Director of Procurement

Gibson, the leading guitar brand, has shaped the sounds of generations of musicians and music lovers across genres for nearly 130 years.  In addition to Gibson, our brands include iconic names like Epiphone, Kramer, Mesa Boogie and KRK Systems.  Gibson Brands is headquartered in Nashville, TN, with operations in Europe, Japan and China, and distribution partners globally.  

The Director of Procurement is responsible for developing and executing Gibson's global procurement strategy. Gibson's procurement team primarily focuses on driving improvements in our plant-level direct and indirect spend in support of our manufacturing operations in the US, China and Costa Rica, as well as managing our OEM partnerships.  This represents a complex and diverse set of categories with spend over $200M.  To deliver these procurement strategies, the Director of Procurement leads a group of experienced category managers and owns the standard setting for our plant-level buying teams (working in a matrixed structure). 

The successful candidate will be a highly strategic member of Gibson's leadership team with the direct ability to drive margin expansion, quality improvements and continued revenue growth.  The successful candidate will be charged with continuing to mature our procurement capabilities by (i) driving a structured program of strategic sourcing initiatives, while (ii) establishing the appropriate structures to support effective execution within our operations.  Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, this role has significant exposure to our executive team, providing meaningful opportunities to influence Gibson's broader strategy and operations.  

Essential Functions 

• Develop an overarching procurement strategy that prioritizes our highest potential category opportunities. 
• Proactively engage our product, manufacturing and quality teams to identify innovative sourcing opportunities.
• Support category managers with translating strategic priorities into category-level actions with quantified impact.
• Partner with other ops leaders to translate strategies into clear financial targets through our annual planning cycle.
• Establish appropriate operational KPIs to measure the effectiveness of our buying activities within our operations.
• Set and support a cadence of regular sourcing events to deliver on Gibson’s strategic sourcing priorities.
• Develop vendor-specific strategies for critical categories, balancing cost, supplier capabilities and risk mitigation.  
• Drive continued maturation of buying capabilities, including full deployment of MRP and improved PPV tracking. 
• Set operating rhythms to support execution and drive accountability in a mission-critical business function.  
• Take a leadership role in enhancing Gibson's SIOP capabilities with a focus on enhancing production flexibility. 
• Lead critical negotiations by establishing Gibson’s overall objectives and setting appropriate negotiating tactics.
• Lead a cadence of regular business reviews with key vendors to maximize supplier performance and alignment.
• Coach the procurement team to develop high-quality sourcing analysis to support critical decision-making.
• Manage sourcing compliance across high-risk categories, ensuring Gibson acts with the highest ethical standards. 
• Oversee policies and processes to identify and recover the costs of poor supplier performance (e.g., COPQ).
• Establish clear development objectives for the procurement team and serve as a highly engaged coach and mentor.

Required Work Experience

• 15+ years of experience in procurement, with majority of time spent in large organizations with spend of $300M+.
• 3+ years of experience in a role of similar seniority with responsibility for leading a complex procurement function. 
• Managing a wide breadth of spend categories (both direct and indirect), with relevant manufacturing experience.
• Leading a team of at least 5 direct reports with a clear category management structure.
• Managing hard-to-source categories (e.g. shallow supplier bases, high product variability, significant quality risks).
• Directly relevant manufacturing experience with a proven ability to impact PPV/MUV in a de-centralized structure.
• OEM sourcing experience for complex products (co-development, complex specs, strict quality standards, etc.).
• Standing up new categories to address previously unmanaged spend.  
• Developing critical buying processes, systems and controls, including direct experience deploying MRP solutions.
• Exposure to and familiarity with lean manufacturing and continuous improvement principles.
• Exposure to mature SIOP (sales, inventory, and operations planning) processes.

Skills

• Strong commercial acumen with an ability to translate business objectives into an actionable strategy. 
• Proven track record of success in developing and implementing a comprehensive procurement strategy.  
• Excellent leadership and communication skills.  Ability to set and communicate clear priorities. 
• Demonstrated ability to engage, develop and lead teams.  Support teams to execute with focus.  
• Demonstrated strength in problem-solving and analysis.  Highly analytical.  
• Ability to develop clear and compelling business cases, balancing financial considerations with feasibility and risk.
• Ability to work cross-functionally, driving impact through both influence and direct reporting relationships.
• Strong understanding of complex supply chains.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and manage across all levels of an organization, from buyers to the CEO. 
• Ability to interpret and design Excel/analytical models to drive key business insights.
• Experience presenting to both functional teams and C-Suite/Executive Leadership.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, procurement, or a related field (required).
• Master's degree in business administration, procurement, or a related field (preferred).
• Professional certifications like CPSM or CIPS qualifications (preferred). 

Work Environment 

Internal:

• Product development teams
• Manufacturing operations (VP Production and Facility Directors) 
• Functional operations leaders (Human Resources, Procurement, Quality, Safety, Continuous Improvement) 
• Gibson Leadership Team (CEO, COO, CFO, CCO, CHR&IO)

External:

• Key vendors

Travel Requirements 

• Periodic travel to and between companies will be required (<10%)

Physical Demands 

• Basic physical stances (sitting, standing, walking)