Director of Direct Materials

CSP is the industry leader in the formulation and molding of lightweight, advanced composite components for the transportation industries. As an innovative, full-service Tier One supplier, we offer an entrepreneurial environment where you’re only limited by your own imagination. In addition to our team-focused environment, we provide industry-leading benefits, called BENEfits4U. Our comprehensive offering includes: affordable medical, dental, and vision care;

flexible spending accounts; life insurance; 401k with company match and much, much more.

• Engineering & R&D: material specifications, second-source validation, qualification plans, formulation governance, and VAVE initiatives.
• Operations & Plant Leadership: production alignment, supply assurance, inventory parameters, and change management.
• Quality / SQD: PPAP compliance, supplier quality gates, audit management, performance escalation, and corrective action plans.
• Finance: TCO modeling, savings validation, index-linkage mechanisms, program budgeting, and variance-to-plan reporting.
• Program Management: sourcing alignment to program timelines, launch support, and customer change management.
• Direct Materials Team: direct leadership of Senior Commodity Manager SMC and the broader team to be recruited and developed under this role.

• Build, structure, and lead the Direct Materials procurement team: define roles and headcount requirements, recruit talent, set performance objectives, and develop individual capabilities across the team.
• Lead, mentor, and coach direct reports — including the Senior Commodity Manager SMC — fostering a high-performance, ownership-driven culture with clear accountability for category results, program delivery, and supplier management.
• Establish team operating rhythms, governance cadences, and a shared culture of commercial excellence, cross-functional partnership, and continuous improvement aligned to CSP’s values.

• Own and execute comprehensive category strategies across the full direct materials portfolio: SMC & DLFT raw materials (resins, fiberglass, pigments/thickeners, fillers, SMC chemicals), production parts (stampings, castings, extrusions, fasteners, seals/gaskets, latches/hinges), and paint & external paint (primers, paints, external paint services).
• Establish structured sourcing cycles (RFx/e-auctions), index-based pricing, market baskets, and dual-/multi-sourcing roadmaps; implement governance, decision frameworks, and KPIs for cost, quality, delivery, and risk across all categories.

• Translate formulation, process, and engineering constraints into commercial sourcing strategies; lead value engineering (VAVE) and target costing programs with R&D and Engineering across raw materials and production parts.
• Run sub-category RFPs with aligned scoring, TCO evaluation, and should-cost analysis; build validated supplier panels with award strategies and dual-source readiness across all three category pillars.

• Lead global RFPs for stampings, castings, extrusions, fasteners, seals, and latches; benchmark across OEM programs and leverage cross-portfolio opportunities where applicable.
• Drive supplier localization, co-location, and domestic sourcing strategies; identify opportunities to reduce tariff exposure, logistics cost, and lead times in alignment with Operations.

• Own sourcing strategy and supplier governance for paint raw materials (primers, paints) and external paint services (~$70M); drive consolidation, benchmarking, and contract coverage in a category currently managed with limited enterprise leverage.
• Collaborate with Operations and Engineering on specification standardization and demand management; identify opportunities for in sourcing, GPO leverage, or supplier rationalization to reduce total cost.

• Develop executive-level relationships with strategic suppliers across all categories;…