Commodity Sourcing Manager – AI Infrastructure

Jobtailor; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a senior Commodity Manager to own sourcing strategies for AI infrastructure hardware and oversee supplier relationships across data center components. The role emphasizes long lead times, capacity planning, and cost optimization in high-growth environments.

Responsibilities include leading negotiations, developing market intelligence, and coordinating with Legal, Finance, and cross-functional teams to finalize contracts and drive supply readiness.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in Commodity Management, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, or Supply Chain roles.
• Experience across hardware or component categories relevant to data center or compute infrastructure.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating and managing supply agreements with hardware component manufacturers, OEMs, or ODMs.
• Ability to quickly build technical fluency in new commodity or technology areas.

Responsibilities

• Own and execute sourcing strategy for assigned AI infrastructure commodities.
• Develop category strategies aligned to roadmap requirements, capacity forecasts, and infrastructure growth.
• Drive supply diversification, second-source development, and risk mitigation plans.
• Build and maintain market intelligence on supply/demand, capacity constraints, technology roadmaps, and competition.
• Lead commercial negotiations covering supply agreements, capacity commitments, pricing, cost-downs, tooling, service, quality, and performance terms.
• Partner with Legal and Finance to structure and finalize contracts.
• Manage strategic supplier relationships, business reviews, scorecards, escalations, and performance improvement plans.
• Partner with suppliers on capacity planning, allocation, roadmap alignment, and supply readiness.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Hardware, Data Center Infrastructure, Supply Chain Planning, Finance, Legal, and Operations.
• Support new product introductions, qualification timelines, and capacity ramps across GPU rack hardware.
• Provide leadership with commodity market insights and recommendations.
• Develop supply continuity plans addressing cost, capacity, lead times, component constraints, geographic/geopolitical risk, and supplier risk.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Negotiation

Leadership

Financial acumen

Analytical skills

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain

Bachelor's degree in Business

Job description

• Own and execute sourcing strategy for assigned AI infrastructure commodities
• Develop category strategies aligned to roadmap requirements, capacity forecasts, and infrastructure growth
• Drive supply diversification, second-source development, and risk mitigation plans
• Build and maintain market intelligence on supply/demand, capacity constraints, technology roadmaps, and competition
• Lead commercial negotiations covering supply agreements, capacity commitments, pricing, cost-downs, NRE, tooling, service, quality, and performance terms
• Partner with Legal and Finance to structure and finalize contracts
• Manage strategic supplier relationships, business reviews, scorecards, escalations, and performance improvement plans
• Partner with suppliers on capacity planning, allocation, roadmap alignment, and supply readiness
• Collaborate with Engineering, Hardware, Data Center Infrastructure, Supply Chain Planning, Finance, Legal, and Operations
• Support new product introductions, qualification timelines, and capacity ramps across GPU rack hardware
• Provide leadership with commodity market insights and recommendations
• Develop supply continuity plans addressing cost, capacity, lead times, component constraints, geographic/geopolitical risk, and supplier risk

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in Commodity Management, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, or Supply Chain roles
• Experience across hardware or component categories relevant to data center or compute infrastructure
• Demonstrated experience negotiating and managing supply agreements with hardware component manufacturers, OEMs, or ODMs
• Ability to quickly build technical fluency in new commodity or technology areas
• Proven track record leading complex commercial negotiations and delivering measurable cost and supply outcomes
• Strong analytical, financial, and business acumen
• Experience operating in constrained, long-lead-time, high-growth supply environments
• Ability to build effective relationships with senior supplier stakeholders and internal cross-functional partners
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or related field; advanced degree a plus (nice to have)

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in Commodity Management and Strategic Sourcing, with a strong focus on negotiating supply agreements and managing supplier relationships in high-growth environments. Proven ability to analyze market trends and develop strategies that align with infrastructure growth and capacity planning.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Commodity Management
• Strategic Sourcing
• Supply Chain Management
• Commercial Negotiations
• Market Intelligence

Hard Skills

• Supply Agreements
• Capacity Planning
• Cost Analysis
• Risk Mitigation
• Performance Improvement
• Data Center Infrastructure
• Hardware Components
• Negotiation Skills
• Analytical Skills
• Financial Acumen

Soft Skills

• Relationship Building
• Collaboration
• Leadership
• Communication
• Problem Solving

Certifications & Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering
• Bachelor's Degree in Supply Chain
• Bachelor's Degree in Business

Industry Keywords

• AI Infrastructure
• Supply Diversification
• Geopolitical Risk
• OEMs
• ODMs
• Market Insights
• Capacity Constraints
• Technology Roadmaps
• Supply Chain Planning
• New Product Introductions