Senior Buyer - Glass

Logistics, Sales & Operations · Supply Chain & Transport · Procurement

In short

Volvo Cars is seeking a Senior Buyer for direct material commodities supporting advanced and new vehicle projects in Ridgeville, SC. This role involves developing sourcing strategies, leading negotiations, managing supplier relationships, and ensuring supply continuity for assigned commodities within the automotive industry.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute commodity and supplier strategies aligned with business objectives, vehicle programs, cost targets, localization priorities, technology roadmaps, and global category direction.
Lead end-to-end sourcing for complex direct material commodities, including market analysis, RFQs, supplier selection, business cases, negotiations, contracting, transfers, resourcing, and implementation.
Deliver cost competitiveness and margin improvement through productivity, localization, commercial recoveries, claims resolution, cost avoidance, and disciplined control of pricing, tooling, capacity, and engineering changes.
Integrate Cost Engineering into sourcing and negotiations by applying should-cost analysis, benchmarking, cost transparency, design-to-cost, and fact-based challenges to supplier quotations and investment assumptions.
Own strategic supplier relationships and performance, serving as the primary commercial interface for negotiations, escalations, agreements, and resolution of cost, quality, delivery, capacity, and financial issues.
Protect supply continuity by assessing supplier financial, operational, capacity, quality, geopolitical, and launch risks; lead contingency plans and mitigation for production-critical components.
Ensure sourcing and supplier readiness for vehicle launches, engineering changes, volume shifts, and production requirements through cross-functional governance with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Logistics, Finance, and Program Management.
Provide senior procurement leadership by driving cross-functional decisions, communicating financial impact and supplier exposure to management, mentoring Buyers, and advancing sourcing standards, negotiation practices, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, with strong emphasis on Excel.
In-depth knowledge of the automotive industry, including suppliers, systems, processes, manufacturing economics, and direct material sourcing.
Minimum of 7 years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, supply chain, cost management, or the automotive industry.
Experience managing direct material commodities and supplier negotiations in a manufacturing environment.
Demonstrated success delivering cost reductions, commercial recoveries, sourcing decisions, and supplier performance improvements.
Experience supporting vehicle launches, engineering changes, production environments, or complex program timing requirements.
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority.

Desired Qualifications

Master’s degree or equivalent advanced business or technical education is preferred.
Competencies: Strategic sourcing and commercial leadership, with advanced capability in commodity strategy, RFQ execution, supplier selection, localization, negotiations, and supply base optimization.
Competencies: Strong financial and business acumen, connecting procurement decisions to cost, margin, cash flow, working capital, customer impact, and competitive positioning.
Competencies: Advanced cost and value analysis, including should-cost modeling, cost-driver assessment, benchmarking, manufacturing economics, tooling, capital recovery, and design-to-cost.
Competencies: Strategic supplier and risk management, with the ability to anticipate and mitigate financial, capacity, quality, delivery, geopolitical, and launch exposure.
Competencies: Executive-level communication and influence, translating complex commercial issues into clear recommendations and aligning internal leaders, cross-functional teams, and suppliers.
Competencies: Structured, analytical decision-making, with the ability to challenge assumptions, resolve conflicts, prioritize competing demands, and independently lead complex initiatives from strategy through implementation.
Competencies: Results-driven leadership and accountability for cost competitiveness, sourcing quality, supplier performance, launch readiness, continuous improvement, and development of Buyers through coaching and best-practice deployment.
Competencies: High integrity, sound judgment, professionalism, and a collaborative, solution-oriented mindset aligned with long-term business objectives.
Experience sourcing automotive seating and interior components—including seats and upholstery, hard trim, and headliners—is a plus.

Benefits

Volvo Car is an equal opportunity employer.
The successful candidate must be legally authorized to work in the US without sponsorship.

Skills

Microsoft OfficeExcel

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About Volvo Cars

Everything we do starts with people. Our purpose is to provide freedom to move, in a personal, sustainable and safe way. We are committed to simplifying our customers’ lives by offering better technology solutions that improve their impact on the world and bringing the most advanced mobility innovations to protect them, their loved ones and the people around them. Volvo Cars’ continued success is the result of a collaborative, diverse, and inclusive working environment. The people of Volvo Cars are committed to making a difference in our world. Today, we are one of the most well-known and…

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