Strategic Sourcing Category Manager

Shoals Technologies Group is seeking a Strategic Sourcing Category Manager in Portland, TN. This role involves sourcing and procurement for solar, energy storage, and e-mobility products, requiring expertise in connectors and surge protections. Responsibilities include collaborating with cross-functional teams, developing category strategies, managing a team of buyers, and overseeing the contract lifecycle. The position is crucial for ensuring supplier excellence and aligning with business goals.
Strategic Sourcing Category Manager

Headquartered just north of Nashville, Tennessee, Shoals Technologies Group (Shoals) is a leading electrical balance of systems (EBOS) solar, energy storage, and eMobility solutions provider. Since its founding in 1996, the Company has introduced innovative technologies and systems solutions that allow its customers to substantially increase installation efficiency and safety while improving system performance and reliability. Shoals is a recognized leader in the renewable energy industry, deploying solutions on over 20 GW of solar systems globally.

The Company has manufacturing facilities in Tennessee & Alabama, with sales personnel in Spain and Australia servicing Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Shoals sells their solar products principally to engineering, procurement, and construction firms that build solar energy projects. The custom nature of their system solutions and the engineered-to-order development cycle for solar projects typically gives Shoals a 12+ month lead time to quote, engineer, produce, and ship each order, so there is no need to stock large amounts of finished goods.

Summary:

Shoals Technologies, a global renewable energy organization, is hiring a Strategic Sourcing Category Manager for its Electrical Balance of System for solar, energy storage and e-mobility. This role will work directly with the sourcing and procurement of our raw materials. This position holds significant importance within our Procurement team, as it encompasses a wide range of responsibilities within the designated categories. We are seeking an individual who is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and can take ownership of the connectors, surge protections, fabrication amongst other like categories, including its strategy, supply management, and performance. It is crucial for the chosen candidate to stay updated on market trends and conditions related to this category. Additionally, this role will involve collaborating with Senior Leadership and various cross-functional teams, including Operations, Engineering, Finance, Accounting, and Sustainability.

Responsibilities:
• Cooperation: Recognize, involve, and coordinate with internal stakeholders to gather category needs and guarantee supplier eligibility and excellence:
• Collaborate with teams from various business department to smoothly facilitate the transition of suppliers when necessary. Provide assistance to New Product Development (NPD) by implementing preferred supplier programs.
• The role encompasses managing a team of buyers, providing guidance, support, coaching, and aiding in their professional growth.
• Strategy: In charge of formulating and implementing a comprehensive category strategy that aligns with the business. This strategy will incorporate Total Value Ownership models, a Global Sourcing strategy to navigate trade compliance and opportunities, a Sustainability strategy to achieve business commitments, coordination and expansion of the Preferred Supplier, eliminating sole suppliers as well as single source suppliers.
• Negotiations: Responsible for managing the entire contract lifecycle and ensuring compliance. This includes maintaining a continuous supply, as well as conducting RFx activities to select and negotiate with suppliers in order to achieve the best total value.
• Risk Management: Actively monitoring and mitigating supplier risks, including financial, capacity, quality, and compliance risks. This includes managing multiple tiers of the supply chain within the category.
• Cost Management: Accountable for delivering category productivity through various means such as price negotiations, value analysis (VA), continuous improvement projects, VAVE, re-sourcing project management, evaluating global markets for import opportunities, and identifying optimal manufacturing processes.
• Supplier Management: Overseeing Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and conducting regular supplier reviews for all strategic suppliers within the category to ensure program Quality, Cost, and Delivery targets are met.

Requirements:
• Minimum 7+ years of experience in procurement, sourcing with significant, intricate, and or regional and global spending categories of 12 years without a Bachelors Degree.
• Proven track record in evaluating, negotiating, and overseeing vendors.
• Strong skills in collaboration, facilitation, consultation, and conflict resolution; you will act as a trusted business partner, engaging with internal and external stakeholders/customers. The role requires the ability to collaborate and influence within a complex organizational structure.
• Professional communication skills, both verbal and written, are essential. Demonstrated capability to lead executive presentations for Senior Leadership is a must.
• Proven ability to handle and communicate moderately complex concepts in Finance and Accounting, as this position will work closely with Corporate Finance and Accounting on Inflation/Deflation guidance, and financial execution.
• Proficiency in analyzing and communicating economic trends and market conditions that have a direct and indirect impact on procurement and the cost of Category cost drivers.
• Strong Microsoft Application skills: excel (Vlookup, Pivot tables, formulas); and PowerPoint presentations development.
• Bachelors Degree preferred

Shoals Technologies Group, LLC provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.