Senior Buyer - SBQ Steel & Tubes

About the role

The Sr. Buyer for SBQ Steel and Tubes is responsible for supporting sourcing activities that enable new business growth, supplier development, and long-term commodity strategy for Special Bar Quality (SBQ) steel and tube products. This role serves as the commercial lead for supplier selection recommendations, cost analysis, negotiations, and market intelligence while ensuring continuity of supply and operational support for existing programs. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with engineering, quality, operations, program management, and suppliers to identify competitive sourcing solutions that align with business objectives, cost targets, and quality requirements. In addition to strategic sourcing responsibilities, the Sr. Buyer supports ongoing supplier performance, capacity planning, supply disruptions, cost recovery actions, and day-to-day procurement activities. Legal Entity: American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. Dauch Corporation is a premier Driveline and Metal Forming supplier serving the global automotive industry with a powertrain-agnostic product portfolio that supports electric, hybrid, and internal combustion vehicles. The company is headquartered in Detroit, MI, with operations that span 24 countries and more than 175 locations. Formed through the acquisition of Dowlais Group plc and its subsidiaries - GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy, Dauch unites deep engineering roots with global manufacturing capabilities and an entrepreneurial spirit to move mobility forward. Visit www.dauch.com to learn more.

Responsibilities

• Contract Management: Execute contract and PO life cycle management activities, such as reporting for expiring or aged POs and execution of PO administration, clean-up, and line closure. Coordinate with suppliers and business partners to resolve routine issues such as past-due POs, match exceptions, discrepancies with freight charges and freight billings, cost recoveries, price/invoice issue resolution, updating/incrementing POs, etc.
• Sourcing & Procurement: Identify and qualify new suppliers to improve the supply base and reduce costs while maintaining quality and performance standards
• Cost Analysis: Analyze supplier cost structures and market trends to identify opportunities for cost reductions
• Financial Budgeting & Forecasting: Contribute to annual procurement budget development process and submit monthly forecasts to finance team
• Negotiation: Conduct cost and price negotiations and establish long-term agreements with suppliers to deliver the highest value materials that meet cost, quality, and delivery requirements and drive cost savings and supplier performance improvements
• Supplier Management: Develop and manage relationships with suppliers to ensure quality, cost competitiveness, and on-time delivery
• VA/VE & Cost Savings initiatives: Support and drive VA/VE initiatives to improve competitiveness of category spend to meet or exceed budget and business plan targets
• Technical Support: Lead technical reviews with supply base, systems engineering, component engineering and supplier quality engineering contacts to close out all issues and ensure cross-functional support of sourcing recommendations
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate risks in the supply chain, including material shortages, price fluctuations, and geopolitical factors
• Logistics & Inventory Management: Coordinate with suppliers and logistics teams to ensure efficient inventory levels and prevent supply disruptions
• Quality & Compliance: Work with Quality and Engineering teams to ensure supplier compliance with IATF 16949, ISO 9001, and other AAM and industry standards
• New Product Development Support: Collaborate on sourcing strategies for new business programs to and ensure timely supplier sourcing and readiness
• Continuous Improvement: Implement process improvements to enhance supply chain efficiency and cost-effectiveness
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with internal teams (engineering,