Global Supply Manager — Defense Tech, NPI to Production

Socket.dev; Tennessee; On-site; USD 114,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Neros in Knoxville, TN is seeking a Global Supply Manager to own sourcing strategy for key product families from early development through production. You will partner with Engineering, Product Development, Supplier Quality, Planning, Purchasing, Finance, and Operations to secure the right suppliers, commercial terms, costs, lead times, and supply risk posture.

You will lead supplier selection for new products, manage RFXs, negotiate terms, and drive cost-down initiatives while coordinating with

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in strategic sourcing, global supply management, supply chain program management, commodity management, or a closely related role.
• Experience supporting NPI programs, prototype builds, production ramps, or fast-changing product-development environments.
• Demonstrated ability to select suppliers, run RFX/RFQ processes, negotiate terms, and manage supplier relationships.
• Experience with supplier risk reduction, including sole-source mitigation, lead-time reduction, cost-down execution, and contract improvements.
• Ability to partner with Engineering, Product Development, Supplier Quality, Planning, Purchasing, Finance, and Operations.
• Strong commercial judgment, negotiation skills, analytical ability, and data-driven decision making.
• Experience maintaining supplier/item master data such as preferred suppliers, lead times, pricing, or approved supplier lists.
• Ability to operate with urgency in a hardware-focused environment where changes may occur quickly.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and accountability for stakeholders.
• Willingness to work onsite in Knoxville, TN in a high-intensity defense manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead sourcing strategy for assigned product families, including NPI supply chain program management from concept through prototype builds, LRIP, and high-rate production.
• Drive supplier selection for new products and long-term needs, including RFXs, commercial analysis, supplier recommendations, and award decisions.
• Partner with Engineering and Product Development to support part-specific sourcing, prototype build purchasing, DFM opportunities, and supplier readiness.
• Track NPI material required dates, supplier lead times, release dependencies, and sourcing risks to keep development and ramps on schedule.
• Own cost-down initiatives with Engineering, including cost modeling, supplier negotiation, alternate sourcing, and contract improvements.
• Partner with Supplier Quality Engineers to assess supplier capability, maintain supplier categorization, and support approved supplier list governance.
• Manage supplier relationships, run supplier QBRs, review scorecards, and escalate commercial/supply issues with Purchasing and Planning.
• Negotiate MSAs, LTAs, favorable payment terms, cancellation clauses, tiered pricing, and other agreements to improve cost and continuity.
• Maintain item master data, including preferred suppliers, lead times, unit prices, and commodity assignments.

Skills

Strategic sourcing

Global supply management

NPI programs

Supplier negotiation

Data-driven decisions

ERP systems

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

Neros in Knoxville, TN is seeking a Global Supply Manager to own sourcing strategy for key product families from early development through production. You will partner with Engineering, Product Development, Supplier Quality, Planning, Purchasing, Finance, and Operations to secure the right suppliers, commercial terms, costs, lead times, and supply risk posture.

You will lead supplier selection for new products, manage RFXs, negotiate terms, and drive cost-down initiatives while coordinating with