Commodity Manager II; Glass

First Solar reserves the right to offer you a role most applicable to your experience and skillset.

Lead procurement cross-functional teams for Tier 2 categories resulting in procurement decisions delivering the highest quality, reliability, and value to meet First Solar requirements.

Develop strong business relationships and strategic alliances supporting First Solar’s growth plan.

• BS/BA degree plus 5 or more years of experience in a related technical or business field or 8 years of experience in a related technical or business field
• Strong knowledge of operational purchasing processes & concepts
• Experience in the glass industry, glass manufacturing, or sourcing of glass and related materials is preferred, but not required.
• ISM and APICS Certification preferred.

• Decision Making:
  • Participates with executives to establish strategic plans and objectives.
  • Select, evaluate, and develop category plan objectives in areas of technology, quality, cost, flexibility, and service.
  • Execute projects consistent with achieving overall supply management organizational goals.
  • Implement sourcing decisions based on team consensus to weighted scorecard.
• Problem Solving:
  • Assess, define, and resolve complex supply chain and procurement issues without supervision.
  • Apply root cause analysis and derive corrective actions and assess adequacy of the analyses and plans proposed by suppliers managed.
  • Apply appropriate competitive cost benchmarks, financial analysis, and risk management techniques to solve issues.
  • Able to influence internal customers and executives to achieve mutually beneficial solutions.
• Project Management:
  • Understands and demonstrates advanced project management skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to successfully manage multiple projects at the same time, and to close projects on time.
  • Effectively manages relationships and peer deliverables to successful project completion.
• Interaction:
  • Highly effective communicator, including oral, written and presentation preparation
  • Interacts primarily with peers, senior managers, and executives within First Solar.
  • Interaction requires the ability to influence others, frequently associates with higher position, to achieve organizational goals.
  • Often acts as team leader of cross-functional group for ad-hoc or standing projects.
  • Routine interaction with directors, VPs or “C” level executives of suppliers managed.
  • Builds deep industry relationships and category subject matter expertise.
• Negotiation:
  • Performs market and cost analysis.
  • Issues RFIs/RFQs/RFPs.
  • Develops and executes negotiation plan.
  • Conducts negotiation within approved negotiation parameters and authority.
  • Documents commercial terms and drafts contract agreements and amendments.

• Lead global commodity management activities for glass, including development of sourcing strategies that support competitive cost, supply assurance, capacity requirements, supplier development, and risk mitigation.
• Develop and implement a global sourcing with specific negotiation strategies to achieve cost, supply assurance and risk mitigation objectives.
• Lead commercial negotiations with managed supply partners.
• Coordinate aggregation of all sites demand for supplier forecasting and leveraging for cost reduction.
• Proactively manage supplier base ensuring supply with no adverse impact on factory ramp plans.
• Utilize formal benchmarking methods to determine best in class processes and drive improvement.
• Develop and implement cost-reduction programs using Cost- of-Ownership (COO) analysis, cost build-up analysis and supplier competition.
• Measure and track supply performance within spend category.
• Implement inventory optimization programs to optimize inventory turns,…