Crusoe Senior Category Manager, Metals & Raw Materials at Crusoe responsible for managing foundational spend categories including metals and electrical components. Role involves financial hedging and technical vetting across manufacturing hubs.
Responsibilities
The Senior Category Manager, Metals & Raw Materials owns Crusoe’s foundational spend categories end-to-end at the strategic layer. In this role, your primary focal point is establishing upstream control over raw material inputs and metal fabrication—including structural carbon and stainless steel, sheet metal, aluminum extrusion, copper busbars, and specialized modular enclosures—while integrating critical electrical balance-of-plant components (switchgear, Power Distribution Centers [PDCs], transformers, and cable/wire).
Operating across Crusoe’s key manufacturing and deployment hubs (including Arvada, Brighton, Tulsa, and Ponchatoula), you will bridge the gap between global commodity markets and finished sub-assemblies. Because these categories sit at the intersection of volatile commodity cycles, strategic custom fabrications, and bottleneck electrical components, you will combine financial hedging acumen and technical vetting (welding standards, metal forming, metallurgical certs, tolerances, and NEC/UL compliance) with commercial rigor.
This role will be onsite at our Arvada, Colorado location.
What You’ll Be Working On:
Raw Material & Commodity Intelligence: Track global indices and cost drivers across base and refined metals (Hot-Rolled Coil/HRC, cold-rolled sheet, structural shapes, aluminum, and copper). Implement should-cost models, scrap-clawback clauses, and index-based pricing mechanisms to optimize mill and metal service center spend.
Upstream Supply Chain & AVL Vetting: Own the Approved Vendor List (AVL) across raw material distributors, metal service centers, and custom contract fabricators. Conduct rigorous shop-floor capability audits—evaluating laser cutting, CNC forming, robotic welding (AWS compliance), stamping, powder coating, and dimensional tolerances against engineering specifications.
Integrated Category Strategy (Metals & Balance of Plant): Apply framework methodologies (e.g., Kraljic Matrix) to govern a 12–24 month category roadmap that links structural enclosures and frames directly to long-lead electrical equipment (switchgear, breakers, busway, and industrial cable). Balance strategic supply resilience with aggressive commercial leverage.
Make vs. Buy & Tolling Strategies: Formulate forward-looking make/buy/toll strategies. Evaluate the commercial feasibility of purchasing mill-direct steel and copper for consigned "toll" processing by external fabricators vs. buying turnkey assemblies, maximizing margin capture and schedule predictability.
Commercial Negotiations & Buyer-Favorable Contracting: Draft, structure, and negotiate Master Supply Agreements (MSAs), Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and long-term reservation agreements. Redline buyer-adverse clauses around raw material surcharges, delivery milestones, liquidated damages, liability caps, and force majeure.
Proactive Risk Mitigation & Multi-Sourcing: Maintain an active Category Risk Register mapping single-source exposures, geopolitical/tariff risks, mill outage liabilities, and extended lead-time bottlenecks (particularly on high-grade electrical steels and long-lead switchgear). Execute qualifying dual-sourcing roadmaps across domestic and nearshore suppliers.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) & Value Engineering: Partner closely with Mechanical, Electrical, and Systems Engineering & Production to evaluate material substitutions (e.g., aluminum vs. copper, structural tube vs. open channel, alternative sheet gauges) to reduce unit cost and scrap rates without compromising structural integrity or thermal/electrical performance.
Cross-Functional Execution Frameworks: Develop clean standing commercial pricing schedules, rebate tiers, and lead-time matrices that empower Material Planners and Tactical Buyers to execute release orders smoothly in the ERP.
Qualification
Hands-on ERP/MRP experience (Acumatica
Preferred
Direct experience managing raw metal service center agreements, mill-direct reservation programs, or toll-processing arrangements.
Background auditing metal fabrication shops, CNC machining cells, or switchgear manufacturing plants.
Hands-on ERP/MRP experience (Acumatica, NetSuite, SAP) and expertise structuring complex multi-level Bills of Materials (BOMs).
Direct domain background in data center infrastructure, modular enclosures, energy generation, or high-power industrial assets.
