Sourcing Manager

The Sourcing Manager is responsible for developing and executing global sourcing strategies across a diverse portfolio of educational products, toys, classroom materials, and furniture . This role will build and manage a competitive global supplier network with particular emphasis on Asia and South America , while identifying additional opportunities to diversify manufacturing, reduce supply-chain risk, improve speed to market, and optimize product costs. The Sourcing Manager will partner closely with Product Development, Merchandising, Purchasing, Inventory, Quality/Compliance, and Operations to identify new suppliers, resource existing products, support new product development, and negotiate costs and terms. This is a highly hands-on role requiring strong knowledge of factory-direct sourcing, manufacturing processes, product costing, supplier negotiation, and landed-cost optimization . The successful candidate will be equally comfortable developing long-term sourcing strategies and working directly with factories to solve day-to-day cost, quality, capacity, lead-time, and production challenges. The Sourcing Manager will also be expected to embrace AI and emerging technologies to improve sourcing intelligence, accelerate analysis, identify opportunities, and create more efficient sourcing and product development processes. Essential Functions & Responsibilities Develop and execute global sourcing strategies for educational products, toys, classroom materials, and furniture that support company sales, margin, inventory, quality, and product-development objectives. Develop and maintain a strong factory-direct supplier network , with particular emphasis on Asia and South America , while continually evaluating additional manufacturing regions and nearshoring opportunities. Identify, qualify, and onboard new manufacturers with the appropriate capabilities, capacity, quality systems, compliance standards, and cost structures. Lead resourcing initiatives for existing products to improve product cost, quality, lead time, capacity, or supply-chain resiliency. Partner closely with Product Development and Merchandising during new product development to identify optimal suppliers, manufacturing processes, materials, construction methods, and target costs. Develop detailed product cost understanding, including raw materials, labor, packaging, tooling, freight, duties/tariffs, and other landed-cost components , to identify negotiation and value-engineering opportunities. Negotiate product costs, payment terms, MOQs, tooling, rebates, lead times, capacity commitments, and other commercial terms with domestic and international suppliers. Identify and execute cost-reduction and value-engineering opportunities through alternative materials, manufacturing efficiencies, product redesign, supplier consolidation, volume leverage, and resourcing. Evaluate total landed cost , rather than unit cost alone, when making sourcing recommendations, including freight, tariffs/duties, packaging, lead times, inventory implications, and supply-chain risk. Build category and supplier sourcing pipelines using company sales, purchasing, inventory, cost, and market data to prioritize the highest-value sourcing opportunities. Develop and maintain a strategic supplier matrix by product category, manufacturing capability, country of origin, capacity, cost competitiveness, quality performance, and risk. Identify opportunities to consolidate products with suppliers that have similar manufacturing capabilities to increase purchasing leverage and improve costs. Drive country-of-origin diversification and nearshoring strategies , particularly opportunities to transition appropriate manufacturing from China to Mexico or other competitive regions. Maintain strong relationships with existing suppliers and develop new supplier partnerships through regular communication, business reviews, factory visits, negotiations, and joint improvement initiatives. Lead cross-functional resolution of sourcing, production, quality, capacity, and delivery issues that could impact targeted inventory and service levels. Partner with Quality/Compliance teams to ensure suppliers meet applicable U.S. product safety, testing, labeling, and regulatory requirements , particularly those applicable to children's products, toys, educational materials, and furniture. Partner with Operations and Quality teams to maintain production and quality standards and resolve supplier exceptions. Monitor global manufacturing, commodity, freight, tariff, and supply-chain trends and translate changes into actionable sourcing recommendations. Track and report measurable sourcing results, including cost savings, cost avoidance, supplier diversification, lead-time improvements, supplier performance, and resourcing progress . Serve as a sourcing subject-matter expert with strong knowledge of relevant manufacturing processes, materials, product construction, factory capabilities, and global supply markets . Communicate with international suppliers outside standard business hours when necessary. AI & Technology Expectations Demonstrate strong AI fluency and a willingness to adopt emerging technologies as part of day-to-day sourcing and product development activities. Use AI-powered tools to support supplier discovery, sourcing research, manufacturing and country-of-origin analysis, competitive intelligence, and market research . Leverage AI and data tools to analyze product costs, supplier quotations, RFQs, landed costs, purchasing data, and sourcing opportunities . Use AI to improve the speed and effectiveness of supplier communications, RFQ development, quote comparisons, sourcing summaries, and project documentation. Identify opportunities to automate repetitive sourcing processes and improve visibility, productivity, and decision-making across Sourcing and Product Development. Actively explore new AI capabilities and recommend tools or processes that can improve cost, speed to market, supplier performance, product development, and team productivity . Education & Experience Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Procurement, International Business, Product Development, Merchandising, or a related field preferred. 5+ years of global sourcing, strategic sourcing, procurement, product development, merchandising, or supply-chain experience , preferably involving consumer products. Demonstrated experience sourcing factory-direct products from China is required . Experience developing and sourcing products from Mexico is strongly preferred , including knowledge of the Mexican manufacturing landscape and nearshoring opportunities. Experience sourcing educational products, toys, children's products, classroom products, furniture, or related consumer goods strongly preferred. Experience working directly with overseas factories, agents, trading companies, and/or sourcing offices. Demonstrated experience negotiating product costs and commercial terms with domestic and international manufacturers. Experience with supplier identification, factory qualification, RFQs/RFPs, product costing, resourcing, and supplier onboarding . Demonstrated experience using AI tools and emerging technologies to improve research, analysis, productivity, or business decision-making strongly preferred. Familiarity with U.S. product safety and regulatory requirements for children's products, toys, and/or furniture preferred. B2B, B2C retail, catalog, or e-commerce experience preferred. Desired Skills & Abilities Strong global sourcing and supplier-development expertise , particularly within China and Mexico. Strong understanding of factory-direct manufacturing and the ability to evaluate supplier capabilities across different product categories and manufacturing processes. Excellent negotiation skills with demonstrated ability to deliver sustainable product-cost reductions and improved commercial terms. Strong knowledge of product costing and total landed-cost analysis . Ability to identify opportunities for value engineering, material substitutions, manufacturing efficiencies, and supplier consolidation . Strong AI aptitude and curiosity , with the ability to identify and apply AI tools to real-world sourcing and product development challenges. Strategic mindset with the ability to translate company objectives into actionable sourcing priorities. Strong financial and analytical skills with an understanding of sales, gross margin, inventory, product cost, freight, duties, and working capital. Ability to analyze large product and supplier datasets to identify and prioritize sourcing opportunities. Strong project-management skills with the ability to manage multiple sourcing and resourcing projects simultaneously. Comfortable working cross-functionally with Product Development, Merchandising, Purchasing, Inventory, Operations, and Quality/Compliance teams. Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills with the ability to quickly address supplier, production, cost, quality, and delivery challenges. Ability to provide direct, constructive feedback to suppliers and internal partners while maintaining productive long-term relationships. Highly organized, detail-oriented, self-directed, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment. Strong written and verbal communication skills. Proficiency in Microsoft Office, with intermediate to advanced Excel skills , including lookups, pivot tables, data analysis, and manipulation of multiple data sources. Travel Requirements Domestic and international travel is required, including regular supplier and factory visits. Ability and willingness to travel to Asia and South America is essential. Excelligence is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees, employment applicants and other covered persons without regard to unlawful considerations of race, color, religion or creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship status, genetic information, military or veteran status, age, physical or mental disability, or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. #J-18808-Ljbffr Excelligence Learning Corporation