Director of Strategic Sourcing

Technical Chemical Recruiters - Chattanooga, TN

Full-time - Director

Hybrid - Chattanooga, TN

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

About the position

The Director of Strategic Sourcing is responsible for overseeing the purchasing and negotiations of additives used in various industrial applications, including water treatment, oil and gas exploration, and CASE production. This role requires expertise in driving negotiations, managing relationships, and developing effective supply chain strategies to reduce raw material costs and support company growth.

Responsibilities

• Cultivate and manage effective communications and working relationships with specialty contract manufacturing customers, suppliers, and internal teams.
• Work with the Technical team to proactively source new products and manage specifications.
• Control spend and build a culture of long-term savings on procurement costs.
• Minimize the cost of acquiring and carrying inventories and optimize purchasing-inventory-plant utilization.
• Encourage the development of new and best-in-class approaches for continuous improvement in processes.
• Utilize knowledge of chemistries and suppliers to establish procurement workflows and networks.
• Develop a sourcing framework by chemical class for guidance on procurement decisions.
• Map out strategies for introducing new raw materials at competitive prices with short turnaround times.
• Manage ongoing supplier relationships with a focus on cost reductions and market data utilization.
• Confer with the Director of Supply Chain on strategic supply chain direction.
• Support the Procurement team with vendor information collection and lead RFPs.
• Back up for PO expediting, tracking, and management.
• Work with Receiving Teams to document best practices and processes.
• Maintain purchasing procedures and supplier records per ISO guidelines and represent Procurement in ISO audits.
• Coordinate with Operations and suppliers to ensure timely delivery of materials and maintain stock levels.
• Develop permanent solutions to chronic supplier delivery issues and conduct supplier reviews.
• Drive cost savings and improved terms while strengthening supplier relationships.
• Resolve raw material quality control issues with suppliers and perform vendor visits as needed.
• Develop expertise in Chempax C/S ERP and identify ways to utilize its functionality for KPI tracking and delivery details.

Requirements

• 15+ years of experience sourcing domestically-produced and imported chemicals in various markets, including energy, surfactants, paints and coatings, and water treatment.
• Understanding of chemical markets and relationships among manufacturers, distributors, and competitors.
• Excellent communication skills in person, over the phone, and via email.
• Strong negotiation and networking skills.
• Experience working for a chemical manufacturer.
• Detail-oriented with superior analytical, organizational, prioritization, and multitasking abilities.
• Sense of urgency and accountability.
• Experience in developing and improving processes and efficiencies.
• Proficient in Microsoft applications, especially Excel.
• Extensive knowledge of purchasing procedures and common industrial terminology.
• Extensive experience in supply chain planning.
• Experience with Chempax ERP is highly desirable but not necessary.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with Chempax ERP system.