Manager, Direct Procurement

About the Role

As the Manager, Direct Procurement, you will lead the execution of procurement activities supporting Agility Robotics' production and new product introduction (NPI) programs. You will be responsible for building and leading a high-performing team of Buyers while ensuring operational excellence across purchasing, supplier delivery, material readiness, and procurement processes.

In this role, you will partner closely with Global Supply Managers (GSMs), Planning, Engineering, Manufacturing, Finance, and Supply Chain leadership to ensure procurement strategies are executed effectively and materials are available to support engineering builds and production schedules.

You will oversee the day-to-day procurement organization, driving accountability, process discipline, supplier execution, and continuous improvement while enabling the sourcing organization to focus on strategic supplier management. This role requires a strong operational leader who thrives in fast-paced hardware manufacturing environments and can balance tactical execution with process optimization.

Success in this role is measured by procurement execution excellence, supplier delivery performance, material availability, ERP data integrity, and the effectiveness of the Buyer organization.

About the Work

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Buyers responsible for procurement execution across direct material commodities.
• Drive operational excellence across purchase order execution, supplier communications, material availability, and procurement processes.
• Establish clear priorities, workload balancing, and accountability across the Buyer organization.
• Ensure timely and accurate purchase order creation, revisions, confirmations, and supplier follow-up activities.
• Monitor supplier delivery performance and proactively drive recovery plans for shortages, late deliveries, and supply disruptions.
• Partner closely with Global Supply Managers (GSMs) to ensure sourcing strategies are successfully executed through procurement.
• Work cross-functionally with Planning, Engineering, Manufacturing, Finance, and Supply Chain Program Management to ensure material readiness for engineering builds and production.
• Lead daily and weekly procurement execution reviews, ensuring timely resolution of supplier issues and procurement bottlenecks.
• Drive procurement process standardization and continuous improvement across purchasing workflows.
• Partner with Procurement Operations to improve enterprise resource planning (ERP) and material requirements planning (MRP) data integrity, procurement reporting, and operational efficiency.
• Ensure procurement master data including pricing, lead times, supplier records, and purchasing parameters remain accurate and well governed.
• Support new product introduction (NPI) by ensuring procurement readiness for prototype, validation, and production builds.
• Develop and monitor procurement key performance indicators (KPIs) including supplier delivery performance, purchase order cycle time, shortage resolution, procurement responsiveness, and buyer productivity.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for procurement execution issues and supplier delivery challenges.
• Collaborate with Finance to support invoice resolution, procurement reporting, and operational planning.
• Foster a culture of ownership, urgency, accountability, and continuous improvement across the procurement team.

About You

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, or practical equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in procurement, purchasing, or supply chain within hardware, robotics, automotive, aerospace, or advanced manufacturing environments.
• 3+ years of experience leading or mentoring procurement or purchasing teams.
• Strong understanding of direct material procurement including mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical commodities.
• Experience supporting new product introduction (NPI), prototype builds, engineering validation, and production ramp activities.
• Strong understanding of procurement execution, supplier delivery management, material planning, inventory control principles, and ERP/MRP workflows.
• Experience working with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and material requirements planning (MRP) systems (Windchill, MISys, NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, etc.).
• Demonstrated ability to improve procurement processes, establish operational metrics, and drive execution excellence.
• Strong leadership, communication, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience developing high-performing procurement teams through coaching, mentorship, and performance management.
• Ability to build strong cross-functional relationships while driving accountability, operational discipline, and continuous improvement.

Location

• This a hybrid position based out of our Salem office.

The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to: job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Agility Robotics is a multi-state employer and this salary range may not reflect positions who work in other locations. These ranges may be modified in the future.