Senior Sourcing Associate Senior Sourcing Associate

CD Commerce GmbH; Deutschland; On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

CD Commerce GmbH is seeking a Senior Sourcing Associate to own supplier sourcing from kickoff to onboarding. You will analyze requirements, identify manufacturers across regions, negotiate terms and onboard suppliers to support long-term launches.

The role emphasizes strategic sourcing, not transactional quotes, requiring data-driven decisions, supplier evaluations, and collaboration with R&D, procurement, quality and planning to optimize cost, quality, lead times and partnerships.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of international sourcing, supplier development, or strategic procurement experience.
• Experience sourcing from multiple manufacturing regions — China plus at least one of Vietnam, Turkey, Europe, or Southeast Asia.
• Experience working directly with manufacturers, conducting supplier evaluations and factory audits, sourcing categories such as home improvement, DIY, furniture, household goods, outdoor living, automotive accessories, or similar.
• Strong commercial negotiation skills, analytical thinking, excellent written and spoken English, and the ability to manage multiple sourcing projects simultaneously.

Responsibilities

• Lead sourcing projects from product kickoff through supplier recommendation and onboarding
• Analyze product requirements and calculate target purchase price (should-be cost) based on sales price, order quantity, customs duties, freight costs, FBA/FBM fees, and return rate before engaging suppliers
• Identify and develop manufacturers across China, Vietnam, Turkey, Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and other strategic sourcing regions
• Continuously expand and diversify the supplier network, prioritizing direct manufacturers whenever commercially possible
• Improve sourcing speed by monitoring cycle times and working cross-functionally to accelerate onboarding and product launches
• Conduct supplier research, vetting, factory audits, and due diligence covering manufacturing capability, quality systems, capacity, export experience, responsiveness, and financial stability
• Prepare comprehensive supplier evaluation reports and commercial recommendations for the Department Head, highlighting strengths, risks, and trade-offs supported by data and sound business judgement
• Understand product cost structures and identify opportunities for cost reduction, value engineering, and margin improvement
• Lead commercial negotiations covering pricing, payment terms, MOQs, lead times, tooling, packaging, quality requirements, claims, and warranties while maintaining sustainable supplier relationships
• Coordinate supplier sample development, technical clarifications, project timelines, and onboarding activities
• Work closely with R&D, Procurement, Logistics, Quality, Compliance, and Planning to ensure smooth transitions from concept to production
• Partner proactively with R&D to expand product portfolios with current suppliers where advantageous before initiating new supplier searches
• Build and maintain strong supplier partnerships and resolve commercial issues professionally
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve supplier scorecards covering quality, cost, delivery, responsiveness, innovation, and commercial partnership
• Prepare periodic supplier performance reports and recommend improvement initiatives
• Monitor market trends, raw material costs, freight movements, and emerging sourcing opportunities
• Leverage AI and modern sourcing tools to improve supplier research, productivity, and decision‑making
• Research competitors and reverse engineer their manufacturing networks to identify potential suppliers, strategic manufacturing partners, and emerging sourcing opportunities

Skills

International sourcing experience

Commercial negotiation

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Supplier evaluation

Cost analysis

AI tools

Tools

AI tools

Job description

Sourcing, Procurement & Logistics [e-mail]

Job description · Open role

Senior Sourcing Associate — own supplier sourcing from kickoff to onboarding .

The Senior Sourcing Associate owns the end-to-end supplier sourcing process — from product kickoff through supplier recommendation to supplier onboarding. This is not a transactional role focused on collecting quotations; we're looking for someone who thinks commercially, makes sound sourcing decisions, negotiates effectively, and builds long-term supplier partnerships.

Reports to: Head of Sourcing, Procurement & Logistics China · Vietnam · Turkey · Europe · India · SEA Strategic sourcing & commercial negotiation 5+ years international sourcing experience

Find the best supplier — not just the cheapest one.

As Senior Sourcing Associate, reporting to our Head of Sourcing, Procurement and Logistics, you will own sourcing projects end-to-end: analyzing product requirements, identifying and developing manufacturers across multiple regions, negotiating commercial terms, and onboarding suppliers that support long-term product launches.

