Commodity Manager

Staff Commodity Manager

San Diego - Headquarters

At Element Biosciences, we are passionate about our mission to develop high performing products to study genomics with unprecedented flexibility and quality that enable researchers to better understand biology for the improvement of global health. We have built a highly efficient product-driven organization where employees can learn, grow, and thrive in a challenging but encouraging environment. We are committed to scientific integrity, collegiality, honesty, objectivity, and openness.

We are seeking an experienced Staff Commodity Manager, Strategic Sourcing, to develop and execute strategic sourcing roadmaps for critical commodities spanning life sciences mechanical assemblies, electronics, and specialized materials. This role combines deep commodity expertise with strategic execution across the full product lifecycle—from development through commercialization. You will lead supplier selection, qualification, and development initiatives; conduct advanced cost modeling and COGS optimization;

manage complex supplier relationships and negotiations; and ensure supply continuity while driving quality and innovation.

This individual will collaborate closely with R&D, Process Engineering, Quality, Operations, and Manufacturing to align sourcing strategies with technical and business objectives. The ideal candidate brings demonstrated expertise in commodity management, supplier development, contract negotiations, and supply chain risk management, with the ability to operate both strategically and tactically. This is an excellent role for a strategic sourcing professional seeking to expand their scope and impact beyond individual commodities toward enterprise-level supply chain challenges.

This role will report to our Director, Strategic Sourcing and is a daily on-site role at our San Diego headquarters.

If you possess the following and want to make a meaningful impact, we invite you to explore this role.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute multi-year strategic sourcing roadmaps for assigned commodity families, defining sourcing strategies that align with product development timelines, technology roadmaps, and COGS targets
• Define and implement sourcing governance frameworks for New Product Introduction (NPI) and sustaining programs, ensuring clear decision rights, stakeholder alignment, and risk management processes
• Lead supplier selection, qualification, and onboarding activities for direct materials, contract manufacturing partners, and technical services across the product lifecycle
• Influence design-for-cost (DFC) and design-for-manufacturability (DFM) early in the R&D cycle; collaborate with Engineering and R&D to drive make-vs-buy decisions and multi-sourcing strategies
• Evaluate suppliers for technical capability, manufacturability, cost efficiency, and readiness across NPI phases; act as primary technical liaison between internal stakeholders and supplier engineering teams
• Conduct detailed cost breakdowns and total-landed-cost (TLC) modeling using should-cost analysis; drive COGS optimization and cost avoidance initiatives across commodity families
• Develop and maintain supplier scorecards; lead Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and corrective action planning; track and report on sourcing KPIs (cost, quality, delivery, supply chain resilience) to leadership
• Strengthen supply chain resilience and continuity by qualifying alternate sources, implementing diversification strategies, and managing geopolitical and tariff-related risks
• Lead contract negotiations on pricing, payment terms, risk-sharing, flexibility clauses, and supply continuity commitments; draft sourcing governance documents
• Interpret and leverage technical documentation including engineering drawings, CAD models, and specifications to ensure supplier understanding of requirements, manufacturability, and cost accuracy
• Partner with Quality and Regulatory to ensure supplier compliance with industry standards (ISO 13485, RoHS, REACH, GMP); support supplier quality audits and certification processes
• Represent Strategic Sourcing in cross-functional forums including product…