-tiers.
Implement counterfeit-parts avoidance and traceability in line with regulatory requirements and customer notes; leverage GIDEP where required.
Supplier Quality, APQP & Industrialization
Partner with Supplier Quality to plan AS9145 APQP/PPAP deliverables and AS9102 FAI; ensure process capability (CP/CPK), control plans, and special process approvals before ramp.
Align with OEM/customer requirements as invoked by contract.
Drive supplier preventive and corrective actions, escape containment, and process audits; escalate chronic risks with recovery plans.
Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) & Development
Establish QBRs and scorecards (OTD, quality PPM/escapes, responsiveness, cost reduction, innovation); set improvement roadmaps and supplier development priorities.
Use a “Keep-It-Simple SRM” approach that includes structured QBR templates, variance analysis, rolling 12-month forecast, and credits reconciliation to maximize value from committed spend.
Sustainability, Ethics & Diversity
Cascade our Supplier Code of Conduct; align with key customer expectations on ethics, environment, human rights, and supplier diversity. Coordinate Tier-II reporting with prime suppliers as needed.
Tools & Analytics
Power user of Power BI (DAX/PowerQuery), advanced Excel, and ERP (SAP/Oracle); SQL familiarity a plus for cost/price/usage analytics and forecasting.
Build dashboards that visualize savings, risk, supplier performance, and contract coverage for leadership.