Senior Commercial Procurement Category Manager - Direct Materials & Innovation

Senior Commercial Procurement Category Manager – Direct Materials & Innovation

 

Glanbia  

  

Join this dynamic team focused on delivering better nutrition for every step of life’s journey 

   

The Opportunity 

The Senior Commercial Procurement Category Manager is responsible for the end-to-end strategy, value creation, and innovation enablement across strategically critical ingredients and pre-mix direct material categories. This role serves as a strategic business partner to R&D, Operations, Commercial, Product Strategic Management (PSM), and Finance—delivering competitive advantage through supply market intelligence, supplier innovation, total cost leadership, and speed-to-market enablement.

 

Essential Functions

Category Strategy & Value Roadmap

• Develop and execute multi-year category strategies aligned to enterprise growth objectives.
• Build and manage value creation roadmaps (cost savings, avoidance, innovation, working capital, resilience).
• Serve as Regional or Global Category Owner as assigned.
• Deliver measurable procurement value contribution.

Innovation & New Product Enablement

• Embed procurement into the product development lifecycle.
• Enable rapid sourcing solutions for new product launches.
• Partner with R&D to identify innovative suppliers and emerging technologies.
• Reduce commercialization cycle time through proactive supplier engagement.

Total Cost & Financial Leadership

• Develop should-cost and total cost of ownership models.
• Lead complex negotiations and contracting strategies.
• Model make-vs-buy and scenario-based cost analysis.
• Drive transparent savings tracking and benefit realization.

Supplier Ecosystem Leadership

• Act as Supplier Relationship Owner for strategic suppliers.
• Lead quarterly and annual executive supplier reviews.
• Drive joint innovation and cost-reduction initiatives.
• Establish KPIs, scorecards, and performance governance.

Risk & Supply Assurance

• Monitor global market trends and commodity risks.
• Develop risk mitigation and dual-sourcing strategies.
• Lead business continuity planning within category.

Procurement Governance & Process Leadership

• Lead end-to-end sourcing events (RFI/RFQ/RFP).
• Ensure compliance with procurement policies and contracting standards.
• Own or co-own major Procurement Work Processes.
• Drive continuous improvement in sourcing methodologies.

Cross-Functional & Executive Partnership

• Build alignment across Operations, Finance, R&D, Quality, and Commercial teams.
• Present strategy and value outcomes to senior leadership.
• Influence decision-making in a matrixed global organization.

People Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead and develop a team of sourcing professionals.
• Shape organization design and resource allocation.
• Drive talent development and succession planning.

Commercial Liaison

• Own relationship between Commercial/PSM and Category.
• Lead Customer RFP pricing responsibilities.
• Prepare and present market intelligence reports to Commercial/PSM.
• Support Traded division with market pricing and portfolio building opportunities. 

The Skills you will bring to the team

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, Finance, or related field.

• 7+ years progressive strategic procurement experience in food, ingredient, or FMCG industry.
• 3+ years leading complex cross-functional projects.
• MBA or CPSM/CPM certification pre