Direct Materials Manager

Responsibilities

• Manage the direct sourcing team and have global responsibility for raw materials and packaging across Ingevity.
• Guide direct reports and lead the team on developing multi-year category strategies to improve cost, working capital and reliability, while also addressing day-to-day category needs.
• Gain alignment from senior leadership on implementation of category strategies.
• Bring industry leading sourcing and procurement practices to execute upon the developed strategies.
• Deliver year over year hard savings while working with internal stakeholders to mitigate risk and ensure continuity of supply.
• Develop and maintain an understanding of direct markets, leading trends, internal/external drivers and keys to success in strategically managing categories for long term value and be able to simply communicate relevant information to internal stakeholders.
• Develop and manage supplier relationship management opportunities to maximize value.
• Drive a continuous improvement and innovation mindset across the team.
• Drive global sourcing solutions with counterparts in various geographical regions.
• Drive cost improvement programs to deliver year-on-year cost improvement and avoidance.

Qualifications and Desired Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, supply chain, business or related field required.
• MBA and/or Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) certification is preferred.
• At least seven (7) years or more of sourcing experience or equivalent experience in relevant business categories with two years’ minimum experience leading large global sourcing initiatives in the assigned categories for a mature sourcing organization.
• Must be a results-focused team player and adapt well to a multitasking, fast paced environment with changing priorities and challenges.
• Experience and knowledge of the markets and suppliers for chemicals and materials (examples include: amines, bio-based fatty acids, maleic/fumaric and phosphoric acid).
• Successfully lead negotiations for global, multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts in direct categories.
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships with internal senior/executive stakeholders and influence through effective communication.
• Strong interpersonal and presentation skills are necessary to work across all levels of the organization.
• Project management skills highly desired.
• Strong business acumen is required.
• Travel up to 25% as required for supplier audits, development, and visits.
• General knowledge of enterprise software is required (SAP and/or Coupa experience is preferred).