Sr. Project Buyer- New Product Development

Flint Hills Resources; Rochester Hills (MI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Flexible spending accounts

Health Savings Account

Life insurance

Retirement plan

Paid vacation

Educational assistance

Parental leave

Job summary

Koch Companies are seeking a Sr. Project Buyer for New Product Development to execute sourcing strategies, lead procurement for programs, and partner with cross‑functional teams to drive cost savings and program success.

You will implement TCO analysis, RFQs, supplier assessments, and VAVE initiatives while enhancing supplier relationships, risk management, and global collaboration. A bachelor’s degree and 3+ years in strategic sourcing are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 3+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, category management, procurement, supply chain, or related roles.
• Demonstrated technical capabilities to assess cost drivers and savings opportunities.
• Experience leading or supporting supplier negotiations, RFQs, cost analyses, and VAVE projects.
• Strong analytical capability, including advanced Excel and analytics tools.
• Ability to lead cross-functional work with influence across engineering, quality, finance, and operations.
• Ability to assess supply risk and communicate clear recommendations to leadership.

Responsibilities

• Execute NPD sourcing strategies aligned with category plans and program timing.
• Serve as procurement point of contact for programs, providing supplier and cost insights to cross‑functional teams.
• Lead source selection using RFQs, cost analyses, and supplier capability assessments.
• Develop SME in metals strip, resins, seals, and outsourced materials with engineering and product teams.
• Support SRM by strengthening supplier engagement, performance visibility, and issue resolution.
• Drive cost reduction and value creation via leverage development, negotiations, VAVE, and lifecycle cost management.
• Apply Total Cost of Ownership analysis and long-term business impact considerations.
• Collaborate with regional/global sourcing to deploy best practices and strengthen material planning.

Skills

Strategic sourcing

Category management

Cross-functional collaboration

Advanced Excel

Spend analytics

Supplier negotiations

VAVE

Cost analysis

Total cost of ownership

Risk assessment

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or related discipline

Tools

Procurement software/BI tools

Job description

Sr. Project Buyer- New Product Development

What You Will Do In Your Role

Procurement and NPD:

• Execute NPD sourcing strategies that align with category plans, program timing, customer requirements, and business objectives.
• Serve as the procurement point of contact for assigned programs, providing supplier, material, cost, risk, and opportunity insights to cross‑functional project teams.
• Lead source selection activities using Molex sourcing processes, total landed cost analysis, RFQs, supplier capability assessments, and commercial negotiations.
• Develop and apply subject matter expertise in metals strip, resins, seals, and outsourced raw materials/components in partnership with engineering, product development, project management, and category teams.
• Support Supplier Relationship Management activities by strengthening supplier engagement, performance visibility, supply continuity, and issue resolution.
• Support cost reduction and value creation through leverage development, negotiations, VAVE support, payment term improvement, and lifecycle cost management.
• Promote economic thinking in all sourcing decisions by applying Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis, total landed cost, cost‑driver evaluation, trade‑off assessment, and long‑term business impact considerations.
• Partner with regional and global sourcing teams to deploy best practices, improve replenishment strategies including VMI/SOI, and strengthen material planning alignment.
• Collaborate with supplier quality, engineering, operations, and plant teams to support quality improvement strategies, address incoming material issues, improve supplier performance, and reduce quality‑related disruption.
• Communicate sourcing recommendations, risks, savings opportunities, and project status clearly to leadership and key stakeholders.
• Support VAVE initiatives globally by helping identify, prioritize, and execute value‑creation opportunities that align with plant, program, customer, and business goals.
• Partner with engineering, product development, operations, quality, and suppliers to evaluate VAVE ideas related to material selection, design optimisation, manufacturing efficiency, specification alignment, and supply chain improvements.
• Participate in cross‑functional VAVE reviews, workshops, or committee discussions to help convert cost‑down concepts into actionable projects with clear owners, timing, business cases, and savings targets.
• Support VAVE project execution from idea generation through validation, approval, implementation, and financial benefit tracking.
• Contribute to the VAVE pipeline globally by documenting opportunities, assumptions, savings potential, risk considerations, execution status, and stakeholder alignment.
• Provide updates on VAVE progress, barriers, timing, savings impact, and escalation needs to leadership and key stakeholders as needed.
• Coordinate savings opportunities between regions, sharing resources to avoid redundancy and maximize value.

The Experience You Will Bring

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 3+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, category management, procurement, supply chain, or related commercial / technical roles.
• Demonstrated technical capabilities (design acumen, materials, manufacturing processes) to assess cost drivers/opportunities for savings.
• Experience leading or supporting supplier negotiations, RFQs, cost analysis, total cost of ownership improvement initiatives, and VAVE or cost‑reduction projects.
• Strong analytical capability, including advanced Excel skills and experience using spend analytics, procurement, or business intelligence tools.
• Ability to lead cross‑functional work with influence, including engineering, quality, finance, operations, trade compliance, and supplier partners.
• Ability to assess supply risk, develop mitigation plans, and communicate clear recommendations to leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience applying financial, economic, and total landed cost analysis to sourcing and supplier decisions.
• Technical knowledge of metals strip, resins, stampings, seals, connectors, or related manufacturing processes.
• Experience in automotive, raw materials, electronics, or connector-related supply chains.
• Proven track record delivering measurable cost savings, VAVE results, supplier performance improvements, supply risk mitigation, or TCO initiatives.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here .

Who We Are

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E-Verify information click here , aquí , or tu ).