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GLOBAL CATEGORY MANAGER
ContinentalTimişoara, Romaniafull_timeVerifiedPosted 31 Jul 2025
About the role
<h3>Company Description</h3><p><strong>OESL – Original Equipment Solutions, For Future Mobility.</strong></p><p>Are you ready to move <em>ForwardTogether </em>with a global, dedicated, and experienced team? </p><p>Join us and take the opportunity to contribute to our future in the fundamentally changing automotive industry with your new role as Head of HR Location in the stand-alone Business Area Original Equipment Solutions. Your new place to work is flexible and will be defined later (hybrid).</p><p><strong>About Original Equipment Solutions:</strong></p><p>With more than 17.000 employees and around 2bn€ sales, present in 15 countries with 35 locations and tech centers – OESL is a global player in the automotive sector with extended material competence in rubber, plastic, and metal, serving all major OEM’s and commercial vehicle customers’ needs with millions of parts in high quality.</p><h3>Job Description</h3><p>CATEGORY STRATEGY :</p><ul><li>Build up and maintain a portfolio strategy in line with the BA needs and define a well-balanced; portfolio to minimize risk, to ensure flexibility, and to get an advantageous position on the supplier market;</li><li>Define, deliver, and update a Sourcing List;</li><li>Identify and on-board new potential suppliers where the need is identified;</li><li>Identify any value improvement activities and steer implementation;</li><li>To present and align the strategies with BA stakeholders;</li></ul><p>COMMERCIAL:<br/>
To handle all negotiations with the Category Supplier; <br/>
To negotiate and maintain necessary global contracts;<br/>
To support Advance Purchasing with complex/difficult negotiations;<br/>
Manage suppliers in the representation of the BA;<br/>
</p><p>ESCALATION SUPPORT:<br/>
Support Region Purchasing for Quality, Supply, and Commercial escalation;<br/>
Conduct a Market Survey for the category Investment in his/her Region;<br/>
Troubleshooting: Support the plants as the next escalation level in case of supply problems (quality or delivery);<br/>
</p><p>REPORTING:<br/>
Share the market situation with stakeholders;<br/>
To report the Categories' performance on a regular basis;<br/>
Forecast expected price development.</p><h3>Qualifications</h3><ul><li>Bachelor's degree; in exceptional cases, an equivalent professional experience;</li><li>At least 3 years in Purchasing, at least 1 year in automotive;</li><li>Strong Purchasing Portfolio Handling (Strategy, Supplier List, Market Know How, Portfolio Analysis, Forecast) & Contractualization;</li><li>Negotiation experience: RFQ, Offer analysis and comparison, Negotiation;</li><li>Risk Management Claim, Finance, Legal;</li><li>Ability to work within a remote team; </li><li>Project Management experience is a plus;</li><li>Functional or project leadership experience is a plus; </li><li>At least 3 years of exposure to international business; </li><li>Experience of living abroad is a plus;</li><li>Willingness to travel about 30% of the time.</li></ul><h3>Additional Information</h3><p><strong>What we offer:</strong></p><ul><li><strong>The 13th salary – </strong>Paid once a year, in December;</li><li><strong>Meal tickets -</strong> With a value of 40 Ron;</li><li><strong>Hybrid schedule</strong> – Work-life balance is important, so we offer a flexible schedule. Please agree on this with your superior;</li><li><strong>Private Health Insurance </strong>– Health is the most important, so we offer you a medical subscription through Signal Iduna;</li><li><strong>Referral bonuses - </strong>We encourage colleagues to refer new candidates to us and, at the same time, to get the chance to receive a bonus;</li><li><strong>Bookster – </strong>Feed your body and your mind. You can borrow books and you’ll receive them at the office;</li><li><strong>Sports benefits</strong>- It’s important to stay active, so we offer you the 7Card;</li><li><strong>Discounts at our partners – </strong>We collaborate with different vendors, and we receive discounts for various products/ services like rubbers, restaurants, kindergartens, etc;</li><li><strong>System for Rewarding Improvement Ideas – </strong>We have an internal improvement program (Continental Idea Management) that allows you to come up with ideas and to be honored with an attractive bonus (this is established by the CIM team according to your improvement idea);</li><li><strong>Happy days – </strong>If you or your child is getting married, or you become a parent, you receive some extra free days;</li><li><strong>Life events celebration </strong>- If your family is growing, we praise your newborn with a bonus;</li><li><strong>Unfortunate events </strong>- In case of unhappy events in your life, we support you by offering you free days and financial support (handled on a case-by-case basis);</li><li><strong>Extra vacation days </strong>– You begin with 22 vacation days/year, and starting with the 3rd year with us, we offer you 1 more day of vacation and, afterward from 2 to 2 years yo
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