Success in this role is measured by consistently identifying the best overall supplier by balancing cost, quality, manufacturing capability, leadtime, scalability, risk, and long-term partnership potential — not simply the lowest price.

You’ll operate with a high level of ownership and independent judgement, bringing recommendations and solutions rather than just problems, with final commercial approval remaining with the Head of Sourcing, Procurement & Logistics and/or senior management where required.

What you’ll do.

1. Strategic Sourcing

• Lead sourcing projects from product kickoff through supplier recommendation and onboarding
• Analyze product requirements and calculate target purchase price (should-be cost) based on sales price, order quantity, customs duties, freight costs, FBA/FBM fees, and return rate before engaging suppliers
• Identify and develop manufacturers across China, Vietnam, Turkey, Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and other strategic sourcing regions
• Continuously expand and diversify the supplier network, prioritizing direct manufacturers whenever commercially possible
• Improve sourcing speed by monitoring cycle times and working cross-functionally to accelerate onboarding and product launches
• Conduct supplier research, vetting, factory audits, and due diligence covering manufacturing capability, quality systems, capacity, export experience, responsiveness, and financial stability
• Prepare comprehensive supplier evaluation reports and commercial recommendations for the Department Head, highlighting strengths, risks, and trade-offs supported by data and sound business judgement

3. Cost Analysis & Commercial Negotiation

• Understand product cost structures and identify opportunities for cost reduction, value engineering, and margin improvement
• Lead commercial negotiations covering pricing, payment terms, MOQs, lead times, tooling, packaging, quality requirements, claims, and warranties while maintaining sustainable supplier relationships

4. Product Development & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Coordinate supplier sample development, technical clarifications, project timelines, and onboarding activities
• Work closely with R&D, Procurement, Logistics, Quality, Compliance, and Planning to ensure smooth transitions from concept to production
• Partner proactively with R&D to expand product portfolios with current suppliers where advantageous before initiating new supplier searches
• Build and maintain strong supplier partnerships and resolve commercial issues professionally
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve supplier scorecards covering quality, cost, delivery, responsiveness, innovation, and commercial partnership
• Prepare periodic supplier performance reports and recommend improvement initiatives
• Monitor market trends, raw material costs, freight movements, and emerging sourcing opportunities
• Leverage AI and modern sourcing tools to improve supplier research, productivity, and decision‑making

7. Competitors

• Research competitors and reverse engineer their manufacturing networks to identify potential suppliers, strategic manufacturing partners, and emerging sourcing opportunities

Success in this role

What success looks like.

Performance will be measured based on:

• Speed of sourcing execution and project turnaround
• Ability to support the company's product launch targets and sourcing priorities
• Quality of supplier shortlists and commercial recommendations
• Commercial results, including cost savings, payment term improvements, lead time improvements, and supplier diversification outside China
• Ownership, communication, and effective cross‑functional collaboration

A successful Senior Sourcing Associate takes ownership of sourcing projects from start to finish, consistently brings recommendations and solutions — not just problems — thinks commercially rather than transactionally, executes with speed and urgency, and builds strong supplier relationships.

Your background

What you bring.

To join our team, you bring along:

01 International Sourcing Experience

Minimum 5 years of international sourcing, supplier development, or strategic procurement experience, with a proven track record of identifying, vetting, negotiating, and onboarding suppliers for commercially successful product launches.

Experience sourcing from multiple manufacturing regions — China plus at least one of Vietnam, Turkey, Europe, or Southeast Asia — is essential.

Experience working directly with manufacturers, conducting supplier evaluations and factory audits, sourcing categories such as home improvement, DIY, furniture, household goods, outdoor living, automotive accessories, or similar.

04 Commercial Negotiation

Strong commercial negotiation skills, analytical thinking, excellent written and spoken English, and the ability to manage multiple sourcing projects simultaneously.

Experience working with Amazon sellers, e-commerce companies, retailers, importers, or multinational sourcing organizations is highly desirable.

A track record of diversifying supplier bases outside China, leading supplier meetings and negotiations independently, mentoring junior sourcing professionals, and using AI tools to improve sourcing efficiency.

Ready to own our supplier network?

Show us how you’d identify, evaluate, and negotiate with the best overall supplier — not just the cheapest — and how you’d build long‑term partnerships that scale with our product launches.