Director of Strategic Sourcing & Project Execution

Job Summary

The Director of Strategic Sourcing & Project Execution is a senior leadership role responsible for aligning estimating, product design, procurement and supplier management strategies to support profitable growth and operational excellence. This position ensures that customer solutions are competitively priced, effectively sourced, manufacturable, and delivered through a resilient global supply chain.

 Reporting to the President, this leader will oversee engineering, estimating, and purchasing while driving cost competitiveness, supplier performance, risk management, and continuous improvement initiatives. The role serves as a key strategic partner to Sales, Operations, and Leadership by ensuring accurate cost modeling, margin optimization, supply continuity, and scalable processes that support business growth.

Job Requirements

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Business Administration, Operations, or a related field.
• 10+ years in sourcing, procurement, estimating, supply chain management or operations leadership.
• 5+ years in a leadership roles managing professional and technical teams.
• Proven track record of relationship ownership, commercial negotiation, and performance management.
• Working knowledge of UFLPA, Section 301/IEEPA tariffs, and ERP/MRP platforms.
• Experience utilizing ERP/MRP systems for costing, procurement and reporting.
• UP to 25% travel, including semi-annual travel to Asia.

Preferred Skills

• MBA or advanced degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Engineering or Business Administration.
• Demonstrated success leading estimating, sourcing, and supplier management functions.
• Background in manufacturing, preferably sheet metal.
• Prior accountability for a COGS target, direct material cost budget, or indirect spend.

Essential Job Functions

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute sourcing, estimating, and procurement strategies that support company growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction objectives.
• Partner with executive leadership to establish operational goals, cost reduction initiatives, and long-term supply chain strategies.
• Build a high-performance culture focused on accountability, continuous improvement, collaboration, and results.
• Establish KPIs and accountability measures across estimating, engineering, purchasing, and supplier management functions.
• Drive organizational efficiency to support growth without proportional increases in operating costs.

Estimating & Commercial Excellence

• Lead and develop the estimating function to ensure accurate, timely, and profitable customer quotations.
• Establish standardized estimating methodologies, costing models, and pricing frameworks.
• Oversee material, labor, freight, tooling, inventory, and tariff cost assumptions within all estimates.
• Partner with Sales and Engineering to identify value engineering opportunities that improve competitiveness and margins.
• Conduct post-project cost reviews and estimate-to-actual variance analysis to improve future pricing accuracy.
• Monitor margin performance and identify opportunities to improve profitability through sourcing, design optimization, and process improvements.
• Develop competitive intelligence related to market pricing, raw material trends, manufacturing costs, and supply chain dynamics.
• Ensure estimating processes support speed, accuracy, consistency, and scalability across the organization.

Strategic Sourcing & Procurement

• Own Vulcan Industries' commercial and strategic relationships with contract manufacturers in the United States, Vietnam, and China.
• Develop sourcing strategies that balance cost, quality, lead time, capacity, and risk mitigation.
• Lead supplier selection, qualification, onboarding, and performance management processes.
• Conduct quarterly business reviews and annual strategic reviews with key suppliers.
• Negotiate and manage all supplier agreements, including:
  • Master Service Agreements (MSAs)
  • Supply Agreements
  • Pricing Frameworks
  • NDA and Intellectual Property Protections
  • Business Continuity Agreements
  • Capacity Reservation Agreements

Supplier Risk Management & Supply Chain Resiliency

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive supplier risk management program.
• Maintain a live supplier risk register covering:
  • Financial stability
  • Capacity constraints
  • Geographic concentration
  • Single-source dependencies
  • Quality performance
  • On-time delivery performance
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Geopolitical exposure
• Implement supplier risk scoring and performance monitoring processes.
• Develop contingency plans and alternate source strategies for critical components and suppliers.
• Lead annual supplier risk assessments and business continuity reviews.
• Monitor geopolitical, trade, tariff, logistics, and regulatory developments impacting the supply chain.
• Ensure compliance with UFLPA, country-of -origin requirements, and applicable trade regulations.
• Partner with suppliers to improve supply chain visibility, traceability, and compliance programs.
• Lead response and recovery efforts related to supplier disruptions, quality issues, capacity shortages, and compliance concerns.