Strategic Sourcing Manager

Mission Alignment (GSP Definition of Winning)

• Value Capture: deliver holistic value (cost reduction/avoidance speed quality and operational effectiveness).

• Client Journey: deliver a seamless stakeholder experience with clear ownership predictable cycle times and reduced friction.

• Risk Management:proactivelyidentify assess and mitigate thirdparty and supply risks within sourcing and contracting activities.

• OptimizeCapability: strengthen procurement capability through standards coaching and adoption of digital/AI-enabled ways of working.

Key Responsibilities

1) Strategic Sourcing Execution (Tiered Delivery)

• Lead and execute Tier 2 sourcing engagements (complex/crossregional/repeatable) with accountability fordeliveryquality leverage and cycle time.

• Support Tier 1 sourcing engagements by providing sourcing leadership RFx architecture analytics and negotiation support within category guardrails.

• Translate category strategy into executable sourcing wave plans and event strategies (RFIs/RFPs/RFQs auctions market tests negotiation approach).

• Drive disciplined project governance from intake through award and handoff; ensure consistent documentation and audit trail.

2) Commercial & Negotiation Leadership

• Develop factbased negotiation strategies (TCO shouldcost benchmarking) and lead supplier negotiations to deliver approved value outcomes.

• Partner with Category Management on positioning tradeoffs and escalation decisions when supplier value or risk profiles change.

• Coordinate contract strategy with ContractingCoE/Legal; ensure use of templates playbooks and approved fallback positions for standard terms.

• Support Value Capture governance (e.g. baseline/benchmark alignment and savings outcome validation) in partnership with Finance.

3) Pipeline & Delivery Management

• Manage assigned sourcing pipelines aligned to category wave plans; prioritize work by complexity risk business criticality and enterprise value.

• Anticipate capacity constraints and proactively coordinate resourcing withSCoEleadership to protect cycle time and stakeholder commitments.

• Track progressidentifyblockers and drive rapid escalation/resolution; ensure transparency through dashboards cadence reviews and status updates.

4)SCoEEnablement Coaching & Quality Assurance

• Coach and mentorSCoEpractitioners on categoryspecific execution standards negotiation tactics and stakeholder communications.

• Own continuous refinement of sourcing playbooks templates scorecards and QA standards; ensure global consistency with room for regional nuance.

• Build repeatable sourcing capabilities (training lessons learned knowledge base contributions) and strengthen the internal talent pipeline.

5) Stakeholder Partnership & CrossFunctional Leadership

• Serve as the primary sourcing execution interface for Category Leaders and key stakeholders during active sourcing initiatives.

• Drive alignment across crossfunctional partners (Legal Finance Risk/TPRM Operations) to accelerate decisions and reduce handoffs.

• Support stakeholder engagement practices (BRM/SRM execution in partnership with the central program offices) with consistent messaging and value storytelling.

6) Governance Compliance & Risk Controls

• Embed policy adherence sourcing governance and risk controls into sourcing work (supplier due diligence TPRM triggers compliance checkpoints).

• Ensure sourcing work is executed using approved buying channels and standard processes; minimize exceptions and document rationale when needed.

• Escalate risks early (supply continuity regulatory/compliance cyber/operations financial health) and coordinate mitigation plans with risk owners.

7) Digital Analytics & AIEnabled Ways of Working

• LeverageeSourcing contract lifecycle management and analytics tools to drive faster cycle times and better decision quality.

• Adopt AI-enabled approaches for research drafting analysis and workflow acceleration whilemaintaininggovernance and controls.

• Identifyautomation opportunities for lowvalue work and partner with Process/Technology teams to scale improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Supply Chain Business Engineering Finance or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).

• 7 years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing procurement category execution or commercial contract negotiations.

• Proventrack recordleading complex sourcing events (RFx/auctions) negotiating highvalue agreements and delivering measurable outcomes.

• Strong commercial acumen including TCO/shouldcost analysis benchmarking and the ability to translate insights into negotiation strategy.

• Ability tooperateeffectively in a global matrixed environment with multiple stakeholders and time zones.

Preferred

• Experience in semiconductor or hightech indirect procurement environments (facilities IT technical services labor/services or adjacent categories).

• Experience working in/with centerled procurement operating models and shared service/CoEdelivery engines.

• Professional certifications (e.g. CPSM CIPS CPM) and/or MBA/MS in a relevant discipline.

• Demonstrated change leadership and process improvement experience (Lean/Six Sigma design thinking or similar).

Core Competencies (What Great Looks Like)

• Strategic sourcingleadership:designs the right sourcing approach for the business problem; balances speed with rigor.

• Negotiation excellence: drives outcomes through preparation factbase and influence; manages tradeoffs inside guardrails.

• Stakeholder leadership: earns trust as a commercial advisor; communicates crisply; manages escalations without drama.

• Analytical strength: builds and explains cost models; sees patterns; uses data to make decisions and challenge assumptions.

• Governance & riskdiscipline:protects Applied through compliance documentation and proactive risk identification.

• Coaching mindset: raisescapabilityof the broader team through standards QA and mentorship.

Success Measures (Sample)

• Value delivery: verified cost savings/cost avoidance and other quantified value outcomes aligned to category value targets.

• Cycle time & service levels: improved sourcing/contracting cycle times and predictable delivery performance against SLAs.

• Compliance & risk: high policy adherence strong audit readiness and effective risk mitigation actions for key engagements.

• Stakeholder experience: improved satisfaction and reduced friction through clear ownership communication and speed.

• Capability uplift:measurableimprovement inSCoEexecution quality and adoption of standards playbooks and tools.

About Global Sourcing & Procurement (GSP)

Global Sourcing & Procurement (GSP) is Applied Materials indirect procurement and extended workforce support function. Weprocurethe goods services and extended workforcefor Applied to run and grow the company and enable Applied to support our customers. GSP partners with stakeholders globally through sourcing contracting category and supplier management analytics and transactional procurement.