VPI Purchasing Leader

Job Summary:

• Leads the overall coordination of complex technical development and commercial activities and is accountable for the project management of supplier technical risk and quality in the early product development. Integrates the requirements of the many interdisciplinary and cross functional stakeholders towards supplier product development.

Key Responsibilities:

• Actively influences the design and project risk trade-offs that impact project cost or supplier early engagement without sacrifice of quality expectations. Main focus will include working in business processes of Product Preceding Technology (PPT) and other early product developement activity.
• Provides leadership to complex supplier relationships through supplier agreements required to protect intellectual properties. May coordinate and direct work of technical procurement teams, up to and including direct management of small to mid-sized teams.
• Coaches and mentors across a global business unit or corporate area. Obtains input and negotiates with project leadership, suppliers, customer teams, product engineers, or technology teams to ensure the delivery of robust prototype and production designs, technical risk mitigation plans, and coordinated deliverables of new or current product change activity.
• Supports all Supplier Early Engagement work and new technology development .
• Engages with project teams and engineering to understand needs for new suppliers and technologies and connects engineering with the appropriate sourcing team. For defined projects, serve as the procurement team member and meet the required procurement deliverables. Where a project includes a deliverable of a demonstration product, support the procurement cycle .
• Prepare and deliver information for management and functional reviews. Establishes preliminary new product program sourcing strategies for Product Preceding Technology (PPT) or other projects that are moving to VPI. In conjunction with the Technical Cost COE, use Should Cost and/or other tools to develop piece price targets for components and product material cost targets.

Competencies:

• New Product Development Sourcing - Leverages new product development process by executing the category team strategy when selecting suppliers to deliver the Value Package Introduction and meet timing, cost and quality targets.
• Financial acumen - Interpreting and applying understanding of key financial indicators to make better business decisions.
• Values differences - Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization.
• Builds effective teams - Building strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Directs work - Providing direction, delegating, and removing obstacles to get work done.
• Drives results - Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Manages complexity - Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Organizational savvy - Maneuvering comfortably through complex policy, process, and people-related organizational dynamics.
• Persuades - Using compelling arguments to gain the support and commitment of others.
• Plans and aligns - Planning and prioritizing work to meet commitments aligned with organizational goals.
• Resourcefulness - Securing and deploying resources effectively and efficiently.
• Situational adaptability - Adapting approach and demeanor in real time to match the shifting demands of different situations.
• Procurement Policies, Procedures, Tools - Understands all of the relevant Procurement policies and procedures and complies with them in daily work; Masters all tools required to conduct procurement work. Knows how to access documents in the appropriate Document Management System (DMS) and/or who to ask if clarification or expansion of the information contained in each document is needed.
• Supplier Contract Development - Develops contracts based on the templates available that cover commercial and legal relationship between Cummins and supplier; incorporates commercial requirements and legal requirements in the region(s) that are covered by the contracts; drives engagement between stakeholders following the Supplier Agreement Contracting Process (SACP) and negotiations excellence skills.
• Project Issue and Risk Management - Manages the process to identify, assess and prioritize issues and risks using recommended tools and disciplines. Drives actions to minimize, monitor and control risks and issues and to maximize the most positive outcomes possible.

Education, Licenses, Certifications:

• College, university, or equivalent Bachelor's degree in Engineering or other relevant technical disciplines is required.
• This position may require licensing for compliance with export controls or sanctions regulations.

Experience:

• Demonstrated success having worked in a Technical Specialist/Specialist Engineering or commercial expereince on lower complexity product development activities, translating customer needs and negotiating into product development plans, technical profiles and/or product specifications with a proven track record of successful product decisions.

• Solid engine components/systems familiarization and knowledge.
• Rich experience of engine platform VPIs is preferred.