Strategic Procurement & Supplier Development Director

East Penn Manufacturing - Deka Batteries; Lyons (Berks County); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

East Penn Manufacturing - Deka Batteries seeks a Director of Procurement and Supplier Development to lead procurement strategy, supplier selection, contract development, supplier performance, and risk management. This role partners with Engineering, Quality, Operations, Sales, Finance and senior management to secure quality materials and services at competitive total cost.

The Director develops procurement practices, mentors staff, drives continuous improvement, and provides clear reporting on

Responsibilities

• Establish, implement, and continuously improve purchasing and receiving policies, procedures, controls, and standard work.
• Develop and maintain a long-term supplier strategy in collaboration with senior management.
• Create a consistent model and templates for contract purchasing, supplier agreements, and commercial negotiations.
• Oversee the full procurement process, from supplier identification and qualification through contract execution and purchase transactions.
• Ensure supplier-selection decisions are coordinated with Engineering, Quality, Operations, Sales, and other stakeholders, with Procurement maintaining commercial and sourcing governance.
• Lead market studies, competitive bidding, negotiations, and contracting activities that support cost reduction, cost containment, quality, and continuity of supply.
• Monitor commodity and raw-material pricing and translate market movement into sourcing recommendations and business actions.
• Assign buyers to commodity-specific projects and establish consistent reporting of results, risks, and opportunities to senior management.
• Evaluate alternative materials and suppliers in collaboration with Engineering, Quality, and Operations, including total cost and value-benefit analysis.
• Lead major contract negotiations, including agreements with annual spend exceeding $10 million.
• Analyze inbound freight costs by material and part number and recommend appropriate terms of sale, freight responsibility, and ownership transfer.
• Identify logistics improvements that reduce total landed cost and strengthen service performance.
• Balance supplier on-time delivery, inventory availability, inventory carrying cost, and material turns when developing sourcing and replenishment strategies.
• Evaluate insurance and ownership-of-goods considerations in partnership with Finance, Legal, and Risk Management, as applicable.
• Lead supplier selection, qualification, development, and ongoing performance management in alignment with business requirements.
• Partner with Supplier Quality Assurance to assess and improve supplier quality systems, process capability, corrective-action effectiveness, and performance.
• Coordinate supplier documentation and commercial agreements before suppliers are added to the approved supplier list, including disclosure and indemnity requirements as applicable.
• Participate in the engineering approval process for supplied samples and production-part approvals, including status reporting and cross-functional issue resolution.
• Confirm that the business case, expected benefits, validation approach, and risks are defined before new suppliers, materials, or part numbers are introduced.

Job description

East Penn Manufacturing - Deka Batteries seeks a Director of Procurement and Supplier Development to lead procurement strategy, supplier selection, contract development, supplier performance, and risk management. This role partners with Engineering, Quality, Operations, Sales, Finance and senior management to secure quality materials and services at competitive total cost.

The Director develops procurement practices, mentors staff, drives continuous improvement, and provides clear reporting on