Senior Engineer, NPD Procurement; Orthopaedics

Job Overview

Life Unlimited. At Smith+ NEPhew we design and manufacture technology that takes the limits off living. The Procurement New Product Development Engineer is the primary procurement interface for new product introductions to grow the company product portfolio. This role serves as an active participant and contributor to several cross‑functional teams composed of multiple internal functions including Research & Development, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, Product Development, Marketing, and Supply Chain.

This position is designated as the primary point of contact and interface with external suppliers for quotations, negotiations and status reports. The role participates early in the process with the research and engineering teams to determine suitable candidate suppliers and to drive early supplier involvement and engagement throughout the initial phase gates. The position stewards procurement responsibilities from project initiation through product qualification steps and the eventual hand‑off to the production team as a fully qualified product.

This role manages and monitors the costs throughout the development cycle and provides report outs to the team and management.

• Protect and elevate the reputation of Smith + NEPhew.
• Adhere to business practices according to the Smith + NEPhew Code of Conduct and other applicable company policies.
• Steward processes in accordance with Medical Device industry requirements and regulations applicable to the specific process, product or purchased commodity.
• Perform procurement activities in alignment with regulatory requirements and industry standards such as the Modern Slavery Act, Conflict Minerals and others.
• Protect Smith + NEPhew Intellectual Property as well as all Company information against unauthorized disclosure and legal exposure.
• Partner with Supplier Quality to assure supplier performance and enhance supplier relationships (quality, technical capabilities, processes, etc.).
• Complete required training courses in accordance with assigned due dates.
• Create shared value with our suppliers.
• Enable Smith + NEPhew to get the best out of its suppliers by working in partnership with them for mutual good business.
• Maintain strong relationship with the Direct Procurement Leaders and provide support to ensure commodity strategies are being implemented appropriately in New Product Development.
• Arrange technical meetings and supplier reviews with current and potential suppliers to harness knowledge of supplier technology, strengths and weaknesses as well as future technology directions and disruptors.
• Know the Smith + NEPhew product technology roadmap and establish relationships with key suppliers to leverage new technologies and processes.
• Enhance margin and profitability.
• Steward that the “Make versus Buy” analysis of the decision of internal manufacture versus external supplier purchases has been completed with forms reviewed and agreed with the team.
• Identify suitable supplier candidates based on understanding of overall category strategy, supplier performance and supplier readiness.
• Ensure a clear understanding and communication of specifications and expectations between suppliers and project teams.
• Steward the NPD supplier selection process by aligning the project needs with the Direct Procurement Category Strategies and managing stakeholder communications.
• Coordinate the initial project cost estimates for new and carry‑over components and continue to monitor the cost throughout the development lifecycle, reporting any gaps to budget back to the team for closure or for escalation if not mitigated.
• Develop costs and negotiate pricing with suppliers in effort to deliver new product to the initially proposed cost targets, with early identification of risks to cost budgets.
• Serve as meeting leader at Supplier Meetings to focus team on execution of project deliverables.
• Partner with engineering and suppliers to drive cost and performance improvements on products to improve the Total Cost of Ownership across the product lifecycle.
• Manage the resolution of purchased price variances, Accounts Payable discrepancies, receiving…