Senior Manager, Strategic Category Management - Data Center Supply Chain

Do you want to work with high-caliber professionals in a dynamic and growing company? Are you entrepreneurial, hard-working, and collegial? Join us at SB Energy, a leading infrastructure company backed by SoftBank Group and Ares Infrastructure, pairing cutting-edge innovation with best-in-class execution. Our mission is to deliver reliable and secure data center and power infrastructure to strengthen America's future.

Founded in 2019, SB Energy is a SoftBank Group company headquartered in Redwood City, California. In 2026, SoftBank Group and OpenAI announced a $1 billion investment to support SB Energy as their leading development and execution partner for data center campuses, while Ares Infrastructure continues its long-standing support of the company's growth. SB Energy develops, builds, owns, and operates some of the largest and most technically advanced energy and data center infrastructure projects in the United States. Since its founding, the company has rapidly grown into a top-tier integrated platform with more than 3 gigawatts (GW) in operation and a multi-GW pipeline of energy and data center infrastructure nationwide.

SB Energy also leverages a strong culture of innovation to identify and integrate new technologies into its projects, including its AI-based digital platform, delivering energy infrastructure that is local, reliable, and matched to load. We are building the energy and infrastructure future—today.

Come join us in accelerating the energy and infrastructure transition!

Basic Function

The Senior Strategic Category Manager drives the global end-to-end category strategy, strategic sourcing, and supplier development for hyper-scale data center mechanical infrastructure. In this role, you will manage a multi-hundred-million-dollar annual spend across key thermal & mechanical cooling management systems, including Chillers, Cooling Towers & Dry Coolers, CRAC/ CRAH, Direct-to-Chip Liquid Cooling & Cooling Distribution units.

You will act as the primary commercial authority for critical thermal & mechanical cooling suppliers, aligning engineering roadmaps, securing manufacturing capacity, and establishing resilient, cost-optimized supply chains to support rapid global data center deployment.

Responsibilities

• Category Strategy & Execution - Define and execute multi-year category strategies for Thermal & Mechanical cooling infrastructure equipment including market analysis, supplier segmentation, and sourcing roadmaps aligned to data center capacity growth
• Commercial Negotiations & Contracting - Lead competitive sourcing events, contract negotiations, and supplier selection processes for Thermal & Mechanical Cooling equipment categories
• Risk Management & Supply Resiliency - Assess and mitigate supply chain risks associated with categories, including geopolitical exposure, single-source dependencies, long-lead-time components, and commodity price volatility
• Cross-Functional Partnerships - Partner with data center engineering, construction, and capacity planning teams to align sourcing strategies with technology roadmaps and infrastructure deployment schedules. Collaborate with legal, finance, and sustainability teams to structure contracts that reflects commercial, compliance, and environmental requirements
• Category Execution - Act as the day-to-day procurement lead for assigned equipment packages and the primary commercial contact for suppliers. Maintain an integrated action list covering technical submissions, production, quality, delivery, and field support. Establish and track supplier capacity commitments to ensure supply availability supports global data center build pipeline
• Drive supplier development initiatives to qualify new sources of supply, expand geographic diversity, and improve supply chain resilience for critical power and cooling categories

Qualifications/Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Business, or related technical discipline. Master’s degree or MBA preferred
• 8+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, program management, category management, or procurement for thermal & cooling infrastructure equipment or related mechanical systems
• Experience leading end-to-end sourcing processes including RFx development, supplier evaluation, commercial negotiation, and contract execution for capital equipment categories
• Experience developing category strategies that incorporate market intelligence, total cost of ownership analysis, and supply risk assessment
• Experience managing supplier relationships and driving measurable improvements in supplier performance across cost, quality, and delivery
• Experience communicating complex sourcing strategies and supplier performance data to cross-functional teams and executive stakeholders

Location: Redwood City, CA; San Diego, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Austin, TX

Remote locations will be considered on a case by case basis.

Base Pay - $140,000 - $200,000

The pay range mentioned above is a guideline. We tailor each offer based on your unique skills, experience, location, and market benchmarks—while ensuring internal parity across our teams. The compensation range provided reflects base pay. Total rewards may also include performance-based bonuses, equity grants, and a market leading comprehensive health and wellness benefits package. Final details will be discussed during the later stages of the hiring process.

Our Health & Wellness Benefits

At SB Energy, we invest in our people and their families with benefits designed for flexibility, support, and peace of mind. Full-time employees enjoy:

• 100% Company-Paid Medical, Dental & Vision (for employees and dependents)
• 401(k) with Company Match
• Generous Paid Time Off + 11 Paid Holidays
• 12 Weeks Parental Leave
• Life, AD&D & Long-Term Disability Coverage
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Medical, Dependent Care, Transit & Parking (with company contributions)
• Mental, Physical & Social Wellness Support (with company contributions)
• Flexible Work Arrangements & Hybrid Office Setup Benefits
• Monthly Reimbursement for Phone, Internet & Data
• Optional Legal & Pet Insurance Plans
• Device Purchase Support

At SB Energy, the success of our projects is driven by a desire to see our projects benefit as many people as possible. We work to serve local communities through volunteering, fundraising, and much more. For example, we’re proud to support access and opportunity in engineering and clean energy through impactful mentorship programs and workforce training. When you join SB Energy, you can become a part of these efforts, collaborating with team members who share a vision of building a better future now! 

SB Energy is built on a foundation of collaboration and inclusion. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class.

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