The Sr. Global Commodity Manager is responsible for developing the sourcing strategies for the Capital Equipment category, enabling front- and back-end wafer manufacturing. The person in this position would be recognized as a sourcing expert for Technology-related categories, would work with finance, industrial engineering, planning, and legal, and would act as Procurement ambassador to the business and integrate into the business to ensure a complete alignment and deep understanding of the business goals and partner in developing sourcing strategies. They will be working with engineering, R&D, and manufacturing and thus in a very dynamic, challenging, and changing environment. The goal is to be value-added sourcing partners to the business.
Additional responsibilities include negotiating Equipment/Tools contracts that may be site-specific or have global reach. The position involves (but is not limited to) developing negotiation strategies, advising requestors on contract terms and conditions, monitoring cost and scope of assigned contracts to assure compliance/best value, leading supplier executive review meetings, measure/improve supplier performance, mitigating tariff impacts, improving working capital, and validate/improve pricing. The Sr. Global Commodity Manager would also be responsible for recommending cost-saving proposals, including alternative sourcing, and will exercise independent judgment within defined practices and procedures to determine appropriate action.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Strategic Sourcing
• Develop, manage, and execute strategies for the Capital Category
• Conduct RFQ and lead cross-functional teams through the selection process of preferred suppliers with effective scoring criteria to critically evaluate supplier proposals in accordance with company policies
• Collaborate with technology/Equipment and tools Eng./Legal stakeholders to assess, understand, and prioritize business needs to optimize value with WD’s supply base
• Conduct spend/contract/proposal analysis for supply of capital equipment and tools to the leadership team
• Lead negotiations on commercial procurement agreements, including, but not limited to, Master Equipment/Tools and Service Agreements (MESA’s), Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), Statements of Work (SOW’s), Change Orders (CO’s), balancing business deliverables, legal interests, and pricing
• Analyze total costs, assist business functions with ROI/TCO analysis, price and rate benchmarking, and negotiate favorable business terms to leverage Western Digital purchasing power
• Research market intelligence to understand cost drivers and market trends
Category Management
• Develop, refine, and implement category strategies and tactics that enable the procurement of semiconductor equipment/tools at the highest value benefit to the company
• Cultivate, enhance, and deepen cross-functional stakeholder relationships at all levels, serving as the subject matter expert on behalf of the procurement organization
• Actively monitor internal/external trends, synthesize and distill the business intelligence into actionable opportunities and pipeline projects that can and will be delivered to Western Digital’s bottom line on an ongoing basis
Supplier Management
• Manage supplier relationships with a focus on supply/contract and cost management
• Lead supplier performance business reviews on a quarterly basis to enhance performance delivery from strategic partners
• Mediate supplier issues and resolve supplier contract disputes as needed
• Develop supplier rationalization entitlements for each category
Contract Management
• Evaluate processes and recommend improvements to standardize lifecycle contract and sourcing processes and systems
• Ensure pricing & deliverables as negotiated are included in the contract, coordinate comparison of proposals and final contract terms
• Act as liaison between Legal and the business
Education and Experience
• Bachelor’s degree with 10yrs+ of experience in indirect capital equipment strategic sourcing with a semiconductor organization
• Engineering degree and MBA or JD preferred
• Supply chain certifications e.g. CSCP etc.
• Contract Negotiation / Vendor & Stakeholder Mgmt. / Influencing skills required
• Experience and expertise with sourcing & contracting ERP tools, Agentic AI orchestration and procurement tools and Data analytics tools
Core Competencies
• Ability to work well in a high-pace dynamic environment, handle multiple projects simultaneously, and ensure task completion and deadlines are met as required
• Demonstrated skills in negotiating and formulating technology contracts, understanding cost models and various price structures, management of contractual, IP and labor law risks
• Strong project management, organizational, and analytical skills required
• Excellent team facilitation and presentation skills
• Proficient with Microsoft Office applications: Excel, Word, PowerPoint
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