About This Role:The Senior Category Manager, Mechanical owns the mechanical category of spend-including enclosures, structural fabrication, doors, sheet metal, and related components-end-to-end at the strategic layer. In this position, you will lead market intelligence, supplier qualification, commercial negotiations, and proactive risk management. Because this category spans both Strategic custom fabrications and Leverage standard items, you will exercise strategic judgment on when technical vetting takes priority versus when commercial drive dominates.
Unlike tactical procurement, this role is accountable for the strategic foundation-establishing why a supplier earns a spot on the Approved Vendor List (AVL) rather than executing daily purchase orders. The ideal candidate brings a strong grasp of manufacturing/fabrication capabilities, knows how to audit shop-floor realities against supplier claims, and builds robust commercial contracts to protect Crusoe's build timelines. This is a
Full-Time position.
What You'll Be Working On:- Market & Spend Intelligence: Track and analyze supply base capabilities, pricing benchmarks, actual fabrication lead times, and capacity constraints across all mechanical categories.
- AVL Qualification & Shop-Floor Vetting: Own the mechanical Approved Vendor List (AVL), verifying actual shop-floor fabrication capabilities (tolerances, welding, equipment) to ensure paper claims match manufacturing reality.
- Category Strategy & Segmentation: Apply frameworks like the Kraljic Matrix to differentiate Strategic custom items (focusing on quality and capability) from Leverage standard items (focusing on cost and logistics), building a 12-24 month category roadmap.
- Commercial Negotiations & Contracting: Structure and negotiate MSAs, SLAs, and commercial terms while redlining buyer-adverse clauses (such as delivery commitments, liability caps, and force majeure).
- Proactive Capacity & Risk Management: Monitor supplier capacity risks during high-volume production cycles, maintaining a category risk register with clear mitigation strategies and dual-sourcing options.
- Make/Buy Analysis: Evaluate make/buy opportunities where internal fabrication capacity serves as a viable, cost-effective alternative.
- Performance Tracking & Operations Handoff: Maintain quarterly supplier scorecards and build clear standing terms that enable Procurement Operations to execute POs seamlessly.
What You'll Bring to the Team:- Experience: 4-7+ years of dedicated strategic sourcing or category management experience focused on fabricated metal, enclosures, or mechanical components.
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
- Technical & Fabrication Knowledge: Working familiarity with metal fabrication methods, tolerancing, and shop-floor assessment techniques to audit supplier capabilities effectively.
- Contracting & Negotiation Skills: Proven experience reading, structuring, and redlining commercial contracts and legal terms.
- Strategic Sourcing Frameworks: Proficiency with supplier qualification frameworks, RFI/RFQ processes, scorecarding, and category segmentation methodologies.
Bonus Points:- Direct experience evaluating or auditing supplier welding, machining, or sheet metal shop floors.
- Hands-on ERP experience with systems like Acumatica or similar enterprise platforms.
- Experience in data center infrastructure, modular enclosures, or heavy industrial equipment environments.
Benefits:- Competitive compensation and equity packages
- Restricted Stock Units
- Paid time off, paid holidays & leave of absence programs
- Comprehensive health, dental & vision insurance
- Employer contributions to HSA account
- Paid parental leave
- Paid life insurance, short-term and long-term disability
- Professional development & tuition reimbursement
- Mental health & wellness support
- Commuter benefits (parking & transit)
- Cell phone stipend
- 401(k) Retirement plan with company match up to 4% of salary
- Volunteer time off
- Global travel insurance & emergency assistance
- Daily meals allowance
- Additional perks & programs specific to location
Compensation:Compensation will be paid in the range of $120,000 - $145,000. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.
