Strategic Sourcing Lead; Aerospace & Defense

Job Description

The Strategic Sourcing Lead owns the long-term commodity strategy for assigned electronic components and electronic assemblies, including circuit card assemblies (CCAs), printed wiring boards (PWBs), and printed circuit boards (PCBs). Serving as the strategic owner of assigned commodity portfolios, this role develops and executes multi-year sourcing strategies, builds and optimizes preferred supplier portfolios, and drives competitive advantage through supplier selection, supplier development, commercial strategy, and total cost optimization.

Working cross-functionally with Engineering, Operations, Quality, and executive leadership, the Strategic Sourcing Lead develops sourcing roadmaps that strengthen supply continuity, technology alignment, supplier performance, and long-term business value within a highly regulated aerospace and defense manufacturing environment.

• Serve as the strategic business owner for assigned electronic component commodity portfolios, with accountability for commodity strategy, preferred supplier portfolio development, commercial strategy, supplier performance, and long-term supply continuity.
• Develop commodity roadmaps informed by technology trends, supplier capabilities, market intelligence, geopolitical risks, and business growth objectives.
• Build and optimize a preferred supplier portfolio through supplier segmentation, supplier rationalization, supplier development, and long-term partnership strategies.
• Lead supplier identification, evaluation, selection, qualification, onboarding, and ongoing strategic supplier management.
• Develop strategic supplier partnerships through executive engagement, commercial negotiations, long-term supply agreements (LTAs), pricing frameworks, capacity agreements, supplier business reviews, and joint technology planning.
• Lead value engineering, should-cost, and commercial initiatives that achieve measurable cost reduction, deflation, and total cost of ownership improvements.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Operations, Planning, and Program Management to influence sourcing decisions and design-for-cost initiatives.
• Monitor supplier markets, technology trends, capacity constraints, and geopolitical developments to proactively evolve commodity strategies.
• Develop sourcing strategies that support long product life cycles, component obsolescence mitigation, and supply continuity for aerospace and defense programs.
• Track supplier performance through KPIs and drive continuous improvement, risk mitigation, and sourcing process standardization.

• Minimum six (6) years of experience developing commodity strategies, strategic sourcing, category management, supplier development, or strategic supply chain management supporting electronics manufacturing.
• Experience in aerospace, defense, or other highly regulated industries
• Bachelor’s Degree:
  Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, or related degrees considered with demonstrated technical sourcing experience
• Demonstrated ownership of an electronic component commodity portfolio, including development of commodity strategies, preferred supplier networks, and long-term commercial agreements across one or more manufacturing sites.
• Demonstrated success developing preferred supplier portfolios and supplier segmentation strategies, leading supplier rationalization and consolidation initiatives.
• Experience balancing cost, technology, risk, capacity, and quality in sourcing decisions, influencing engineering design decisions through supplier and commodity strategy.
• Proven ability to operate independently and deliver results with limited oversight
• Ability to engage credibly with engineering teams on cost drivers, manufacturability, and design tradeoffs
• Strong understanding of supplier cost structures, negotiation strategies, and long-term agreements

At Frontgrade, we build mission-critical electronics that perform without compromise in the world’s most demanding environments, from deep space to national defense. With decades of proven heritage, we deliver high-reliability components, subsystems,…