Commodity Manager

Tenneco Inc.; Grass Lake (MI); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Tenneco Inc. is seeking a Steel Commodity Manager to lead sourcing for carbon and stainless steel used across Powertrain and Clean Air businesses.

You’ll own commodity strategy, market analysis, supplier negotiations, and risk mitigation, collaborating with Engineering, Operations, and Finance to drive value. The role requires strong direct-material purchasing experience, knowledge of steel markets, and the ability to translate market intelligence into actionable sourcing decisions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Finance, Metallurgy, Materials Science, Operations, or a related field.
• Five or more years of experience in direct-material purchasing, strategic sourcing, commodity management, supply chain, manufacturing, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading supplier negotiations, sourcing decisions, cost-reduction initiatives, and commercial agreements.
• Working knowledge of commodity indices, market-based pricing, cost breakdowns, total-cost analysis, and supplier cost drivers.
• Experience managing supply shortages, capacity constraints, supplier-performance issues, and continuity-of-supply risks.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and execute comprehensive commodity strategies for carbon steel and stainless steel, including supplier segmentation and regional sourcing.
• Collaborate with other buyers to align sourcing activities and ensure consistent execution of steel strategies.
• Monitor steel-market conditions, indices, capacity, raw materials, and trade actions.
• Lead RFQ/RFI activities, quotation analysis, supplier negotiations, and implementation for assigned steel categories.
• Negotiate base price, index and surcharge mechanisms, conversion costs, and other commercial requirements.
• Deliver material-cost reduction through negotiation, sourcing, localization, and supplier productivity.
• Lead and support VAVE initiatives with Engineering, Quality, and Operations.

Skills

Strategic sourcing

Supplier negotiations

Cost reduction

Market analysis

Data-driven decision making

Excel and data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Negotiation tactics

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Tools

ERP systems

MS Office Suite

Job description

Job Description – Steel Commodity Manager

ABOUT TENNECO

At Tenneco, we don’t follow industry standards; we set them, and we don’t settle for being best-in-class because we hustle to be better than best-in-class. Whether it’s our Core Values–radical candor, simplify, organizational velocity, tenacious execution and win–or our Get Stuff Done (GSD) mindset, we’re determined to become the most trusted partner and best manufacturer and distributor to the transportation industry.

How do we make it happen?Through the Tenneco Way. Fueled by our Core Values, a winning mindset and a relentless commitment to excellence, the Tenneco Way is how we win. It’s what keeps Team Tenneco bold, driven, and unapologetically focused on pushing past limits and redefining success.

Here, you’ll work alongside a team of relentless problem-solvers who are committed to making a tangible impact. If you’re ready to break boundaries, deliver results, and enjoy the ride along the way, you’ll thrive here.

The Steel Commodity Manager, Direct Materials, is responsible for developing and executing sourcing and supplier strategies for carbon steel and stainless steel used across Tenneco’s Powertrain and Clean Air businesses. The commodity portfolio may evolve based on business priorities, organizational needs, and supply-market conditions.

This role owns commodity strategy, market and index analysis, supplier negotiations, cost reduction, sourcing decisions, supply-risk management, and continuity-of-supply actions. The Steel Commodity Manager partners closely with Engineering, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, Program Management, Commercial, and Supplier Development to deliver competitive cost, quality, delivery, working-capital, launch, and supply-continuity objectives.

The successful candidate will bring strong direct-material purchasing and negotiation experience, demonstrated understanding of steel markets and commercial mechanisms, and the ability to convert market intelligence into clear sourcing, negotiation, and risk-mitigation actions.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop, maintain, and execute comprehensive commodity strategies for carbon steel and stainless steel, including supplier segmentation, regional sourcing, competitive landscape, cost drivers, risk exposure, and implementation roadmaps.
• Collaborate with other commodity buyers to maintain visibility to steel-market developments, align sourcing activities, and ensure consistent execution of established steel commodity strategies.
• Monitor steel-market conditions, including published indices, mill capacity, regional supply and demand, raw-material inputs, scrap, alloys, energy, conversion costs, freight, tariffs, duties, trade actions, and foreign exchange.
• Lead RFQ and RFI activities, quotation analysis, supplier negotiations, sourcing recommendations, and implementation for assigned steel categories.
• Negotiate base price, index and surcharge mechanisms, conversion costs, productivity, payment terms, freight, lead times, capacity, tooling, claims, and other commercial requirements.
• Identify and deliver validated material-cost reduction through negotiation, competitive sourcing, resourcing, localization, specification optimization, supplier productivity, and supply-base optimization.
• Lead and support VAVE initiatives with Engineering, Quality, Operations, and suppliers, including grade substitution, gauge reduction, product-form optimization, yield improvement, scrap reduction, and manufacturing-process changes.
• Identify and mitigate steel supply risks related to mill capacity, allocation, financial health, raw-material availability, quality, logistics, labor disruption, geopolitical events, trade restrictions, tariffs, sole sourcing, and geographic concentration.
• Own commercial relationships with assigned strategic suppliers and establish clear expectations for cost, quality, delivery, capacity, responsiveness, productivity, and contractual performance.
• Partner with Supplier Development, Quality, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Commercial, and Program Management to resolve supplier and commodity issues.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Finance, Metallurgy, Materials Science, Operations, or a related field.
• Five or more years of experience in direct-material purchasing, strategic sourcing, commodity management, supply chain, manufacturing, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading supplier negotiations, sourcing decisions, cost-reduction initiatives, and commercial agreements.
• Working knowledge of commodity indices, market-based pricing, cost breakdowns, total-cost analysis, and supplier cost drivers.
• Experience managing supply shortages, capacity constraints, supplier-performance issues, and continuity-of-supply risks.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute commodity strategies and translate market changes into commercial actions.
• Strong analytical, financial, negotiation, communication, project-management, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to influence suppliers and cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and purchasing or ERP systems.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally based on business needs.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated knowledge of stainless steel and carbon steel markets, products, grades, manufacturing processes, supply chains, and commercial practices.
• Experience with steel indices and pricing mechanisms, including base-price adjustments, alloy surcharges, conversion economics, lags, and periodic price resets.
• Automotive or high-volume manufacturing experience involving sheet, coil, tube, bar, wire, stampings, fabricated components, or other steel-intensive products.
• Experience sourcing through mills, service centers, processors, stampers, fabricators, and component suppliers.
• Experience with VAVE, grade or specification changes, gauge reduction, yield improvement, scrap optimization, localization, resourcing, and new-product launches.
• Familiarity with tariffs, duties, quotas, trade actions, regional sourcing constraints, and global steel-market dynamics.
• Experience working with global or cross-regional suppliers and teams.

KEY MEASURES OF SUCCESS

• Delivery of validated material-cost reduction, VAVE, productivity, and working-capital initiatives
• Effective negotiation results and commercially sound steel pricing mechanisms
• Accurate interpretation of market and index movements and timely execution of pricing actions
• Implementation of commodity strategies, sourcing decisions, and supply-base optimization plans
• Continuity of supply and effective mitigation of shortages, capacity constraints, and supplier risks
• Supplier cost, quality, delivery, capacity, responsiveness, and contractual performance
• Accurate and timely savings, forecast, market, and project reporting
• Successful support of launches, resourcing, supplier transitions, and VAVE implementation
• Compliance with purchasing policies, sourcing requirements, and documentation standards
• Development of steel commodity, market, cost, and supplier expertise across the organization

We don’t want average. We want exceptional. We want someone who’s hungry to build, unafraid to challenge, and bold enough to lead with empathy, speed, and precision.