Manager, Direct Procurement

General information

Job Title

Manager, Direct Procurement

Ref #

P1009928

Employment Type

Permanent

Department

Purchasing

Position level

Manager

Date

Monday, October 26, 2026

AESC Office Location

Murfreesboro, Tennessee USA

Description & Requirements

Job Description

About the Role

The Direct Procurement Manager will be the lead BESS (Module, Pack, DC block and PCS/EMS) category focusing on efficiently procuring a large portion of the battery system across multiple battery components industries. You will be responsible for developing the commodity strategy that strives for competitive costing, adherence to governmental regulations, and incorporating a global supply base. The role would require flexible work hours with our partners and supply base and business travels.

What You Will Do

• You will be responsible for developing the commodity strategy that strives for competitive costing, adherence to governmental regulations, and incorporating a global supply base.

• Develop BESS commodity strategy.
• Work with global procurement team to analyze value chain partnership structures and investment opportunities commodities.
• Lead the development and execution of business cases for BESS and focusing on cost/project feasibility/timing/localization/risk.
• Execute MOUs/off takes/sourcing agreements with suppliers to support AESC's plant capacity needs.
• Establish baseline measurement of ESG performance for suppliers, driving participation in audits/assessments that evaluate whether sustainability and ESG standards are met and ensure implementation of corrective actions to findings from audits/assessments.
• Provide data transparency from the supply base to support fact-based negotiations to deliver cost targets.
• Institute in-depth understanding of cost drivers, historical prices, and future cost projections.
• Monitor team's progress towards strategy implementation and supply procurement.
• Design an analytical tool to quantify progress of sourced/secured supply to quantify annual output capabilities vs capacities needed.
• Analyze AESC's cycle plans and translate changes to address potential capacity issues that could constrain AESC / raw materials team in the future.
• Contribute to risk mitigation plans cross-functionally with raw material suppliers, engineering teams and other battery cell purchasing stakeholders.
• Analyze market trends, industry dynamics, and technology announcements, and translate findings into data collection and actionable insights.
• Lead cross-functional project implementation to enhance AESC's competitiveness in the ESS market with an agile, solutions-based mentality. #LI-IC1

Qualifications

What You Need

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business administration, industrial engineering, economics, or related technical field with MBA preferred.
• 5-7 years of experience in procurement, logistics/transportation, supply chain, finance, operations, or related fields (battery, automotive, manufacturing industry experience preferred).
• Bilingual in English and Mandarin preferred.
• Proficient in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and SAP.

What We Offer

Welcome to AESC, supporting our state-of-the-art Gigafactories, where you'll have the opportunity to tackle the world's most fascinating challenges alongside exceptionally talented individuals who are driven to make a difference. At AESC, we offer a comprehensive compensation package. In addition, we provide a range of valuable benefits, such as 401K, and health insurance. We strive to ensure that our employees are well taken care of, enabling them to focus on their work and contribute to our collective mission of changing the world.

• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development.
• Highly automated, clean, safe, and temperature-controlled production environment
• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• HSA and Flexible Spending Accounts
• 401K with company match
• Life Insurance (Company paid and additional voluntary life available)
• Paid Vacation and 14 Paid Holidays
• Short term and long-term disability coverage (Company Paid)
• Tuition reimbursement

Application Process

Even if you don't meet every requirement listed, if you believe this role suits you well, we encourage you to apply. Your application gives us the opportunity to learn more about you and explore potential fits within our team.

Following the submission of your application, we are committed to providing timely responses to all applicants, though response times may vary depending on the volume of submissions. If you do not receive an immediate response, please rest assured that this in no way reflects on the quality of your candidacy. Your application will be retained in our files, and we may reach out to you for future roles that align with your skills and interests. As our organization experiences rapid growth, we appreciate your patience in this process. We are actively working each day to enhance our application procedures to ensure a smoother and more efficient experience for all applicants. Thank you for your understanding and enthusiasm for joining our dynamic team.
Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

• Ability to sit for extended periods of time.
• Ability to read, write, speak, hear; stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach and lift with hands and arms frequently throughout the day.
• Required to occasionally lift, push, pull and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally required to lift, push, pull and/or move up to 35 pounds.

Work Environment

The work environment is primarily an automated manufacturing plant with a concrete floor and is characterized by some temperature extremes, moderate noise, and forklift traffic. The individual must be able to perform all essential functions as appropriate on the plant floor, in meetings, and with employees, management, customers and suppliers.

Candidate must perform the essential duties and responsibilities with or without reasonable accommodation efficiently and accurately, and without causing significant safety threat to self or others. The statements made herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this job classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive and inclusive list of all responsibilities, duties, and/or skills required of personnel so classified.