Commodity Manager – Strategic Supplier Management (Hardware Infrastructure)

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Commodity Manager to own the sourcing strategy, supplier relationships, and supply health for high-volume hardware commodities supporting infrastructure and data center products. This role is responsible for developing long-term supplier strategies, ensuring supply continuity, improving supplier performance, and partnering cross-functionally with Engineering, Planning, Finance, Operations, and Manufacturing teams to support New Product Introduction (NPI) and production readiness.

The ideal candidate has experience managing strategic suppliers within high-volume electronics, cloud infrastructure, server, networking, or hardware manufacturing environments and can effectively communicate supply risks and business recommendations to senior leadership.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Supplier Management

- Own strategic relationships with global suppliers and contract manufacturers (ODMs/EMS partners).
- Develop long-term commodity sourcing strategies aligned with business growth and product roadmaps.
- Lead supplier business reviews, performance improvement plans, and executive-level supplier engagements.
- Negotiate commercial terms, lead times, capacity commitments, and supply agreements.

Commodity & Supply Strategy

- Own one or more hardware commodity categories (e.g., PCBs, power supplies, connectors, mechanicals, memory, storage, networking components, semiconductors, sheet metal, cables, or similar).
- Drive supplier allocation strategies, dual sourcing initiatives, and supplier qualification activities.
- Monitor market trends, supply constraints, pricing movements, and technology roadmaps to support sourcing decisions.

Supply Planning & Risk Management

- Analyse demand, forecast, inventory,



and supplier capacity to identify supply risks before they impact production.
- Develop mitigation strategies including alternate sourcing, capacity expansion, risk buys, and recovery plans.
- Partner with Planning teams to balance demand versus supplier capacity across multiple programs.
- Maintain overall supply health and ensure business continuity.

Supplier Performance Management

- Drive continuous supplier performance improvements in:
- Lead Time Reduction
- On-Time Delivery (OTD)
- Capacity Utilisation
- Quality Performance
- Cost Optimisation
- Inventory Health
- Establish supplier scorecards and monitor key performance indicators.

Cross-Functional Leadership

- Collaborate closely with:
- Engineering
- Supply Planning
- Manufacturing
- Finance
- Quality
- Operations
- Logistics
- Program Management
- Support Recent Product Introduction (NPI) by ensuring supplier readiness and component availability throughout product development and production ramps.

Executive Communication

- Translate complex supply chain data into concise, decision-ready updates for senior leadership.
- Present supplier health, capacity outlook, supply risks, mitigation plans, and strategic recommendations during executive reviews.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, Operations, or related discipline.
- 7+ years of experience in Commodity Management, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Management, Procurement, or Supply Chain.




- Proven experience managing strategic supplier relationships in high-volume manufacturing environments.
- Strong knowledge of demand planning, MRP, supply planning, inventory management, and supplier performance metrics.
- Experience driving supplier improvements in lead time, OTD, capacity, and cost.
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex demand and supply data.
- Strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
- Experience working cross-functionally with Engineering, Planning, Finance, and Manufacturing teams.

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience supporting hyperscale data centers, cloud infrastructure, servers, networking hardware, storage, AI hardware, or enterprise electronics.
- Experience working with ODMs/EMS manufacturers such as Flex, Jabil, Celestica, Foxconn, Quanta, Pegatron, Sanmina, or similar.
- Knowledge of semiconductor supply chains and electronic component sourcing.
- Experience supporting New Product Introduction (NPI) and production ramp activities.
- Advanced proficiency with SAP, Oracle, or similar ERP systems, along with Excel and data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau).

Success Profile

The ideal Commodity Manager is someone who can:

- Build trusted strategic partnerships with global suppliers.
- Develop long-term sourcing and commodity strategies.
- Identify and mitigate supply risks before they affect production.
- Improve supplier performance through measurable KPIs.
- Balance demand against supplier capacity in fast-paced manufacturing environments.
- Lead cross-functional initiatives across Engineering, Planning, Operations, and Finance.
- Present supply chain insights and recommendations to senior leadership with confidence.

📌 Commodity Manager (Winnipeg)
🏢 E-Solutions
📍 Winnipeg