Senior Buyer - Glass

Take the lead in driving innovation
At Volvo Cars, we are committed to advancing safety, sustainability and electrification. To achieve our ambitious goals, we are looking for forward-thinking individuals who can identify challenges before they arise and deliver cutting-edge solutions that set new industry standards.

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Job Summary

The Senior Buyer is responsible for developing and executing sourcing strategies for direct material commodities supporting advanced and new vehicle projects, as well as ongoing production, for Volvo Cars’ U.S. manufacturing and regional operations. The role owns complex sourcing decisions, supplier commercial relationships, cost competitiveness, and supply continuity for assigned commodities.

Key responsibilities include leading strategic sourcing and complex negotiations; driving cost reductions, commercial recoveries, and localization; integrating cost engineering into procurement decisions; managing supplier performance and risk; supporting vehicle launches and engineering changes; and mentoring Buyers. The Senior Buyer works closely with global stakeholders across Purchasing, Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Finance, Logistics, and Program Management within globally aligned processes and governance.

What you'll do

Principal Responsibilities

• Develop and execute commodity and supplier strategies aligned with business objectives, vehicle programs, cost targets, localization priorities, technology roadmaps, and global category direction.

• Lead end-to-end sourcing for complex direct material commodities, including market analysis, RFQs, supplier selection, business cases, negotiations, contracting, transfers, resourcing, and implementation.

• Deliver cost competitiveness and margin improvement through productivity, localization, commercial recoveries, claims resolution, cost avoidance, and disciplined control of pricing, tooling, capacity, and engineering changes.

• Integrate Cost Engineering into sourcing and negotiations by applying should-cost analysis, benchmarking, cost transparency, design-to-cost, and fact-based challenges to supplier quotations and investment assumptions.

• Own strategic supplier relationships and performance, serving as the primary commercial interface for negotiations, escalations, agreements, and resolution of cost, quality, delivery, capacity, and financial issues.

• Protect supply continuity by assessing supplier financial, operational, capacity, quality, geopolitical, and launch risks; lead contingency plans and mitigation for production-critical components.

• Ensure sourcing and supplier readiness for vehicle launches, engineering changes, volume shifts, and production requirements through cross-functional governance with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Logistics, Finance, and Program Management.

• Provide senior procurement leadership by driving cross-functional decisions, communicating financial impact and supplier exposure to management, mentoring Buyers, and advancing sourcing standards, negotiation practices, and continuous improvement.

What you'll bring

Job Specifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

• Master’s degree or equivalent advanced business or technical education is preferred.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, with strong emphasis on Excel.

• In-depth knowledge of the automotive industry, including suppliers, systems, processes, manufacturing economics, and direct material sourcing.

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, supply chain, cost management, or the automotive industry.

• Experience managing direct material commodities and supplier negotiations in a manufacturing environment.

• Demonstrated success delivering cost reductions, commercial recoveries, sourcing decisions, and supplier performance improvements.

• Experience supporting vehicle launches, engineering changes, production environments, or complex program timing requirements.

• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority.

Competencies

• Strategic sourcing and commercial leadership, with advanced capability in commodity strategy, RFQ execution, supplier selection, localization, negotiations, and supply base optimization.

• Strong financial and business acumen, connecting procurement decisions to cost, margin, cash flow, working capital, customer impact, and competitive positioning.

• Advanced cost and value analysis, including should-cost modeling, cost-driver assessment, benchmarking, manufacturing economics, tooling, capital recovery, and design-to-cost.

• Strategic supplier and risk management, with the ability to anticipate and mitigate financial, capacity, quality, delivery, geopolitical, and launch exposure.

• Executive-level communication and influence, translating complex commercial issues into clear recommendations and aligning internal leaders, cross-functional teams, and suppliers.

• Structured, analytical decision-making, with the ability to challenge assumptions, resolve conflicts, prioritize competing demands, and independently lead complex initiatives from strategy through implementation.

• Results-driven leadership and accountability for cost competitiveness, sourcing quality, supplier performance, launch readiness, continuous improvement, and development of Buyers through coaching and best-practice deployment.

• High integrity, sound judgment, professionalism, and a collaborative, solution-oriented mindset aligned with long-term business objectives.

• Experience sourcing automotive seating and interior components—including seats and upholstery, hard trim, and headliners—is a plus.

Other Duties 

• Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

• Please note this job description outlines the primary responsibilities of the role but is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, or qualifications required. Responsibilities and duties may change or be assigned at any time based on business needs.

Volvo Car is an equal opportunity employer. The successful candidate must be legally authorized to work in the US without sponsorship.

Volvo Cars. For Life.
For nearly a century, Volvo Cars has empowered people to move freely in a personal, sustainable and safe way. Today, we are driving bold advancements in electrification, sustainability and automotive safety. To realise our ambitious vision, we are seeking innovative minds who are ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow – today.