{"id":3422255,"url":"https://alion.io/job/davis-standard-corporation-category-manager-direct","title":"Category Manager (Direct)","company":{"id":3868130,"name":"Davis-Standard Corporation","domain":"davis-standard.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/davis-standard","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"UltiPro","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":9,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-11-02T06:13:15Z"}},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":"staff","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Pawcatuck, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":101000,"max_usd":191000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":619},"experience_years_min":10,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Microsoft Excel","optional":false},{"name":"Microsoft Office","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-28T17:28:23Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-28","last_verified_at":"2026-11-02T08:08:04Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":65,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":65},"description":"Key Responsibilities\nStrategic Sourcing & Category Management\nDevelop and execute global sourcing and category strategies aligned with business objectives.\nLead strategic sourcing activities for:\nMetals and metal-related components\nMachined parts\nHigh-volume parts suppliers\nMechanical assemblies\nFabricated components\nOEM/distribution products\nMiscellaneous mechanical components\nTier 2 mechanical suppliers\nSupport strategic sourcing and supplier management initiatives for IT hardware and software, professional services, travel/P-Card spend, legal services, and marketing services.\nAnalyze spend, market conditions, supplier capabilities, cost drivers, and business requirements to identify opportunities for cost reduction, supplier consolidation, and improved commercial terms.\nDevelop category strategies, sourcing roadmaps, and pipelines of cost savings and cost-avoidance initiatives.\nLead RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, competitive bidding, supplier evaluations, and sourcing events.\nIdentify opportunities to leverage enterprise-wide purchasing volume and optimize the supplier base.\nDirect Material Procurement\nManage strategic sourcing for metals, machined parts, fabricated components, mechanical assemblies, high-volume parts, OEM/distribution products, and other direct materials.\nDevelop a strong understanding of manufacturing processes, materials, supplier capabilities, capacity constraints, and industry trends.\nPartner with Engineering and Operations on value engineering/value analysis, design optimization, product cost initiatives, and make-versus-buy decisions.\nEnsure suppliers can support current and future production requirements and business growth.\nDevelop sourcing strategies that balance cost, quality, delivery, capacity, technology, and supply risk.\nSupplier Relationship & Performance Management\nEstablish and maintain strong strategic relationships with key suppliers.\nLead supplier selection, qualification, onboarding, development, and performance management.\nMonitor supplier quality, delivery, capacity, cost, service, and overall performance.\nConduct regular supplier performance reviews and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).\nEstablish measurable supplier performance objectives and drive corrective actions when requirements are not met.\nServe as the primary escalation point for significant supplier quality, delivery, capacity, commercial, and service issues.\nCollaborate with suppliers on capacity planning, technology capabilities, product roadmaps, and continuous improvement initiatives.\nDevelop and execute negotiation strategies that achieve business objectives and reduce total cost of ownership.\nDrive year-over-year cost savings and cost avoidance through competitive sourcing, supplier negotiations, supplier consolidation, benchmarking, value engineering, process improvements, and market intelligence.\nConduct total cost, pricing, benchmarking, and should-cost analysis.\nMonitor commodity, raw material, labor, logistics, technology, and market trends affecting supplier pricing.\nNegotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times, capacity commitments, service levels, warranties, and other commercial terms.\nEstablish measurable savings targets and maintain visibility to the sourcing pipeline and realized savings.\nContract & Commercial Management\nNegotiate and manage supplier commercial agreements across assigned categories.\nEnsure NDAs, SOWs, purchase agreements, master service agreements, software agreements, and other applicable contracts are executed in a timely manner.\nManage the contract lifecycle, including renewals, amendments, pricing reviews, and changes to commercial terms.\nPartner with Legal and internal stakeholders to ensure appropriate contractual protections and compliance.\nMaintain accurate documentation of sourcing decisions, supplier agreements, pricing, and commercial terms.\nRequired Qualifications\nBachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, Finance, or a related discipline.\nMaster’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related field preferred.\n10+ years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing, category management, procurement, or supplier management.\nSignificant experience managing direct procurement and manufacturing-related categories, particularly metals, machined parts, mechanical components, fabrication, assemblies, and/or high-volume parts.\nExperience with strategic sourcing and supplier management across global supply markets.\nExperience with one or more strategic indirect categories such as IT, software, professional services, legal, marketing, travel, or P-Card spend.\nStrong technical understanding of mechanical manufacturing processes, materials, supplier capabilities, and cost drivers.\nProven experience selecting, developing, and managing strategic suppliers.\nStrong contract and commercial negotiation experience.\nDemonstrated track record of measurable annual cost savings and cost avoidance.\nExperience with benchmarking, should-cost analysis, pricing analysis, and total cost of ownership.\nProven ability to manage supplier capacity, performance, and supply-chain risk.\nExcellent negotiation, communication, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills.\nDemonstrated ability to influence and communicate effectively with senior leadership.\nStrong analytical and project management capabilities.\nProficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Microsoft Excel.\nAbility to prioritize multiple initiatives and operate effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.\nDavis-Standard Company is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. We are committed to recurring, hiring, training and promoting qualified people of all backgrounds, and make all employment decisions without regard to any protected status.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5838,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":10,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":true},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Plastics & Polymers","Packaging & Labeling"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-28T21:15:59Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 2","filings_12m":2,"filings_prev_12m":0,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":352500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":16,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.559,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":65,"expected_fill_days":31,"reasons":["conf:2","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-02T06:13:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/davis-standard-corporation-category-manager-direct","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/davis-standard-corporation-category-manager-direct.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-02T09:38:55Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":13542,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-03T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3868130},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3868130"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fdavis-standard-corporation-category-manager-direct"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fdavis-standard-corporation-category-manager-direct"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fdavis-standard-corporation-category-manager-direct"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/davis-standard-corporation-category-manager-direct\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fdavis-standard-corporation-category-manager-direct"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3422255}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"davis-standard.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3422255},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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