Director, Strategic Telecom Sourcing

About the role: 

The Telecom Sourcing team in the Production Procurement organization plays a critical role in ensuring Samsara's products are always connected and operational, empowering our customers to transform their physical operations. We are seeking a Director, Telecom Sourcing, to lead our efforts externally in establishing and nurturing strategic relationships with cellular providers worldwide and internally working cross-functionally to define our future connectivity strategy and architecture. This pivotal role touches the entire connectivity lifecycle from influencing telco technology decisions, to securing optimal agreements with carriers, to ensuring world-class service levels that guarantee the robust connectivity underpinning Samsara's innovative solutions. You'll have the opportunity to make a significant impact by directly influencing the reliability and cost-effectiveness of our global network infrastructure and the architecture of the devices that connect to it. This is a remote position with some travel requirements. 

You should apply if:

• You want to impact the industries that run our world: Your efforts will result in real-world impact—helping to keep the lights on, get food into grocery stores, reduce emissions, and most importantly, ensure workers return home safely.
• You are the architect of your own career: If you put in the work, this role won’t be your last at Samsara. We set up our employees for success and have built a culture that encourages rapid career development, countless opportunities to experiment and master your craft in a hyper growth environment.
• You’re energized by our opportunity: The vision we have to digitize large sectors of the global economy requires your full focus and best efforts to bring forth creative, ambitious ideas for our customers.
• You want to be with the best: At Samsara, we win together, celebrate together and support each other. You will be surrounded by a high-calibre team that will encourage you to do your best.

In this role, you will:

• Manage a team and portfolio of projects which will span disciplines, or specific areas of high impact, complexity or risk.
• Build a scalable, robust business management system to track and steer key connectivity metrics
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with global cellular providers, acting as the primary point of contact for all telecom-related sourcing, and influencing their IoT support roadmaps, coverage / roaming relationships, and technology investments.
• Negotiate complex agreements with providers to secure favorable terms, pricing, and service level agreements (SLAs) that align with Samsara's growth and operational needs.
• Partner closely with the Finance organization on forecasting connectivity costs and managing budget allocations for telecom services.
• Collaborate with the Engineering organization to align sourcing strategies with technical roadmaps and product initiatives, ensuring seamless integration and performance.
• Partner with go-to-market (GTM) teams to provide supportability insights based on technology and coverage availability
• Build and implement proactive measures to ensure the consistent achievement of service level commitments from telecom providers.  Work closely with carriers and customer support teams through network outages and restoration.
• Champion, role model, and embed Samsara’s cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as we scale globally and across new offices.

Minimum requirements for the role:

• 10+ years of experience in telecommunications sourcing, procurement, or a related field.
• Proven experience managing complex carrier relationships and negotiating high-value contracts.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a defined set of responsibilities and outcomes, and able to build the team needed to execute on strategy/roadmap.
• Established people/team management skills with emerging organizational leadership skills.
• Experience building long-term relationships with key customers (internal and external) and guiding others to design and deliver solutions.
• Ability to plan strategy and roadmap for the next 1-2 years with relevant input and think outside of one's own team to influence, create, and drive strategies.

An ideal candidate also has:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, or a related field.
• MBA or relevant Master’s degree preferred
• Strong understanding of wireless communication technologies (e.g., LTE, 5G, IoT connectivity).
• Experience in a fast-paced, high-growth technology company.
• Demonstrated ability to cultivate high-performing talent and engaged teams.