Director of Strategic Procurement

Position Summary 

The Director of Strategic Procurement, reporting to our VP of Supply Chain, develops and executes enterprise procurement strategies that support IEM’s manufacturing, supply chain, operational, and business growth goals. This role is responsible for building a high-performing procurement function, improving supplier performance, driving cost reduction, reducing supply risk, and ensuring IEM has the supplier base, contracts, and processes needed to support a fast-paced manufacturing environment. 

The ideal candidate has strong strategic sourcing, supplier management, procurement leadership, and manufacturing experience. This individual should be able to partner cross-functionally with Supply Chain, Operations, Planning, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and executive leadership to improve material availability, cost competitiveness, supplier accountability, and long-term business continuity. 

Note: While candidates based near one of our US plants are preferred, we are open to remote candidates. This role requires approximately 50% travel. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Develop and execute strategic procurement plans that support cost, quality, delivery, inventory, working capital, and business continuity goals. 

• Lead procurement strategy across assigned commodities, suppliers, materials, components, and services. 

• Build, lead, coach, and develop a procurement team capable of supporting IEM’s growth, production demands, and operational priorities. 

• Establish supplier strategies that improve cost competitiveness, lead times, capacity, quality, and delivery performance. 

• Lead supplier negotiations related to pricing, contracts, payment terms, lead times, minimum order quantities, stocking agreements, blanket orders, and long-term supply agreements. 

• Drive cost reduction, supplier consolidation, dual sourcing, localization, value engineering, and supply risk mitigation initiatives. 

• Partner with Procurement, Planning, Operations, Quality, Engineering, Finance, and executive leadership to align supplier strategies with business and production needs. 

• Analyze spend, supplier performance, market trends, supplier capacity, demand signals, lead times, cost drivers, and supply risks to support sourcing and procurement decisions. 

• Establish procurement processes, tools, KPIs, and reporting mechanisms to improve visibility, accountability, and decision-making. 

• Manage supplier performance through business reviews, scorecards, corrective actions, escalation management, and long-term supplier development. 

• Support supplier issue resolution related to delivery delays, defects, nonconformance, pricing discrepancies, capacity constraints, and recurring performance concerns. 

• Develop and maintain strong supplier relationships while ensuring suppliers are held accountable to IEM’s expectations. 

• Partner with internal stakeholders to support new product introduction, capacity expansion, operational improvements, and strategic business initiatives. 

• Ensure procurement data, supplier records, pricing, contracts, and sourcing documentation are accurate and maintained in applicable systems. 

• Support continuous improvement efforts related to procurement processes, supplier performance, material flow, cost reduction, and supply chain reliability. 

• The candidate will be expected to perform additional duties as assigned to support the team and organization. 

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business Administration, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field. 

• 10+ years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, commodity management, supply chain, or supplier management in a manufacturing environment. 

• 5+ years of experience leading procurement, sourcing, or supply chain teams. 

• Experience developing and executing procurement strategies across multiple commodities, suppliers, or business units. 

• Strong experience leading supplier negotiations, supplier performance management, contract management, cost reduction, and supply risk mitigation initiatives. 

• Strong understanding of manufacturing supply chains, supplier lead times, material planning, cost drivers, inventory management, and production support. 

• Ability to make practical procurement and supplier decisions while partnering appropriately with Engineering, Quality, Operations, Finance, and Supply Chain. 

• Strong leadership, analytical, negotiation, communication, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration skills. 

• Experience building processes, KPIs, reporting tools, supplier scorecards, and procurement operating rhythms. 

• Proficiency with ERP/MRP systems, Microsoft Excel, spend analysis, and supplier performance reporting tools. 

• Demonstrated career growth and increasing responsibility, with the ability to operate as both a strategic leader and hands-on problem solver in a fast-paced, high-growth organization. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience in electrical equipment, power distribution, switchgear, industrial manufacturing, or engineered-to-order manufacturing. 

• Experience with supplier development, localization, Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, material flow, and value engineering concepts. 

• Experience supporting high-growth manufacturing environments with complex supplier networks and production demands. 

• CPM, CPSM, CSCP, or other procurement/supply chain certification preferred. 

• Advanced degree in Supply Chain, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field preferred. 

Working Conditions 

• Manufacturing and office environment. 

• May require travel to suppliers or IEM facilities. 

• Must be able to work in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities, production demands, supplier constraints, and executive-level expectations. 

Compensation actually offered for this role will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors.