Senior Director - Supplier Relations

Wesco; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 181,000 - 249,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus opportunities

Job summary

Wesco in Glenview, IL seeks a Senior Director - Supplier Relations to lead strategic supplier partnerships for a major business unit. You will align sales, enablement, and procurement efforts, shape vendor strategies, and drive value through negotiation, rebates, and performance oversight.

This role demands deep industry knowledge, exceptional leadership, and the ability to develop plans, monitor metrics, and collaborate with regional teams to optimize costs and strengthen supplier relationships.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 15 years required of management in electrical distribution industry.
• 15 years required of progressive management in varied organizational development projects and programs.
• 10-15 years of experience building the following skills: negotiation, strategic thinking, leadership, and vendor relationships.

Responsibilities

• Balance strategic goals with operational performance and cost mitigation via network optimization.
• Identify business needs by analyzing metrics; monitor industry trends affecting pricing and vendors.
• Create plans to address competitive gaps and manage staff development.
• Drive down unit costs through vendor strategy development while maintaining performance.
• Improve supplier performance by expanding capacity and responsiveness while upholding quality.
• Partner with sales to build regional sales programs and leverage vendor relationships.

Skills

Negotiation

Strategic thinking

Communication

Analytical

Vendor management

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Senior Director - Supplier Relations

Glenview, IL, United States (Hybrid)

Job Information

• Job Identification: 34142
• Job Category: Supply Chain
• Posting Date: 09/01/2026, 09:28 AM
• Locations: 2301 Patriot Boulevard, Glenview, IL, 60026, US (Hybrid)
• Job Schedule: Full time

Job Description

As a Senior Director - Supplier Relations, you will partner with the sales and sales support teams, and be responsible for providing strategic and tactical leadership to manage the relationship with key/strategic suppliers for a specific business unit. You will develop strategic relationship management plans that include field sales engagement, sales enablement, supplier volume rebates, and high-level negotiations. You will monitor monthly and quarterly performance and compliance with Wesco’s standards while driving continuous improvement and resolving performance issues.

Responsibilities

• Balance strategic goals, operational performance and cost mitigation through network optimization by building annual business plans for strategic suppliers.
• Identify business needs through analyzing metrics and providing overviews of industry landscape and maintaining awareness of current market trends and conditions that may affect vendors and pricing and may have an operational or strategic impact on the company.
• Create plans to address competitive gaps.
• Selects, manages, evaluates, and develops staff.
• Drive down unit cost of network through development and implementation of a vendor strategy while maintaining operational performance.
• Ability to improve end-to-end supplier performance through increasing capacity, improving supplier supply chain responsiveness, and raising performance standards, whilst maintaining high levels of quality.
• Partner with sales to building sales programs in each region which will ultimately lead to reciprocal sales from our large vendors.
• Managing relationships with vendors to ensure WESCO has the right connections into key vendors at all levels and functions from day-to-day ordering to escalation and strategic negotiation.
• Evaluate, renegotiate, and approve vendor MSAs to meet current market standards for key terms such SVRs, payment terms, cash discounts, and marketing cooperative advertising.
• Monitor day-to-day vendor risk management processes and procedures to ensure consistency with corporate policy while resolving disputes and minimizing corporate exposure.
• Act upon gathered performance data and provide quarterly feedback to business partners to identify key activities and priorities nationally and globally.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 15 years required of management in electrical distribution industry.
• 15 years required of progressive management in varied organizational development projects and programs.
• 10-15 years of experience, building the following skills:
• Demonstrable negotiation skills in standard as well as complex environments/situations.
• Successful track record showing ability to work with a team to set strategic direction aligned with business goals with a clear execution plan and activity.
• Business and management principles related to strategic planning and resource allocation.
• Knowledge of industry including suppliers, customers, and competitors.
• Strong communication, analytical, negotiation skills.
• Strong strategic thinking skills.
• Ability to identify and cultivate external resources preferred.
• Ability to develop and manage vendor relationships and service providers preferred.
• Ability to work with senior management, as well as regional and group operational teams preferred.
• Ability to find and grow employees capable of moving up a minimum of two levels preferred.
• #LI-RA1

Compensation Details

$180,830 - $248,641 Annually

This amount is what we reasonably believe we will pay for the position; however, offer amounts may vary based on factors such as geographic location, relevant education, experience, qualifications, skills, shift, or any collective bargaining agreements.

For eligible positions, compensation may include participation in a bonus or sales incentive plan, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plan documents. For certain sales roles, Wesco also offers a commission structure that provides additional compensation based on sales results, as defined by the applicable commission plan.