Strategic Sourcing Specialist / Senior Strategic Sourcing Specialist

Role Summary

This role is responsible for leading and executing sourcing, supplier management, and procurement initiatives across transportation, warehousing, and related logistics categories throughout North America. This role develops and implements sourcing strategies, manages competitive bid events, negotiates commercial agreements, and drives supplier performance to achieve cost, service, quality, and risk management objectives. Leveraging market intelligence, spend analytics, and industry expertise, the individual serves as a trusted business partner to Logistics, Supply Chain, Operations, and Finance stakeholders, while identifying opportunities for continuous improvement, operational excellence, and long-term value creation.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead and/or support logistics sourcing events including RFIs, RFQs, and RFPs for transportation, warehousing, and related services.
• Manage assigned logistics categories and supplier portfolios to achieve cost savings, service improvements, risk mitigation, and compliance with corporate procurement strategies.
• Develop and execute sourcing strategies using spend analytics, market intelligence, benchmarking, and total cost analysis to drive measurable business value.
• Lead commercial negotiations with carriers, brokers, warehouses, and logistics providers, securing competitive rates, service commitments, and favorable contractual terms.
• Monitor and report key procurement metrics including spend, savings, carrier performance, supplier compliance, sourcing pipeline activity, and project implementation results.
• Drive supplier performance management processes, including scorecards, business reviews, corrective action plans, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for freight billing and contract compliance issues, partnering with Finance, Accounts Payable, carriers, and freight audit providers to resolve discrepancies.
• Investigate rate variances, accessorial disputes, service failures, and invoice exceptions, identifying root causes and implementing sustainable corrective actions.
• Own supplier and carrier onboarding activities, ensuring accurate setup and integration across procurement, ERP, TMS, and freight audit platforms.
• Partner with logistics, warehousing, operations, supply chain, and finance stakeholders to identify sourcing opportunities and support business objectives through strategic procurement solutions.
• Identify and support continuous improvement, automation, and digital transformation initiatives while monitoring market conditions, capacity trends, and emerging risks within the logistics industry.
• Depending on experience and expertise, this role may lead complex strategic initiatives, provide category leadership, and serve as a subject matter resource for sourcing and logistics best practices.

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Finance, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in procurement, sourcing, logistics, supply chain analytics, or related roles in a global manufacturing or distribution environment. Candidates with demonstrated expertise in strategic sourcing, category management, supplier negotiations, and logistics operations may be considered for a higher level.
• Willingness to travel 10% of the time
• Proven track record of managing multiple RFPs/RFQs across multiple modes of transportation with clear value creation success (cost savings/avoidance) and a demonstrated ability to effectively negotiate pricing and contracts.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex data sets.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to manage multiple workflows and collaborate across functions.

Preferred Attributes

• Understanding of regional markets, cost drivers, pricing structures, and freight audit processes across multiple modes of transportation.
• Familiarity with analytics and visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or Smartsheet.
• APICS certification – CSCP, CLTD, PMP, CPIM a plus
• Experience with Ariba, SAP, TMS platforms, or freight audit providers.
• Strategic mindset with hands-on execution ability.
• Experience in digital transformation or automation in logistics.

Reporting Structure

• Reports to: Strategic Sourcing Manager – Logistics & Transportation
• Key Interfaces: Global Strategic Sourcing, Logistics Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Accounts Payable, IT, and External Logistics Service Providers