Position Summary
The Senior Category Manager develops and executes sourcing strategies for critical data center infrastructure categories to improve cost competitiveness, supplier performance, supply continuity, and alignment with technology roadmaps. This role leads strategic supplier relationships and commercial negotiations in support of global hyperscale data center growth.
Key Responsibilities
Category Strategy & Market Intelligence
- Develop and execute multi-year category strategies aligned with business objectives and hyperscale data center growth plans, using market intelligence, spend analysis, industry capacity, technology roadmaps, and geopolitical risk to guide decisions.
- Identify opportunities for total cost optimization, supplier innovation, regional diversification, dual sourcing, and long-range supply assurance for critical components and infrastructure materials.
Strategic Supplier Management
- Build effective relationships with key supplier stakeholders, including executive-level contacts, and align supplier technology and capacity roadmaps with future data center requirements.
- Lead supplier business reviews and use scorecards, corrective actions, and joint business plans to improve cost, quality, delivery, service, capacity, and innovation.
Commercial & Contract Management
- Lead sourcing events and negotiate strategic agreements covering pricing, capacity, lead times, service levels, continuity, intellectual property, quality, inventory, and liability to strengthen AFL’s competitive position and protect supply, quality, and delivery commitments.
- Deliver measurable savings, cost avoidance, total-cost-of-ownership improvements, and supplier productivity.
Capacity & Supply Assurance
- Validate supplier capacity and scalability against forecasts and major deployment ramps, establishing capacity reservations, demand-forecasting processes, and allocation frameworks with strategic suppliers.
- Develop multi-source strategies, continuity plans, and recovery plans for mission-critical materials.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Partner with Engineering, Logistics, Manufacturing Operations, Finance, Quality, Program Management, Product Line Management, and regional supply chain teams to support new product introductions, deployment readiness, and sourcing and technology decisions through design reviews.
- Provide sourcing guidance, communicate risks and recommendations, and drive stakeholder alignment across global initiatives.
Key Categories
- Categories may include fiber optic cable assemblies, connectors and components, structured cabling solutions, rack integration and assembly, and contract manufacturing services.
Performance, Innovation & Risk Management
- Establish supplier scorecards and executive reviews focused on delivery, lead-time adherence, quality, cost, capacity, corrective action, and measurable performance improvement.
- Lead supplier innovation and value-engineering initiatives that reduce cost, accelerate deployment, and support next-generation data center architectures.
- Reduce single-source exposure and maintain resiliency plans for geopolitical, operational, and capacity risks.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, Operations, or a related field.
- 7+ years of strategic sourcing, procurement, or category management experience.
- Experience managing global suppliers supporting cloud, networking, telecommunications, data center infrastructure, or a related technical environment.
- Demonstrated success leading complex sourcing initiatives and negotiating multimillion-dollar commercial agreements.
- Strong analytical, financial, contract-management, stakeholder-influence, and supplier performance-management skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and drive measurable results in a fast-paced, global environment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting hyperscale cloud infrastructure providers or comparable customers.
- Experience with optical connectivity, structured cabling, fiber infrastructure, networking hardware, or data center construction.
- CPSM, CIPS, CSCP, PMP, or MBA.
Working Conditions
- Professional office environment with a hybrid work schedule.
- Travel required: Some Travel
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Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, Operations, or a related field
- 7+ years of strategic sourcing, procurement, or category management experience
- Experience managing global suppliers supporting cloud, networking, telecommunications, data center infrastructure, or a related technical environment
- Success leading complex sourcing initiatives and negotiating multimillion-dollar commercial agreements
- Strong analytical, financial, contract-management, stakeholder-influence, and supplier performance-management skills
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and drive measurable results in a fast-paced, global environment
- Experience supporting hyperscale cloud infrastructure providers or comparable customers
- Experience with optical connectivity, structured cabling, fiber infrastructure, networking hardware, or data center construction
- CPSM, CIPS, CSCP, PMP, or MBA
AFL Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about AFL and has not been reviewed or approved by AFL.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as comprehensive, including medical with HSA options, dental, vision, disability, life/AD&D, wellness resources, and EAP. Carrier options and plan tiers are outlined publicly, and on‑site health resources are available in some locations.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company match is a prominent part of the package, with dollar‑for‑dollar matching and vesting timelines highlighted. The retirement program is repeatedly positioned as a strong component of total compensation.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid vacation, holidays, and sick time are standard, with some teams operating flexible or unlimited PTO models. This breadth supports work–life balance where such policies are offered.
AFL Insights
What We Do
Founded in 1984, AFL is an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise and industrial markets as well as several emerging markets. Our products are in use in over 130 countries and include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectivity, test and inspection equipment, fusion splicers and training. AFL also offers a wide variety of services supporting data center, enterprise, wireless and outside plant applications. Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujikura, Ltd. Of Japan.
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