Indirect Category Manager

Responsibilities

• Address all areas of Category management including Category business plans, global market and pricing analysis and procurement support.
• Contribute to development of the company's strategic Category objectives and goals.
• Develop global Category strategies with defined plans for cost savings, risk assessment and mitigation and service level agreements.
• Lead in the development and execution of Category negotiation strategies with suppliers, including specific targets for pricing, service, quality, intellectual property, tool ownership, exclusivity and inventory.
• Monitor current Category market conditions, technology roadmaps and identify challenges & opportunities.
• Develop subject matter expertise in assigned commodities through external research, benchmarking and analyzing cost drivers and life cycle costs.
• Provide market intelligence and Category price trends.
• Develop deep understanding where our competition sources their indirect needs, as well as determining the respective costs of same.
• Recognized as the Center of Knowledge for respective Category areas, and share this information with key stakeholders to enable more effective planning, forecasting and execution.
• Develop and maintain should-cost models that are relevant to the global marketplace.
• Sourcing Management:
• Utilize strategic sourcing process to manage assigned categories for multiple locations of Victaulic and subsidiaries.
• Identify all stakeholders for each major category and form cross-functional team to define and implement strategy that reduces cost, improves quality and delivery performance and improves Victaulic’s competitive position.
• Build case for significant change and develop consensus among key stakeholders.
• Provide rigorous analysis of spend data and market trends and dynamics to prioritize and launch sourcing initiatives within designated spend/Category categories.
• Analyze current spend and evaluate current suppliers. Consolidate spend across multiple manufacturing locations to create leverage, analyze purchasing trends and develop sourcing alternatives.
• Identify new high potential suppliers on global basis.
• Deliver 5% year over year net cost reductions for commodities and program that fall within assigned responsibility.
• Manage respective supplier relationships and performance, including but not limited to dispute resolution KPI’s.
• Project Management:
• Support indirect projects as Program Manager by coordinating all sourcing and supplier qualification activities on a global basis.
• Manage multiple projects, coordinate activities of team and track progress/schedules.
• Monitor current Category market conditions, technology roadmaps and identify supply/demand challenges and opportunities.
• Participate on special projects in Sourcing area as appropriate.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or Supply Chain Management from an accredited college or university is required.
• Relevant, progressive Strategic Sourcing, Category Management or equivalent work experience and expertise.
• Experience in indirect materials & services preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge of strategic sourcing process and tools and their application in restructuring purchases of a Global Supply Chain and Global Multi-plant manufacturing business.
• Track record of delivering significant cost reduction and service level improvements.
• Expertise in negotiation of long-term contracts with safeguards against identified risks.
• Ability to identify key performance measures and evaluate alternatives.
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead teams attaining cross-functional consensus.
• Excellent communication skills at all levels – clearly articulate position with clarity at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to work with key stakeholders in multiple global locations and at various levels.
• Strong analytical problem-solving abilities through the use of contemporary tools and methods.
• Willing to travel up to 10%.