Sr. Category Manager

This position is the subject matter expert for the designated category, accountable for all sourcing strategies and implementation. Develops alternative sources, including low cost countries, and leverages category spend globally, with a focus on cost efficiencies, product quality, innovation and the most effective supply chain models. Develops and implements new products, processes, standards or operational plans that will have impact on the achievement of functional results.

 

The position takes direction from the Supply Chain Manager and/or Sr. Supply Chain Manager, and works to improve total cost, quality, delivery, and reliability to reach organizational goals.  Strong relationship skills are required to manage internal and external suppliers to provide timely and innovative solutions to meet business needs.

 

Resposibilities:

• Primary relationship owner for suppliers within assigned category
• Responsible for managing the segmentation of assigned spend into subcommodity groups to create levers to achieve operational excellence
• Develops and maintains an overall category strategy to meet organizational goals by improving Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) while securing supply continuity through identifying and mitigating current and potential risks and opportunities in the commodity playbook.
• Leads the execution of the category strategy through preferred supplier list (PSL), “right-sizing” non-preferred suppliers, and rewarding preferred partners with business awards tied to Long Term Agreements (LTA) with year over year improvements in cost, delivery, quality, service, and profitability.
• Reviews analysis from PowerBI and other tools to create insights into the drivers of assign commodity and implications to  spend and cost projections to use as levers with current and future supply base.
• Conducts regular business reviews (SRM) with key and strategic suppliers with cross-functional teams and senior leadership.
• Creates presentations for supplier relationship management reviews, commodity playbooks, risk mitigation proposals, 4-Blockers, and supplier/commodity gap analysis. 
• Responsible for creating and executing a plan to deliver annual business results against metrics of payment terms, on-time delivery, productivity, inflation, and other metrics as determined by Procurement Leadership.
• Research, track, and communicate industry trends, best practices, applicable indices, and competitive offerings to identify opportunities for innovation, competitive advantage, and increased overall productivit
• Develop a productive working relationship with peers on other teams: Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Procurement

 

 

Key Competencies:

• Quantitative Analysis: Skillful in using quantitative analysis to understand business issues.
• Influence: can influence and persuade other people, even without direct authority.
• Recognition of Opportunity: Recognizes new opportunities and acts to take advantage of them.
• Assertiveness: Able to defend a point of view and to confront others appropriately when necessary; unafraid to take controversial positions and challenge the conventional wisdom or status quo.
• Creative Thinking: Able to think creatively, generating new ideas and approaches to situations.
• Written Communication: A good writer; expresses ideas and positions clearly.
• Cross Cultural: Able to interact effectively with people of different cultures and backgrounds.
• Technical Expertise: Extensive knowledge of and experience with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
• Multi-Tasker:  Ability to prioritize multiple stakeholders and competing priorities to meet critical business needs i