Tonal
Overview
Tonal's Commodity Manager for Mechanical Commodities owns the largest tooled spend in our bill of materials: fabricated metal, metal assembly, injection molding, finishing, and hardware. Tonal buys finished assemblies from our contract manufacturer in Guadalajara, but we direct this supply base ourselves — you select the suppliers, negotiate the price, own the tooling, and hand our CM a directed price to buy at.
The travel expectation for this role is 20-30%.
What You Will Do
Develop and execute the global category strategy for fabricated metal (stamping, machining, tube bending, weldments, extrusion, casting), metal assembly, injection molding, finishing and coatings, and fasteners and hardware
Own Tonal's supplier strategy for the category: identify candidates, build the landed-cost business case, qualify the supplier, and manage the transfer
Lead supplier selection and qualification across North America and Asia, and manage ongoing supplier performance through scorecards and business reviews; own the approved vendor list recommendation jointly with Manufacturing Quality
Negotiate piece price, tooling and NRE, long-term agreements and payment terms to the lowest total cost of ownership, and maintain a rolling cost-down roadmap
Build should-cost models from first principles — material weight against index, press or cycle time, cavitation, secondary operations, labor rate, overhead and margin — and negotiate against them
Structure and manage index-based pricing for steel, aluminum and resin so that cost moves with the market in both directions
Own tooling as an asset: a complete register of Tonal-owned tools, capacity per tool, cavitation and press-size decisions, second-tool and refurbishment triggers, and the capital plan behind them
Partner with Mechanical Engineering on DFM, tolerance and finish specifications, and material selection, bringing supply and cost reality into design reviews
Carry dual-source and region coverage for the top 80% of category spend, with a tooling strategy that makes a second source real rather than theoretical
Work with our contract manufacturer's metal fabrication and assembly operations in Guadalajara on capacity, yield, scrap and process cost
Direct our contract manufacturer's purchasing to your negotiated prices, and support the quarterly quoted-versus-paid BOM audit
Support qualification with Manufacturing Quality: APQP, PPAP, FAI and tool sign-off
Support new product introduction through quoting, tool development timelines and material availability through ramp
Who You Are
Bachelor's degree in mechanical or manufacturing engineering, business, or a related field
7–10 years of commodity management or sourcing experience covering fabricated metal and/or plastics, at a hardware product company or a contract manufacturer
Deep process knowledge in at least two of: stamping and die tooling, CNC machining, tube fabrication and welding, injection molding and mold tooling, or finishing and coatings
Demonstrated ownership of a tooling portfolio — tool builds, capital approvals, capacity and cavitation decisions, and tool transfers between suppliers
Proven ability to build a bottom-up should-cost model and negotiate against it, including index-linked pricing structures
Experience developing or transferring supply into Mexico or Asia
Comfortable acting as the commercial owner in a directed-buy model, where a contract manufacturer places the purchase orders against prices and suppliers you have chosen
Able to read a drawing, discuss GD&T and finish specifications, and hold a technical conversation on a shop floor
Strong written and verbal communication in English
Experience working across US, Taiwan, China and Mexico time zones with limited oversight
Ability to travel approximately 30–40% of the time, including regular travel to Guadalajara
Extra Credit
Ran a near-shoring or regional localization program end to end
Mold flow, die design, or tool-and-die shop-floor background
MBA or Master's degree in Supply Chain
At Tonal, we believe that the unique and varied lived experiences of our teammates contribute to our overall strength. We don’t just appreciate differences, we celebrate them, and we always seek people that represent a wide variety of backgrounds. We’re dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and designing employee experiences that contribute to your growth as much as you do to ours. If your experience aligns with what we’re looking for (even if you don’t check every single box), send us your application. We would love to hear from you!
Tonal is committed to meeting the diverse needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner that is consistent with the principles of independence, dignity, integration, and equality of opportunity. Should you have any accommodation requests, please reach out to us via our confidential email, [email protected]. All requests will be addressed and responded to in accordance with Tonal’s Accessibility Policy and local legislation.