Steel Commodity Strategist — Direct Materials

Tenneco Inc.; Grass Lake (MI); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Tenneco Inc. is seeking a Steel Commodity Manager to lead sourcing for carbon and stainless steel used across Powertrain and Clean Air businesses.

You’ll own commodity strategy, market analysis, supplier negotiations, and risk mitigation, collaborating with Engineering, Operations, and Finance to drive value. The role requires strong direct-material purchasing experience, knowledge of steel markets, and the ability to translate market intelligence into actionable sourcing decisions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Finance, Metallurgy, Materials Science, Operations, or a related field.
• Five or more years of experience in direct-material purchasing, strategic sourcing, commodity management, supply chain, manufacturing, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading supplier negotiations, sourcing decisions, cost-reduction initiatives, and commercial agreements.
• Working knowledge of commodity indices, market-based pricing, cost breakdowns, total-cost analysis, and supplier cost drivers.
• Experience managing supply shortages, capacity constraints, supplier-performance issues, and continuity-of-supply risks.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and execute comprehensive commodity strategies for carbon steel and stainless steel, including supplier segmentation and regional sourcing.
• Collaborate with other buyers to align sourcing activities and ensure consistent execution of steel strategies.
• Monitor steel-market conditions, indices, capacity, raw materials, and trade actions.
• Lead RFQ/RFI activities, quotation analysis, supplier negotiations, and implementation for assigned steel categories.
• Negotiate base price, index and surcharge mechanisms, conversion costs, and other commercial requirements.
• Deliver material-cost reduction through negotiation, sourcing, localization, and supplier productivity.
• Lead and support VAVE initiatives with Engineering, Quality, and Operations.

Skills

Strategic sourcing

Supplier negotiations

Cost reduction

Market analysis

Data-driven decision making

Excel and data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Negotiation tactics

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Tools

ERP systems

MS Office Suite

Job description

Tenneco Inc. is seeking a Steel Commodity Manager to lead sourcing for carbon and stainless steel used across Powertrain and Clean Air businesses.

You’ll own commodity strategy, market analysis, supplier negotiations, and risk mitigation, collaborating with Engineering, Operations, and Finance to drive value. The role requires strong direct-material purchasing experience, knowledge of steel markets, and the ability to translate market intelligence into actionable sourcing decisions.