Director of Procurement and Strategic Sourcing

Department: Supply Chain & Operations

Reports to: Vice President of Operations

Location: Scotts Valley, CA or Remote (United States) 

The Director of Procurement & Strategic Sourcing is a leadership role responsible for shaping and executing Universal Audio’s global sourcing strategy, supplier ecosystem, and material availability. This position transitions tactical material management into a strategic sourcing engine, optimizing total cost of ownership (TCO), supplier performance, and supply chain resilience to support growth goals. You will lead supplier negotiations, new product introduction, procurement integration, inventory policy optimization, and cross-functional S&OP alignment with Engineering, Finance, and Operations.

We are open to candidates in the United States.  Candidates located in commutable distance to our HQ, Scotts Valley, CA are a plus.

Responsibilities

   Strategic Sourcing & Category Management

• Develop and execute multi-year sourcing strategies across direct electronics, electro-mechanical components, and key Contract Manufacturers (CMs/JCMs).
• Direct cost-reduction initiatives through volume leverage, dual-sourcing roadmaps, yield optimization, and should-cost modeling.
• Lead contract negotiation and lifecycle management for master service agreements (MSAs), pricing, capacity reservations, and lead-time SLAs.
• Conduct supplier risk assessments, capacity modeling, and contingency planning to ensure business continuity.

   Supply Planning & Inventory Strategy

• Partner with Sales, Finance, and Operations on S&OP to translate long-range demand forecasts into execution-ready supply plans.
• Establish inventory policies across the global warehouse and CM network, balancing inventory turns, buffer stock, and material availability.
• Oversee material flows throughout the product lifecycle, managing Engineering Change Orders (ECO) and End-of-Life (EOL) excess & obsolescence (E&O) risk.

  Cross-Functional Collaboration & New Product Introduction (NPI) Support

• Collaborate with R&D and Engineering during NPI to drive Design for Manufacturability/Cost (DFM/DFC), supplier selection, and early ramp availability.
• Align procurement, production, and warehouse teams to standardize material handling, receiving, and inventory control protocols.
• Define and measure supplier scorecard KPIs (On-Time In-Full, Quality/Yield, Cost Variance, and Lead Time compliance).