Job Description
The Opportunity
The Sourcing Manager - Energy Infrastructure manages supplier relationships that support the full after-sales service lifecycle for Energy Storage Systems (ESS). The role manages a broad portfolio that may include field service providers, warranty and repair services, spare parts and consumables, service logistics, warehousing, technical support, training, digital service tools, decommissioning, recycling, and other customer-support requirements. This position serves as a commercial advisor to cross-functional leadership, helping ensure that service solutions are scalable, cost-effective, compliant, and aligned with customer commitments and long-term business needs.
The ideal candidate will connect technical, operational, customer, and commercial requirements to build dependable after-sales supply networks for utility-scale, commercial, and industrial energy storage products.
Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
1. Category Strategy & Sourcing Execution
• Category Strategy: Develop and maintain sourcing strategies for after-sales categories such as field service, warranty administration and repair, spare parts, consumables, logistics, technical support, training, digital service tools, decommissioning, recycling, and specialized equipment.
• Market Intelligence and RFx: Assess supplier markets, identify and qualify capable partners, and lead RFIs, RFPs, and RFQs from requirements definition through evaluation and award.
• Supplier Selection: Partner with After-Sales Services, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Finance, Legal, and EHS to evaluate technical capability, service coverage, capacity, safety, quality, cost, and commercial risk.
• Supply Network Development: Build scalable regional and national supply solutions that support installation, commissioning, preventive and corrective maintenance, warranty response, upgrades, and end-of-life requirements.
2. Contract Negotiation & Commercial Management
• Commercial Agreements: Lead negotiation and execution of Master Service Agreements, Statements of Work, Service Level Agreements, purchase agreements, rate cards, and other category-specific commercial documents in partnership with Legal and business stakeholders.
• Risk Allocation: Negotiate pricing, warranty obligations, service levels, response times, liability, indemnification, intellectual property, data protection, business continuity, and other terms appropriate to each after-sales category.
• Cost Management: Develop cost models and total-cost-of-ownership analyses; use competition, demand aggregation, should-cost insights, and structured pricing mechanisms to improve value.
• Purchase-to-Pay Support: Establish clear scopes, pricing controls, purchase-order requirements, invoice validation processes, and change-management mechanisms.
3. Supplier Performance, Risk & Continuous Improvement
• Performance Management: Establish and monitor category-appropriate KPIs, which may include service response, mean time to repair, first-time fix rate, parts availability, fill rate, logistics performance, quality, cost, and SLA compliance.
• Supplier Reviews: Lead periodic business reviews, recovery plans, cost-improvement initiatives, capacity reviews, and continuous-improvement activities with strategic suppliers.
• Issue Resolution: Act as the commercial escalation point for service failures, supply interruptions, warranty disputes, billing discrepancies, and contract-performance issues.
• Business Continuity: Identify single-source, capacity, geographic, financial, cybersecurity, and operational risks; develop mitigation and contingency plans with cross-functional partners.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Compliance
• Requirements Alignment: Work with After-Sales Services, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Logistics, IT, and Product teams to translate customer and technical needs into clear sourcing requirements and supplier deliverables.
• Safety and Compliance: Ensure suppliers meet applicable environmental, health, safety, quality, cybersecurity, regulatory, and customer requirements.
• Program Support: Align sourcing milestones, supplier readiness, budgets, and contracts with product launches, customer commitments, warranty plans, and service-capacity requirements.
• Governance and Reporting: Maintain sourcing documentation, approvals, forecasts, savings and cost-avoidance tracking, supplier risk reporting, and executive updates.
Qualifications
Position Qualifications and Key Capabilities
Required
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related technical/commercial field.
• Experience: 5+ years of procurement, category management, or strategic sourcing experience, preferably supporting energy storage, renewable energy, utilities, industrial services, logistics, aftermarket, or another technically complex industry.
• Category Experience: Demonstrated ability to source one or more after-sales categories, including technical field services, maintenance and repair, warranty support, spare parts, logistics, training, software or data services, recycling, or industrial service contracts.
Technical & Professional Skills
• Contracting Expertise: Strong understanding of commercial and legal terms, with experience negotiating service, supply, logistics, warranty, software, or other technically complex agreements.
• Industry Knowledge: Familiarity with energy storage products, after-sales operating models, warranty processes, service-parts planning, field operations, and related technology is highly desirable.
• Analytical Skills: Proficient in financial analysis, cost modeling, and TCO evaluations.
• Negotiation: Proven ability to influence stakeholders and negotiate win-win outcomes with sophisticated global and regional service providers.
• Tools: Experience using enterprise procurement software (e.g., SAP, Ariba, Coupa) and advanced MS Excel.
Leadership Attributes
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to translate technical needs into commercial agreements.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple sourcing initiatives concurrently.
• High ethical standards and commitment to supplier diversity and sustainable sourcing practices.
Location & Travel
• Location: Dearborn, MI/Hybrid
• Company: As Ford establishes a wholly owned subsidiary focused on Battery Energy Storage Systems, this role will initially be employed by Ford and is expected to transition to the subsidiary within one year.
