Senior Category Management - Raw Chemicals

Company Description

Veolia Group is a global leader in environmental services, operating across all five continents with nearly 218,000 employees. Specializing in water, energy, and waste management. Veolia Group designs and implements innovative solutions for decarbonization, depollution, and resource regeneration, supporting communities and industries in their ecological transformation. Within this framework, Veolia’s Water Technology Business
brings together a dedicated team of experienced professionals committed to tackling the world’s most complex challenges related to water scarcity, quality, productivity, and energy. Together, we pursue a shared mission to
create a more sustainable future.

Job Description

North American Regional Category Manager - Chemicals

The Regional Category Manager will be responsible for developing and implementing sourcing and procurement strategies in their region in alignment with the Global Category teams and the Regional Business Lines. This role drives supplier performance, negotiates cost efficiencies, ensures supply continuity, and supports the company’s cost, quality, and sustainability objectives. The ideal candidate possesses strong technical and business acumen, as well as deep knowledge in chemical raw material sourcing, water treatment, and relevant chemical markets, with experience in the relevant industry.  

Key Characteristics:

• Develop, lead, and implement end-to-end sourcing strategies for chemical raw material categories for both specialty and commodity chemicals.  

• Deep industry knowledge in chemical markets, strong business acumen, and demonstrated cross-functional leadership.

• Strategic thinker and able to work in a collaborative, double matrix, and multicultural environment.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Category Management & Strategic Sourcing 

• Develop and lead end-to-end regional sourcing strategies for key commodity and chemical categories in conjunction with global strategy and market trends.

• Perform total cost of ownership (TCO) analyses and market intelligence reviews to inform procurement decisions.

• Identify and qualify suppliers aligned with Veolia’s needs and environmental compliance standards.

• Owns the category business goals for the region and reports out to the Global Category Manager and regional team on progress.

Supplier Relationship Management

• Manage strategic supplier relationships, including quarterly business reviews, supplier innovation partnerships, and risk management activities.

• Negotiate long-term agreements and mitigate supply risk through multi-sourcing or buffer strategies.

• Collaborate with Quality, Technical, and EHS teams to ensure supplier compliance with Veolia’s specifications, Quality Management Systems, and safety protocols.

Cost Savings & Process Improvements

• Drive year-over-year savings targets through competitive bidding, value engineering, or alternate formulations.

• Lead or support cross-functional initiatives to improve procurement operations, sustainability, or product performance.

• Stay ahead of market trends in the water treatment and chemical supply chains, including regulatory impacts (e.g., REACH, TSCA, EPA rules).

Operational Support

• Partner with operations, production planning, and logistics to ensure seamless inbound supply of chemicals and raw materials.

• Monitor usage trends, coordinate with inventory teams, and proactively address supply-demand imbalances.

• Work closely with business lines and finance to ensure accurate price tracking and budget forecasting.

Qualifications

Hard Skills: 

• Expert: Demonstrate subject matter expertise in the field of chemical sourcing.

• Strong negotiation, analytical, and project management skills.

• Proficient in ERP/MRP systems (SAP preferred) and Google and Excel-based modeling.

Soft Skills:

• Strategic: Gets the big game. Understands long-term. Respects short term but doesn’t get hung up in the noise.

• Inspirational: Ability to inspire/ motivate others.

• Curious: Ability to pose high-impact questions, seeing opportunities in areas where others see problems.

• Courageous: Champions ideas and helps transform them into actions.

• Humble: Respectful towards peers, team members, leadership, and stakeholders.

• Holistic: Think customer and company first.

• Accountable: Demonstrates responsibility