Aspen Aerogels is a rapidly growing aerogel technology company founded in 2001 to capitalize on patented advances in aerogel manufacturing. Aspen's extensive portfolio of proprietary aerogel products are manufactured at scale and sold worldwide in the Electric Vehicle, Energy Infrastructure, Sustainable Building Materials, and Power Generation industries. Aspen is a Tier 1/2 Automotive supplier of PyroThin thermal barriers, and our Pyrogel and Cryogel products are used by virtually all leading petrochemical and refining company across more than 50 countries. We're on a mission to build a world-class organization as we continue to grow our energy infrastructure business, and expand to meet demand for PyroThin thermal barriers in the rapidly growing Electric Vehicle sector over the next decade. We're looking for great passionate, dynamic talent to join our team.

The Strategic Procurement Engineer, China will report to the Strategic Sourcing Manager, China and provide technical leadership to meet the demands of a high growth business requiring rapid expansion with new and existing supply chain partners. The Strategic Procurement Engineer must have the ability to understand the technical requirements of the raw materials and the implications of those requirements on Aspen's finished products to enable evaluation of potential supply partners based on capability. The Strategic Procurement Engineer will develop strategies for identifying suppliers of critical materials as well as lead the risk evaluation process to support effective prioritization of supply chain projects. The Strategic Procurement Engineer will manage qualification projects to ensure quality and robustness of the supplied materials by working cross functionally with R&D, Quality, Engineering, Operations, EH&S, Marketing, and others to capture key considerations and needs of each specific project. This technical leader will be able to evaluate and prioritize the supply chain and business risks and execute projects to mitigate those risks, including execution of second sourcing projects, capacity expansion and qualification projects, and problem solving and root cause investigations with suppliers to support assurance of a stable supply chain. This technical leader within supply chain will think strategically about key raw materials and key supply chain partners while tactically executing project plans to accomplish the long term, strategic goals of supply chain.

This opportunity is ideal for an ambitious technical professional that is looking to play a pivotal role in driving shareholder value through a hands-on approach at a dynamic technology company.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Monitor existing suppliers, evaluate capability and risks, and provide feedback to suppliers to support supply chain risk reduction needs, such as improved quality performance metrics and why these are important to Aspen or capacity expansion and qualification requirements.
• Support the supply chain risk evaluation process with technical analyses of market constraints and dynamics as well as supplier and material availability alternatives. Update business impact implications and changes to probability of occurrence of the perceived risks for established raw material supplies to yield the key risk priorities that require mitigation projects.
• Research existing and potential suppliers and identify key potential alternatives based upon product offerings, capability, quality, price, etc.
• Create and execute risk mitigation projects including second sourcing qualifications.
• Support cost reductions through strong analytical skills regarding underlying cost drivers for key materials and the market situation as well as providing multiple sourcing options with competitive pricing to the procurement team for negotiation leverage.

• Develop strategic sourcing plans to manage growth in raw material demand by identifying supplier capacity constraints and implementing plans to alleviate, including supporting capacity expansion project qualifications with existing suppliers as well as bringing on additional vendors to support growth.
• Analyze financial implications of pricing trends for key raw materials and communicate effectively with the Strategic Sourcing Manager and the broader organization about forecasted challenges and opportunities.
• Leads raw material issue resolution, including SCARs, with internal and external stakeholders including Aspen and Suppliers' Quality team members. Facilitate root cause investigations and drive to permanent corrective action to improve supplier performance and reduce risk of recurrence.
• Supports New Product Introduction (NPI) and R&D during new supplier and new material setup, including dual sourcing key materials during the development cycle, to assure long term robustness of the supply chain.
• Lead Make vs. Buy decision analyses and support outside processing management when outsourcing is desired.

• Performs other related duties as assigned by management.
• Adopt and follow Aspen's core values of Safety, Quality, Integrity, Teamwork, Customer and Innovation on both a personal and professional level.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The successful candidate will be/have some combination of the following:

• An action-oriented individual able to shape and drive the supply chain organization, acting as an agent of change.
• Fluency in English and Mandarin.

• The ability to communicate effectively at all levels, both internally and externally. Ability to influence through effective communication and presentation skills and persuasive positioning.
• Project management experience required, supply chain second sourcing qualification projects preferred.
• Strong analytical capabilities with experience cost modeling, market trending, and calculating total cost of ownership for various goods and services preferred.
• Experience with ERP systems and processes (forecasting, NPI, planning, supply chain metrics) is desired.
• A proven record of supply chain cost reductions.

• Experience in purchase of technical commodities.
• Results orientated with the ability to plan and deliver against deadlines and the ability to motivate others to deliver
• Excellent organizational skills, ability to assess situations and set priorities.
• Ability to be strategic but also execute tactics
• Ability to apply structured problem solving methodologies, experience with Six Sigma, Lean, and/or Shainin a plus

• Strong business orientation with analytical, negotiation and problem-solving skills. Innate intellectual curiosity.

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Chemistry, Operations or related field. 5+ years of global experience in the areas of Supply Chain Management, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Planning, Logistics and Execution and/or Demand Management.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Frequently required to stand
• Frequently required to walk
• Frequently required to sit
• Frequently required to utilize hand and finger dexterity
• Occasionally required to climb, balance, bend, stoop, kneel or crawl
• Continually required to talk or hear
• Occasionally works near moving mechanical parts
• Occasionally works around fumes, airborne particles, or toxic chemicals
• Occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions
• While performing the duties of this job, the noise level in the work environment is usually quiet
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include: Close vision; Distance vision; Color vision; Peripheral vision; Depth perception and ability to adjust focus

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or physical requirements. Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. The EEO is the Law poster is available here: http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf.

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please send an e-mail to or call (508) 466-3111 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

For Our Rhode Island Applicants:
Aspen Aerogels, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. The East Providence, RI facility of Aspen Aerogels is subject to Title 28, Chapter 29-6.2 of Rhode Island General Laws, which governs Worker's Compensation.