Principal, Global Sourcing Strategy

Job Description

Job Description

Please note: This is an on-site position that requires the selected candidate to work from our Grand Rapids, MI, or Saint Petersburg, FL, office. This is not a remote role.

About Acron Aviation:

Acron Aviation is an agile commercial aviation partner with a long heritage of providing established, industry-certified solutions, as well as future-focused, data-driven innovations. With customers worldwide, our employees are dedicated to the company's mission of innovating to create safer skies.

Job Description:

This role is situated in Acron’s Global Operations Team and will be the focal point for creating category strategy across the enterprise. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker who leverages data to develop category and sourcing strategies that optimize spend, improve operations, and support the delivery of enterprise-level goals. This position will also be highly engaged in evaluating Target Companies’ purchasing strategies and supply base in support of M&A due diligence activity.

The Global Operations Team will earn the respect, trust, and collaboration of the Acron organization through inspirational leadership qualities that are essential to realizing our vision. Our leadership, centered on motivating teams and individuals to deliver levels of performance that are perceived as unattainable, will shape our culture, instill our values, drive innovation, and continuously improve existing business methods to create value. We exemplify passion, courage, teamwork, ingenuity, ownership, efficiency, and candor in all that we do to delight our customers, suppliers, and stakeholders.

This role will be on-site in either Grand Rapids, MI, or St. Petersburg, FL. It will require up to 25% travel to multiple Acron and supplier business sites, both domestically and internationally.

Essential Functions:

• Develop category strategies that assess current state, market conditions, make vs. buy, supplier landscape and capabilities, risk, negotiating position, and set a plan
• Create negotiation strategies to support sourcing activity that achieve optimal pricing and favorable contract terms while minimizing risk
• Establishes Center of Excellence for category management and sourcing, including development and maintenance of templates and tools
• Develop models that enable qualitative/quantitative bid analysis and establish supplier selection criteria
• Monitor material and labor indices and develop strategies to mitigate inflationary pressure and capture deflationary savings
• Partners with subcontract managers to develop standard agreement templates and a library of approved terms and conditions to drive efficiency into the source-to-contract process
• Continuously analyzes direct and indirect spend to identify cost reduction opportunities and refresh category strategies
• Maintains risk mitigation strategy for disruptions, delays, and economic turmoil
• Ensures category and sourcing strategies maintain compliance with all relevant regulations and standards
• Support due diligence efforts for target companies

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, or equivalent.
• 10+ years of combined experience in progressive Commodity Management, Strategic Sourcing, and Category Management roles
• Demonstrated acumen in developing high complexity category strategies
• Highly skilled in data analytics, including sourcing data, developing models, identifying trends, and analyzing to inform strategy
• Working knowledge of ERP/MRP systems and their use in a manufacturing and distribution environment
• Strong financial acumen. Demonstrated ability to link strategy and tactics to P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash flow effects.
• Demonstrated leadership capability and the ability to affect organizational change in challenging environments.
• Must be adept at achieving results through multiple organizations and functions, sometimes with competing priorities.
• Skilled in interpersonal influence, stakeholder management, and negotiation.
• Demonstrated communication skills, both written and verbal, at all levels of the organization.
• Skilled in building customer and subcontractor relationships while balancing strategic objectives.
• Adept listener and public speaker.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and project management tools.
• Ability to travel (domestic or international) up to 25%.

Preferred Additional Skills:

• MBA

• Certification in Supply Chain Management (CSCP, CPSM, CPIM, CIPS)
• PMP certification or equivalent Program Management certification

• Aerospace industry experience
• Experience in sourcing electronics and/or contract manufacturing
• Power BI experience
• SAP super user experience
• Experience working in a Private Equity environment

What to expect from Acron?

We live by our values: Customer First, Move Fast, Own It, and Speak Candidly. We are seeking talented individuals who can help us embody our vision of innovating and creating safer skies, as well as our mission of being the unconventional, top-tier partner of choice for our customers.