Commodity Manager-Metals

Commodity Manager

Core Responsibilities

Metal Category Strategy & Ownership

• Develop and execute sourcing strategies for carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum across manufacturing locations.
• Evaluate domestic mills, service centers, and processors for capability, capacity, competitiveness, quality, and reliability.
• Establish primary and secondary sourcing options to reduce supplier concentration and supply disruption risk.
• Analyze spend, material requirements, and purchasing patterns to identify consolidation, standardization, and sourcing opportunities.
• Align supplier allocations and sourcing decisions with production requirements, inventory objectives, and market conditions.
• Maintain a documented category strategy with clear actions, owners, and expected results.

Market Intelligence & Business Communication

• Monitor metal pricing, mill lead times, capacity, availability, alloy surcharges, and relevant raw material and economic indicators.
• Understand how base prices, conversion charges, freight, processing costs, and surcharges affect TCF's delivered material cost.
• Evaluate supplier price changes against market information and negotiated agreements.
• Identify emerging market shifts and recommend appropriate purchasing, contracting, or inventory actions.
• Provide regular market updates that explain what is changing, the expected business impact, and recommended actions.
• Communicate material cost and availability changes to leadership, Buyers, Planning, Finance, and quoting stakeholders in time to support decisions.

Supplier Management & Negotiations

• Own commercial relationships with assigned metal suppliers and establish clear performance expectations.
• Lead negotiations for pricing, volume commitments, lead times, payment terms, freight, and other commercial conditions.
• Develop and maintain supply agreements with clear pricing mechanisms, service requirements, and escalation processes.
• Conduct supplier business reviews covering delivery, quality, capacity, cost, responsiveness, and improvement actions.
• Lead escalations and corrective actions for recurring delivery, quality, and service issues.
• Partner with Quality and Engineering on supplier qualification, audits, material discrepancies, and supplier development.

Procurement & Cross-Functional Support

• Partner with Buyers to translate category strategies into consistent purchasing practices.
• Support day-to-day supply issues and take ownership of supplier escalations requiring commercial or leadership involvement.
• Work with Planning and Operations to align demand, supplier capacity, replenishment practices, and inventory coverage.
• Partner with Engineering to evaluate material specifications, alternate sources, and opportunities to improve yield or reduce waste.
• Support new product introductions through material sourcing, supplier selection, and capacity validation.
• Coordinate supplier transitions to protect production continuity and manage remaining inventory and commitments.

Systems, Analytics & Cost Management

• Use Epicor, Passport, Power BI, and Excel to analyze spend, purchase prices, receipts, inventory, and supplier performance.
• Work effectively across two ERP systems and a combination of manual and automated processes.
• Partner with Buyers and Planning to maintain accurate supplier pricing, lead times, and purchasing parameters.
• Build cost comparisons that account for material grade, gauge, dimensions, weight, processing, freight, and purchasing units.
• Track sourcing savings and cost avoidance using documented baselines and Finance-aligned validation methods.
• Identify data gaps and process limitations, and establish practical controls to support reliable decisions.

Continuous Improvement

• Improve metal purchasing practices across locations while accounting for plant-specific requirements.
• Identify opportunities to reduce total cost through better material utilization, order quantities, processing arrangements, and supplier performance.
• Establish consistent category reporting, supplier reviews, and escalation practices.
• Demonstrate TCF Core Values in all supplier and internal interactions.

First 60 Days

• Learn TCF products, manufacturing processes, metal specifications, and plant requirements.
• Review metal spend, supplier allocations, agreements, pricing structures, and open supply risks.
• Build relationships with key suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Assess current purchasing practices across Epicor, Passport, and supporting reporting tools.
• Establish an initial metal market update covering pricing, availability, lead times, and business implications.
• Identify immediate supply, pricing, or agreement gaps requiring action.

By 90 Days

• Independently manage assigned metal supplier relationships and commercial escalations.
• Complete a category assessment identifying spend, supplier performance, sourcing risks, and improvement opportunities.
• Present a prioritized metal category plan with recommended sourcing actions and measurable objectives.
• Establish a recurring market communication and supplier review cadence.
• Begin negotiations or corrective actions addressing the highest-priority opportunities.
• Align with Buyers and Planning on supplier allocations, inventory considerations, and escalation expectations.

After 12 Months

• Maintain and execute a documented metal category strategy across manufacturing locations.
• Implement sourcing and supplier improvements that support agreed cost, quality, delivery, inventory, and risk objectives.
• Establish appropriate supply agreements and qualified backup sources for critical materials.
• Demonstrate consistent use of market intelligence to support purchasing and business decisions.
• Deliver documented, validated results against agreed category objectives.
• Operate as the internal resource for metal market conditions, supplier capabilities, and commercial strategy.

Top 3 Critical Abilities

1. Metal market expertise: Understand carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum markets and translate pricing, availability, and lead-time trends into actionable recommendations.
2. Category ownership and commercial judgment: Lead sourcing strategies, negotiations, agreements, and supplier performance while balancing cost, quality, inventory, and supply continuity.
3. Clear communication and execution: Explain business impacts, influence cross-functional decisions, and follow through on actions across multiple manufacturing locations.

Biggest Challenges

• Responding to changing metal prices and availability while protecting supply continuity and inventory objectives.
• Aligning purchasing practices and supplier strategies across manufacturing locations.
• Working through inconsistent data and a mix of manual and automated processes.
• Balancing strategic category work with urgent supplier and production needs.
• Communicating market shifts early enough for the business to act.
• Validating savings when material specifications, part numbers, or purchasing units change.

Attributes & Behaviors

• Takes ownership and follows through without repeated direction.
• Uses market knowledge and data to make practical recommendations.
• Communicates clearly, directly, and proactively.
• Challenges unsupported price increases and assumptions professionally.
• Builds strong supplier relationships while maintaining accountability.
• Remains flexible and effective when priorities or market conditions change.
• Works comfortably in both detailed purchasing activity and broader category planning.
• Collaborates across functions and locations.
• Escalates risks early and brings recommended solutions.
• Demonstrates integrity, sound judgment, and a continuous improvement mindset.

Essential Skills & Experience

• 5–8+ years of purchasing, sourcing, or commodity management experience, including at least 5 years directly managing metal purchases or metal supplier relationships.
• Demonstrated experience with carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum, including sheet and angle; familiarity with plate, coil, and other forms relevant to manufacturing.
• Strong working knowledge of domestic metal markets, mills, service centers, and processing capabilities.
• Understanding of material grades, gauges, dimensions, weight-based pricing, and applicable specifications.
• Experience analyzing metal pricing structures, market trends, surcharges, conversion costs, and freight.
• Proven ability to lead supplier negotiations, establish agreements, and manage supplier performance.
• Ability to communicate market changes and recommend actions based on their operational and financial impact.
• Strong Excel, analytical, and total-cost comparison