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Director of Strategic Sourcing

Research Triangle Park, NC

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets to enable a secure and resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resilience, we serve critical industries including defense, aerospace, automotive, and advanced manufacturing—powering a high-technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence, and Transparency.

As the Director of Strategic Sourcing – Rare Earth Magnets, you will architect and lead the company's global sourcing strategy for critical raw materials, components, equipment, and services supporting domestic rare-earth magnet production. You will be responsible for securing resilient, cost-effective, and strategically aligned supply chains for rare earth oxides, metals, alloys, processing inputs, manufacturing equipment, and key production services. This role requires deep expertise in strategic procurement, supplier development, supply chain risk management, and critical minerals sourcing within highly regulated and geopolitically sensitive markets.

 

Responsibilities

  • Develop and execute sourcing strategies for rare earth materials, metals, alloys, consumables, capital equipment, and strategic services supporting magnet manufacturing operations.
  • Build and scale the strategic sourcing organization that will support all aspects of the business objectives
  • Identify, evaluate, negotiate, and manage strategic supplier relationships across domestic and international markets.
  • Lead commercial negotiations including long-term supply agreements, pricing structures, capacity reservations, and strategic partnerships.
  • Develop supply chain resilience strategies for critical materials, including dual sourcing, geographic diversification, inventory optimization, and contingency planning.
  • Monitor global rare earth markets, pricing trends, geopolitical developments, tariffs, trade restrictions, and regulatory changes impacting supply availability and cost.
  • Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Quality, and Finance to support new product introduction, supplier qualification, and production scale-up activities.
  • Partner with Logistics and Trade Compliance teams to optimize inbound material flows, customs strategies, and international supplier operations.
  • Lead make-versus-buy analyses, total cost of ownership evaluations, and strategic sourcing decisions supporting long-term business objectives.
  • Establish KPIs and performance metrics for supplier performance, cost savings, risk mitigation, inventory optimization, and sourcing effectiveness.
  • Support government, defense, and commercial customer requirements related to supply chain security, traceability, and sourcing transparency.

Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business.

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, supply chain management, or supplier development within manufacturing environments such as critical minerals, aerospace, automotive, and/or battery materials manufacturing
  • 6+ years of demonstrated leadership experience managing sourcing, procurement, or supply chain organizations.
  • Experience sourcing critical raw materials, specialty metals, industrial chemicals, advanced materials, or complex manufacturing equipment.
  • Familiarity with ERP, MRP, procurement, supplier relationship management, and supply chain planning systems.
  • Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Business, Materials Science, or a related technical field.
  • MBA, CPSM, CSCP, CPM, or related professional certification preferred.

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

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