Commodity Manager - St Stephen, SC

The Strategic Logistics Procurement Category Leader is responsible for supporting Supply Chain Group Management with strategic logistics services sourcing and day to day administrative activities. The support will include data gathering and analysis, supplier interaction via commodity responsibility, local site procurement support, and the direct support of Supply Chain Group. Local site procurement support will include strategic sourcing of logistics services, contract negotiations, overall customer satisfaction for project completion and meeting individual procurement goals.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Work in a self-managed team environment and manage activities in a centralized environment
• Manage logistics related procurement activities from RFQ through order placement, in the best interest of Albany International Corporation
• Gather, cleanse, classify, analyze, and interpret spend
• Solve problems important to the success of the organization and be able to draw on experiences to successfully negotiate lowest total cost
• Interact with suppliers to obtain product or service information such as price, availability, delivery and performance
• Manage several tasks at once and meet established goals/deadlines in a timely manner
• Identify new sources of supply, service providers and/or opportunities that meet the performance and delivery standards of the category, successfully negotiate agreeable pricing and appropriate Terms and Conditions
• Develop strategic partnerships with critical suppliers that stabilize pricing, payment terms, and other key elements of the supplier relationship
• Develop and implement quality control, performance measurement and audit processes for new and current suppliers
• Work in a professional manner with co-workers to obtain necessary information in support of projects
• Leverage business acumen and functional expertise to contribute to the strategic direction of company's global businesses
• Oversee compliance with legal, business, code of conduct, financial and SOX requirements

Direction, Decision Making:

This position reports to Sr. Commodity Manager - Logistics.

During the regular course of the job the incumbent will interact with the other members of the supply chain team, Albany International Management, co-workers and outside suppliers.

Global travel will be requested on an occasional basis up to 20% (always subject to change based on business conditions).

Education/Experience/Competencies:

1. A Bachelor's Degree in business, supply chain management, Logistics or a related field of study or equivalent work experience.
2. 3 - 5 years of exceptionally successful, manufacturing environment experience in logistics related Purchasing environment across diverse regions and businesses
3. International experience supporting manufacturing facilities and/or managing suppliers based in the Americas (US, Canada, Mexico, and South America), Europe, and Asia is preferred
4. Proven ability to drive change and create rapid, measurable improvements in critical measures of Supply Chain Management performance
5. Knowledge of SAP would be beneficial
6. Experience with network optimization software
7. Very good verbal and in written communications skills with people at all levels of the organization and external contacts
8. Strong track record of driving operational improvements to support the business strategy
9. Able to manage procurement activities in a centralized environment with the colleagues in multiple locations
10. Strategic thinking, facilitation & influencing skills. Ability to lead, persuade and convince - cross cultural and cross functional teams.
11. Strong data analysis skills and analytical thinking to drive efficiency in sourcing and generate savings