Senior Strategic Sourcing Manager

About the role

The Senior Strategic Sourcing Manager is the highest-level individual contributor on Tate’s liquid cooling procurement team. This person is most responsible for shaping how Tate’s global supply chain develops over the next two to four years. This Senior SSM owns Tate’s most complex programs, leads the development of the global supplier ecosystem, drives procurement strategy across all programs, and mentors the SSMs.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end sourcing strategy for Tate’s highest-complexity and highest-value customer programs, managing BOMs that span liquid cooling manifold assemblies, custom stainless steel infrastructure, etc.
• Develop 2-3 year program sourcing roadmaps that anticipate product evolution, customer configuration changes, and supplier market shifts ensuring Tate’s supply chain is positioned ahead of demand.
• Identify strategic spend categories within each program and develop long term category plans that address costs, supply security, and supplier capability development.
• Own the program-level cost target from a procurement perspective setting should-cost expectations for major assemblies and holding the supply base to them.
• Lead the identification, evaluation, and development of Tate’s global strategic supplier base for liquid cooling components.
• Negotiate and execute multi-year supply agreements with strategic suppliers structuring commercial teams that balance competitive pricing, supply security, volume flexibility, and long-term partnerships.
• Cooking with the Global Commodity Managers to develop dual-source and multi-region sourcing strategies for critical components, reducing single-source risks and dependencies across the liquid cooling portfolio and building supply chain resilience as Tate scales.
• Maintain and continuously improve Tate’s global material source database tracking supplier capabilities, certifications, capacity, and pricing across all liquid cooling spend categories.
• Provide overall strategic procurement strategy and long term planning to support Tate’s growth and expansion working with the Global Director to align sourcing decisions with the company’s multi-year business strategy.
• Integrate relevant technologies such as supplier portals, ERP enhancements, supply chain visibility platforms to improve traceability, lead time transparency, and overall sourcing efficiency.
• Work with regional operations to ensure production facilities are aligned with the strategic direction and supplier commitments developed at the program level.
• Establish and own the KPI framework for measuring sourcing performance across the team tracking cost savings, supplier on-time delivery, qualification cycle time, and supply continuity metrics.
• Own the supply risk register for Tate’s most critical programs, identifying and quantifying single-source exposure, geopolitical risk, tariff impact, supplier financial risk, and lead time vulnerability.
• Develop and present supply risk mitigation plans to the Global Director and senior leadership with recommended actions, timelines, and investment requirements.
• Lead supply chain disruption response for major events coordinating across procurement, operations, and customer program teams to execute recovery plans that protect customer delivery commitments.
• Mentor and develop Strategic Sourcing Managers reviewing program sourcing strategies, coaching on supplier negotiations, and raising the overall quality of procurement practices across the team.
• Create and maintain a framework for managing strategic supplier relationships setting performance standards, review cadences, and corrective action processes that apply across all programs.
• Represent procurement in senior program reviews, customer technical discussions, and cross-functional governance forums.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Strategic Procurement, Logistics, General Business Management or a related field.
• Additional certification such as APICS, CSCP, etc. are a plus.
• 7-12+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, or supply chain management, preferably within data center infrastructure, HVAC, fluid systems, precision manufacturing, or a related technical industry.
• Deep experience managing strategic supplier relationships at a senior level, negotiating multi-year agreements, driving supplier development, and resolving supply chain escalation in a timely manner.
• Strong strategic thinking and planning skills with a track record of driving efficiency and innovation in supply chain processes.
• In-depth understanding of data center infrastructure, liquid cooling systems, or thermal management supply chains is a significant differentiator.
• Excellent cross-functional communication and influence skills that is able to engage credibly with engineering, operations, finance, and executive leadership without direct authority.
• Strong commercial acumen that is proficient in TCO analysis, should-cost modeling, commodity price risk management, and contract structuring.
• Proficiency in procurement tools, ERP systems, and supply chain management software.
• Strong analytical skills: comfortable with BOM costing, TCO analysis, and supplier performance data.
• Familiarity with liquid cooling infrastructure, data center supply chains, or thermal management components is an advantage.
• Ability to travel globally as required.