Sourcing Manager - Energy Infrastructure Systems, Ford Energy

The Sourcing Manager – Energy Infrastructure manages supplier relationships that support the full after-sales service lifecycle for Energy Storage Systems (ESS). The role manages a broad portfolio that may include field service providers, warranty and repair services, spare parts and consumables, service logistics, warehousing, technical support, training, digital service tools, decommissioning, recycling, and other customer-support requirements.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

1. Category Strategy & Sourcing Execution

• Develop and maintain sourcing strategies for after-sales categories such as field service, warranty administration and repair, spare parts, consumables, logistics, technical support, training, digital service tools, decommissioning, recycling, and specialized equipment.
• Assess supplier markets, identify and qualify capable partners, and lead RFIs, RFPs, and RFQs from requirements definition through evaluation and award.
• Partner with After-Sales Services, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Finance, Legal, and EHS to evaluate technical capability, service coverage, capacity, safety, quality, cost, and commercial risk.
• Build scalable regional and national supply solutions that support installation, commissioning, preventive and corrective maintenance, warranty response, upgrades, and end-of-life requirements.

1. Contract Negotiation & Commercial Management

• Lead negotiation and execution of Master Service Agreements, Statements of Work, Service Level Agreements, purchase agreements, rate cards, and other category-specific commercial documents in partnership with Legal and business stakeholders.
• Negotiate pricing, warranty obligations, service levels, response times, liability, indemnification, intellectual property, data protection, business continuity, and other terms appropriate to each after-sales category.
• Develop cost models and total-cost-of-ownership analyses; use competition, demand aggregation, should-cost insights, and structured pricing mechanisms to improve value.
• Establish clear scopes, pricing controls, purchase-order requirements, invoice validation processes, and change-management mechanisms.

1. Supplier Performance, Risk & Continuous Improvement

• Establish and monitor category-appropriate KPIs, which may include service response, mean time to repair, first-time fix rate, parts availability, fill rate, logistics performance, quality, cost, and SLA compliance.
• Lead periodic business reviews, recovery plans, cost-improvement initiatives, capacity reviews, and continuous-improvement activities with strategic suppliers.
• Act as the commercial escalation point for service failures, supply interruptions, warranty disputes, billing discrepancies, and contract-performance issues.
• Identify single-source, capacity, geographic, financial, cybersecurity, and operational risks; develop mitigation and contingency plans with cross-functional partners.

1. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Compliance

• Work with After-Sales Services, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Logistics, IT, and Product teams to translate customer and technical needs into clear sourcing requirements and supplier deliverables.
• Ensure suppliers meet applicable environmental, health, safety, quality, cybersecurity, regulatory, and customer requirements.
• Align sourcing milestones, supplier readiness, budgets, and contracts with product launches, customer commitments, warranty plans, and service-capacity requirements.
• Maintain sourcing documentation, approvals, forecasts, savings and cost-avoidance tracking, supplier risk reporting, and executive updates.

Qualifications

Position Qualifications and Key Capabilities

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related technical/commercial field.
• Experience: 5+ years of procurement, category management, or strategic sourcing experience, preferably supporting energy storage, renewable energy, utilities, industrial services, logistics, aftermarket, or another technically complex industry.
• Category Experience: Demonstrated ability to source one or more after-sales categories, including technical field services, maintenance and repair, warranty support, spare parts, logistics, training, software or data services, recycling, or industrial service contracts.

Technical & Professional Skills

• Contracting Expertise: Strong understanding of commercial and legal terms, with experience negotiating service, supply, logistics, warranty, software, or other technically complex agreements.
• Industry Knowledge: Familiarity with energy storage products, after-sales operating models, warranty processes, service-parts planning, field operations, and related technology is highly desirable.
• Analytical Skills: Proficient in financial analysis, cost modeling, and TCO evaluations.
• Negotiation: Proven ability to influence stakeholders and negotiate win-win outcomes with sophisticated global and regional service providers.
• Tools: Experience using enterprise procurement software (e.g., SAP, Ariba, Coupa) and advanced MS Excel.

Leadership Attributes

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to translate technical needs into commercial agreements.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple sourcing initiatives concurrently.
• High ethical standards and commitment to supplier diversity and sustainable sourcing practices.

Location & Travel

• Location: Dearborn, MI/Hybrid
• Company: As Ford establishes a wholly owned subsidiary focused on Battery Energy Storage Systems, this role will initially be employed by Ford and is expected to transition to the subsidiary within one year.