Commodity Purchasing Lead

YASA Limited; Oxford; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

YASA Limited, part of the Mercedes-Benz ecosystem, is seeking a Commodity Purchasing lead to develop and execute sourcing strategies that secure materials, components and tooling for new product introduction and mass production. You will lead a team, drive cost improvements, manage supplier performance, and collaborate with manufacturing, finance, logistics and legal to protect supply chain resilience.

The role requires strategic thinking, strong supplier management and the ability to navigate

Qualifications

• Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business or equivalent.
• Significant experience in strategic procurement within manufacturing or automotive.
• Proven leadership experience.
• Experience of supplier relationship management.
• Strong analytical capability.
• Experience supporting New Product Introduction.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop the Commodity Purchasing team.
• Set objectives and priorities aligned with business strategy.
• Drive accountability and continuous improvement.
• Develop succession plans and capability within the team.
• Lead strategic supplier relationships by conducting executive reviews.
• Identify new suppliers and manage exits where appropriate.
• Lead strategic sourcing and manage RFQs, total cost of ownership, quality, delivery and sustainability.
• Oversee cost management: targets for PPV and cost reduction.
• Negotiate on inflation, indexation, logistics and currency exposure.
• Support New Product Introduction with sourcing timing and PPAP readiness.
• Monitor delivery performance, quality and capacity; coordinate with Supplier Quality.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Manufacturing, Finance, Logistics and Legal.
• Ensure compliance with Procurement Policy, contract approval and sustainability requirements.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic sourcing

Supplier relationship management

Cost management

Negotiations

New Product Introduction

Cross-functional collaboration

Risk management

Analytics

Supply chain

Education

Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business or equivalent

Significant experience in strategic procurement

Experience in automotive/manufacturing

Job description

At YASA, we're helping shape the future of clean mobility through world-leading electric motor technology. As part of Mercedes-Benz, we combine the agility, curiosity and pioneering spirit of a scale-up with the strength and ambition of a global automotive leader. Our success is built on talented people who work together to solve complex problems, challenge assumptions and continuously improve. We're ambitious about our goals, but equally committed to creating an environment where people feel valued, supported and trusted to do their best work. Whether you're in engineering, manufacturing or a business function, you'll be part of a team where your contribution matters, and where great ideas can come from anyone, are encouraged, and can make a real difference.

Lead the Commodity Purchasing team to develop and execute sourcing strategies that ensure the supply of materials, components and plant tool/fixtures required to support new product introduction and series production.

The role is responsible for achieving competitive total cost, excellent supplier performance, robust supply chain resilience and supporting the company's growth strategy through effective supplier partnerships and cross-functional collaboration.

The Commodity Lead will manage the workload of the team and will need to adequately resource XP/Experiment /Prototype phases as well as Sourcing for Production and production support.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop the Commodity Purchasing team.
• Set objectives and priorities aligned with business strategy.
• Drive accountability and continuous improvement.
• Develop succession plans and capability within the team.
• technology developments
• geopolitical risks
• sustainability
• capacity planning
• Review strategies annually and update when market conditions change.

Lead strategic supplier relationships by:

• conducting executive business reviews
• identifying new suppliers
• managing supplier exits where appropriate
• supporting long-term partnership agreements

Strategic Sourcing

Lead sourcing activities including:

• RFQs
• nomination recommendations
• total cost of ownership
• quality
• delivery
• technical capability
• sustainability
• risk

Cost Management

• Deliver annual targets for:
• PPV
• cost reduction

Lead negotiations covering:

• inflation
• indexation
• logistics
• currency exposure

Support New Product Introduction through:

• sourcing timing
• commercial readiness
• capacity validation
• APQP timing
• PPAP readiness
• launch support
• Ensure supplier readiness before SOP.

Monitor and improve:

• delivery performance
• quality
• capacity

Work closely with Supplier Quality to resolve major supplier issues.

Supply Chain Risk

• Identify and mitigate risks relating to:
• geopolitical events
• capacity
• logistics
• export controls
• raw material availability
• Develop mitigation plans and report key risks to senior leadership.

Cross Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with:
• Manufacturing
• Finance
• Logistics
• Legal

Governance

Ensure compliance with:

• Procurement Policy
• contract approval processes
• ethical sourcing
• sustainability requirements
• CBAM

Person Specification

• Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business or equivalent.
• Significant experience in strategic procurement within manufacturing or automotive.
• Proven leadership experience.
• Experience of supplier relationship management.
• Strong analytical capability.
• Experience supporting New Product Introduction.