Position Sr. Commodity Buyer

Location Arden, NC   

Pay & Benefits

All positions start at an above market pay rate for that position. Benefits are also above market and include the below for all fulltime employees:

• Day 1 Medical Coverage with potential of no monthly premium

• Onsite Health Clinic for employees and dependents (age 14 and over) at no cost

• Dental, Vision, Life, AD&D, and Disability Coverage

• Tuition Reimbursement Program after 18 months

• Retirement Savings Plan (401k) with a matching program

• Company paid holidays and vacation starting Day 1

Job purpose

The BorgWarner Arden campus offers two world class technical centers and a cutting-edge manufacturing facility that designs and produces turbos, fan, and fan drive components for the automotive industry. The Arden campus offers a multitude of career opportunities and is in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina.

The Buyer reports to the Purchasing Manager, as do other Buyers of various levels and responsibilities.  

This position is responsible for prioritizing, planning, scheduling, executing and coordinating all phases of assigned work. This position manages a full range of materials and services, as assigned, with responsibility for developing and maintaining excellent supplier relationships.  


In addition to direct responsibility for managing the supplier base, this position supports internal product and manufacturing teams on commercial issues and participates on division and corporate purchasing teams. The incumbent also contributes to the overall effectiveness of the materials department as a team member in negotiations and in providing assistance and direction to co-workers.  

The Buyer is empowered to act as an agent of the company and is given broad latitude to take action for the benefit of the organization.  Due to the responsibilities of this position the incumbent must be a person of high integrity.

ACCOUNTABILITIES: Develop and manage supply base for assigned commodities to achieve quality, delivery and cost goals.

Key responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional team of experts to implement value creation projects to increase economic value for the Asheville Operations business.     
• Responsible for the initiation, overall direction, coordination, development, implementation, execution, control and completion of specific projects ensuring consistency with commodity strategies led by the local plant commodity buyer.
• Provides program management for supply chain projects, focusing on (1) internal alignment of the project scope, (2) vigilant cost containment, adhering to the business case the project was approved on (3) a comprehensive communications effort to assure all stakeholders are aligned throughout the life of the project.
• Lead regular review with cross-functional team to drive actions and execution.
• Strong Accountability to own, lead   Lead judgement/selection of ideas with pool of experts resulting from ideation sessions. and drive execution of VAVE projects
• Works at all levels of the organization to build a case for the project and gain the alignment of the various department allowing the allocation of the necessary resources to execute the project.
• Interacts with customer teams to help develop and provide the necessary information to gain approval of the customer for the project(s) to be implemented.
• Initiates, monitors, reports on the SAP change case associated with the project to keep forward momentum on the project.
• Assures processes are followed during project implementation to meet cost, timing, and delivery objectives in a IATF / TS16949 environment.
• Establishes and maintains communications with internal stakeholders across functional areas.
• Effectively presents high-level information to senior management as required.

• Develops relationships with supplier partners and cross-functional internal team members to facilitate project communication and implementation.

• Understands financial reports and engineering documents/data

• Understands and adheres to current quality and control policies.

• Understands and adheres to current health, safety, and environmental policies.

• Communicates and enforces safe work procedures.     

• Negotiates long-term agreements for series production components and services.

• Strategizes the purchasing of turbo charger components locally and globally with support of the Global Commodity Managers.

• Plans, organizes, tracks and disseminates information related to production suppliers.

• Create / develop new cost reduction ideas Year Over Year (YOY) using Design for Value (DfV) techniques, VA/VE, Design for Manufacturing (DfM), Design for Assembly (DfA), lean concepts, Long Term Agreements (LTA), etc.

• Meet or exceed metrics developed by the plant / corporate goals.
• Supports the global corporate purchasing activities.
• Develops metrics to measure progress in the commodity.
• Participates in Purchasing Council conference calls and meetings.
• Selects suppliers for existing products through effective use of proven procurement skills in an automotive environment
• Recommends supplier process utilization by interpreting blueprints and evaluating customer needs.
• Explores available technology and implements best practices related to purchasing activities.
• Prepares RFQ’s for multi-year full production quantities.
• Participates in purchasing related internal meetings, including making presentations to senior management.
• Understands and adheres to current quality and control policies.
• Understands and adheres to current health, safety, and environmental policies.
• Selects suppliers for existing products through effective use of proven procurement skills in an automotive environment
• Reduces year over year (YOY) costs through aggressive negotiations, resourcing, market test, Value Analysis, Long Term Agreements (LTA), Business Incentives (BI), Annual Improvement Factor (AIF) as well as supply base.
• Recommends supplier process utilization by interpreting blueprints and evaluating customer needs.
• Explore and aggressively pursue cost reduction opportunities using cost model tools and bubble charts.
• Explores available and new technologies and implements best practices in procurement.
• Develops new suppliers that meet BW cost, quality and delivery requirements.
• Evaluates part designs with engineering, quality and suppliers to obtain optimum efficiencies.
• Participates in purchasing related internal meetings, including making presentations to senior management. Support monthly cost reduction reports.
• Maintains complex spreadsheets containing supply base data, including piece prices breakdown, part weight, volumes, suppliers name, LRP info, etc.
• Communicates and enforces safe work procedures.       
• Identifies and closes safety issues (suggestions, inspection and investigation findings) and their corrective actions.   
• Supplier Productivity improvements (utilizing Lean principles and process optimization)   
• Material Savings (Resourcing of components and supporting SCM negotiations as needed
• Design (Material changes, Design Geometry optimization, product value optimization (cost, function, quality)   
• Perform other duties as needed.

What we’re looking for

• 4-year Degree required.  Engineering, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, or other technical degree preferred.

• 1-3 years of project management experience

• Requires at least 3-5 years of purchasing experience (automotive and/or manufacturing).

• Demonstrated analytical skills.

• Demonstrated experience in working cross/multi-functional teams.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Project) required.

• Demonstrated team leadership experience preferred.

• Ability to influence and motivate others and build effective teams

• Strong program management skills in resource, task, and budget planning are required.

• High level of technical competence, problem solving, organization, and communication skills. Excellent verbal and written communication skills required. 

• Understanding of managerial finance as it relates to program and business metrics

• Familiarity with turbochargers and/or engines is preferred.

• Solid understanding of engineering and manufacturing functions within the automotive supplier market segment.

• Must be able to read and interpret blueprints.

• Must have strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Must have strong negotiation skills.

• CPM certification preferred.

• Attendance on the job is essential.

• Must be able to work in a team environment.

• Must be able to follow instructions, safety rules and regulations.

Safety

This position will adhere to the BorgWarner Environmental Health and Safety Program by following all safety rules, procedures, practices, training, and safe use of equipment; this includes use of personal protective equipment (PPE) as required. This individual will work in a way that stresses the importance of preventing injury, accidents, or illnesses to themselves or co-workers by correcting or reporting unsafe situations, incidents, or occurrences to their Team Lead immediately.

Salary Range: