Commodity Manager for Mechanical Commodities

Overview

Tonal's Commodity Manager for Mechanical Commodities owns the largest tooled spend in our bill of materials: fabricated metal, metal assembly, injection molding, finishing, and hardware. Tonal buys finished assemblies from our contract manufacturer in Guadalajara, but we direct this supply base ourselves — you select the suppliers, negotiate the price, own the tooling, and hand our CM a directed price to buy at.

The travel expectation for this role is 20-30%.

What You Will Do

• Develop and execute the global category strategy for fabricated metal (stamping, machining, tube bending, weldments, extrusion, casting), metal assembly, injection molding, finishing and coatings, and fasteners and hardware

• Own Tonal's supplier strategy for the category: identify candidates, build the landed-cost business case, qualify the supplier, and manage the transfer

• Lead supplier selection and qualification across North America and Asia, and manage ongoing supplier performance through scorecards and business reviews; own the approved vendor list recommendation jointly with Manufacturing Quality

• Negotiate piece price, tooling and NRE, long-term agreements and payment terms to the lowest total cost of ownership, and maintain a rolling cost-down roadmap

• Build should-cost models from first principles — material weight against index, press or cycle time, cavitation, secondary operations, labor rate, overhead and margin — and negotiate against them

• Structure and manage index-based pricing for steel, aluminum and resin so that cost moves with the market in both directions

• Own tooling as an asset: a complete register of Tonal-owned tools, capacity per tool, cavitation and press-size decisions, second-tool and refurbishment triggers, and the capital plan behind them

• Partner with Mechanical Engineering on DFM, tolerance and finish specifications, and material selection, bringing supply and cost reality into design reviews

• Carry dual-source and region coverage for the top 80% of category spend, with a tooling strategy that makes a second source real rather than theoretical

• Work with our contract manufacturer's metal fabrication and assembly operations in Guadalajara on capacity, yield, scrap and process cost

• Direct our contract manufacturer's purchasing to your negotiated prices, and support the quarterly quoted-versus-paid BOM audit

• Support qualification with Manufacturing Quality: APQP, PPAP, FAI and tool sign-off

• Support new product introduction through quoting, tool development timelines and material availability through ramp

• Partner with trade compliance on regional content and duty, including USMCA qualification of localized parts

Who You Are

• A Bachelor's degree in mechanical or manufacturing engineering, business, or a related field

• 7–10 years of commodity management or sourcing experience covering fabricated metal and/or plastics, at a hardware product company or a contract manufacturer

• Deep process knowledge in at least two of: stamping and die tooling, CNC machining, tube fabrication and welding, injection molding and mold tooling, or finishing and coatings

• Demonstrated ownership of a tooling portfolio — tool builds, capital approvals, capacity and cavitation decisions, and tool transfers between suppliers

• Proven ability to build a bottom-up should-cost model and negotiate against it, including index-linked pricing structures

• Experience developing or transferring supply into Mexico or another near-shore region, including the landed-cost case that justified it

• Comfortable acting as the commercial owner in a directed-buy model, where a contract manufacturer places the purchase orders against prices and suppliers you have chosen

• Able to read a drawing, discuss GD&T and finish specifications, and hold a technical conversation on a shop floor

• Strong written and verbal communication in English; Spanish is a meaningful advantage

• Experience working across US, Mexico, Taiwan and China time zones with limited oversight

• Ability to travel approximately 30–40% of the time, including regular travel to Guadalajara

Extra Credit

• Ran a near-shoring or regional localization program end to end

• Working knowledge of USMCA regional value content and its duty implications

• Mold flow, die design, or tool-and-die shop-floor background

• MBA or Master's degree in Supply Chain