Overview (概述 Gàishù):
The Associate Manager, Project Purchasing is a member of the Global Sourcing & Procurement Team participating in simple to mid-tier complexity Global Product Development (GPD / NPI) project teams, supporting Sourcing’s contribution from Design Phase through launch for devices. The Associate Project Purchasing Manager transitions the role from the Category Sourcing Lead at end of Concept Phase and transitions the role to the Procurement Buyer at production launch. This role supports supplier engagement and contracting for new product programs and partners with Marketing, Engineering, and Product Development & Engineering (PDE) to help translate business and technical requirements into a competitive, well-sourced design. The Associate Manager applies the Global Sourcing strategy, contributes to strategic cost management and should-cost analysis, and participates in General Category Leadership Team (GCLT) discussions. This role helps secure the supply base and commercial agreements needed to deliver new products on time, on cost, and at the required quality.
Responsibilities (职责 Zhízé):
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Serve as Operations Team Leader (OTL) on simple / mid tier complexity Global Product Development (GPD / NPI) project teams, contributing the sourcing perspective and helping represent operational functions from design through launch.
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Partner with Marketing and Engineering to understand business and technical requirements and help identify alternative proposals that support target cost without compromising quality.
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Participate in Global Category Leadership Team (GCLT) discussions, contributing sourcing input and building category and platform knowledge.
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Work with Product Development & Engineering (PDE) to support consistency across products within a category and contribute to common architecture and component platforming efforts.
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Contribute to cross-functional problem-solving, helping develop sound and timely solutions to sourcing and cost challenges, and escalating complex matters.
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Apply the Global Sourcing strategy across assigned new product programs.
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Support the Category Sourcing Lead (CSL) with initial costing and supplier selection within GPD.
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Review the CBOM at project transition from the CSL to understand key cost elements, validate that major assumptions are documented, and escalate gaps or concerns as needed.
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Help ensure suppliers are engaged early in the development process to influence design for cost, quality, and manufacturability.
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Support development of a competitive, capable supply base aligned to program timelines and category strategy.
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Negotiate routine pricing with suppliers; accounting for cost drivers and technical changes.
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Gather detailed cost breakdowns and help translate them into insight for the project team. Use methods for insight such as waterfall charts, cost walk / cost bridge, cost driver breakdowns, before / after BOM comparisons, variance analysis, should-cost comparisons, etc.
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Maintain and update Bill of Materials (BOM) cost sheets throughout the life of the project; ensuring suppliers use a consistent format across project milestones and builds to enable easier cost change analysis and comparison.
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Support product life-cycle pricing for the project team incorporating contractual savings agreements and the best estimates of current and future supplier costs.
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Support cost optimization through should-cost analysis in partnership with Engineering, and apply established cost-optimization best practices.
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Support the transition of project and supplier management from the Category Sourcing Lead (CSL) team to the Project Purchasing / Operations Team Leader (OTL) team, helping maintain continuity of supplier engagement, cost assumptions, project requirements, and sourcing strategy execution.
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Support supplier engagement within assigned projects by helping ensure suppliers understand program requirements, align to project milestones, and work toward delivery of sourced goods on time, on cost, and at the required quality.
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Manage routine day-to-day supplier interactions during the project, partnering with Procurement at launch to support the transition of supplier relationship management and project ownership while maintaining strong supplier engagement.
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Coordinate with suppliers and internal teams to identify risks, support issue resolution, protect supply continuity, and maintain program timelines from Design Phase through steady-state production, escalating complex risks as appropriate.
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Support negotiation of project-specific Exhibit A agreements, in collaboration with Legal and applicable sourcing partners, ensuring alignment with existing Master Supply Agreements (MSAs), Strategic Sourcing Initiatives (SSI), and other amendments.
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Coordinate the timely review, approval, and execution of project-specific Exhibit A agreements for assigned projects to help ensure legal agreements are in place to support program milestones.
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Review project-specific Exhibit A and tooling agreements to confirm standard commercial protections and intellectual-property safeguards are included, escalating non-standard terms or higher-risk concerns to Legal or senior sourcing leadership.
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Complete applicable Country of Origin documentation for assigned projects within required timelines to support project needs and help ensure compliance with regulatory, customer, and internal requirements.
Qualifications (资格 Zīgé):
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Demonstrated commercial negotiation and supplier-agreement skills sufficient to negotiate routine terms and support larger negotiations.
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Ability to communicate and coordinate effectively with internal and external partners across functions, with a growing ability to influence more complex topics.
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Good communication and relationship-management skills across cross-functional and global, multicultural organizations.
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Ability to contribute within cross-functional teams and manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
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Solid business perspective with a proactive approach to developing sound, timely solutions to problems.
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Analytical mindset for working with cost breakdowns, should-cost inputs, and BOM cost management.
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Positive, collaborative approach to building strong working relationships, both internally and externally.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Business, Supply Chain, or Purchasing field.
Specialization: Purchasing degree or background preferred.
Experience: 5+ years in Purchasing; background in consumer products or automotive preferred.
Travel: Travel to drive project progress, oversee project start-ups, and troubleshoot issues with suppliers and partners. Trip frequency and duration vary.
