A Day In The Life Of A Supplier Manager At Cisco Systems
A Supplier Manager at Cisco, Christina's role centers on achieving "best in class cost, quality, technology, availability, and sustainability," acting as an escalation point for supply chain issues. Daily activities involve diverse problem-solving, from negotiating pricing and contracts ("how do we get our costs down") to ensuring quality and aligning technology roadmaps, while maintaining ethical partnerships and a focus on sustainability, even down to "the smelters."
Problem-Solving, Supply Chain Management, Negotiation, Contract Management, Sustainability
Advizer Information
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Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
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Christina Marone
Supplier Manager
Cisco Systems Inc - San Jose, CA
Michigan State University
Arizona State University
Industrial, Supply Chain Management
Technology
Operations and Project Management
Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. A Supplier Manager at Cisco acts as an escalation point for supply chain issues, tackling problems related to cost, quality, technology, availability, and sustainability.
2. A significant part of the role involves negotiating contracts to protect both Cisco and its suppliers, ensuring favorable pricing and terms, especially for new products.
3. The Supplier Manager also focuses on aligning Cisco's roadmap with its suppliers', and ensuring the sustainability of the supply chain down to the level of raw material sourcing (e.g., smelters).
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a supplier manager look like?
Taking a step back, the scope of my role is to provide best-in-class cost, quality, technology, availability, and sustainability. With that scope, I'm an escalation point within the supply chain.
If other elements of the team haven't been able to solve a problem, it's escalated to me. A day in the life really ranges on what's going on between all five of those categories.
I solve problems like getting costs down for a specific part where we have open orders, but the supplier doesn't want to lower pricing. On the NPI or new products side, it's about setting up contracts before any new purchase orders go out. This protects us commercially and ensures suppliers are also protected.
Our fiduciary responsibility is to protect the company, but we also want to be good partners. Other problems we can face are quality-related.
There are also issues with technology, making sure our roadmaps align with the right supply roadmaps, and sustainability. We ensure our supply chain has focus, even down to the smelter level.