Sr Buyer and Category Leader

About the role

Ashland Inc. is seeking a Category Leader – Indirect MRO / CAPEX / Site Services – Global Procurement to join their Global Procurement team. The role is flexible and eligible for remote work, but requires residency within a 200-mile radius of Calvert City, KY or Texas City, TX. This is a significant role within the company and the procurement function.

Responsibilities

• Develop Category Strategy plans using the 7-step strategic sourcing methodology and utilize appropriate support tools to achieve results and generate savings.
• Ensure procurement services are met for assigned Ashland plants, labs, and facilities.
• Negotiate, implement, and manage strategic contracts to optimize costs and secure reliable supplies.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities, efficiency improvements, and recommend/process policy or process changes as needed.
• Develop and execute supply risk assessment and mitigation programs to ensure business continuity.
• Manage operational issues related to supply chain challenges.
• Facilitate Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), and Request for Information (RFI) processes and prepare Coupa sourcing/bidding events according to engineering specifications and business requirements.
• Conduct bid analyses with cross-functional teams and make decisions based on internal consensus.
• Lead cross-functional teams and direct reports, managing high-value/complex spend categories greater than $60MM.
• Actively participate in the MRO / Site Services Leadership Team and collaborate with other leadership members to meet corporate objectives.
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships to drive optimized value through strategic relationship management programs.
• Extract and analyze spend data using various ERP/S2P reporting tools (Coupa, SAP, QlikView).
• Represent as Corporate Agent: Ensure regulatory compliance and enforce corporate policies.
• Ensure strict adherence to Ashland's Zero Incident Culture and Responsible Care Guidelines.
• Travel up to 25% to visit Ashland sites, supplier visits, internal meetings, and industry conferences.

Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years of strategic MRO / CAPEX / Site Services procurement and/or related experience required.
• Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree in engineering discipline; MBA and/or CPSM certification preferred.
• Experience leading teams and managing complex multi-category spend greater than $60MM.
• Experience in Chemical or Pharmaceutical industries and/or Fortune 500 companies preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge of category management and use of 7SSS (Step Strategic Sourcing) methodology.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and other methodologies in supplier proposal evaluation.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) program deployment and execution in diverse categories.
• Demonstrated expertise in Supply Risk Assessment and Mitigation programs across multiple material types.
• Demonstrated experience in Contracting practices and processes in a global environment.
• Strong communication, follow-up, presentation, and teamwork skills, with a sense of urgency.
• Good knowledge of Coupa and other tools like SAP, Ariba.

Preferred Skills

• Five plus years’ experience in dealing with senior management, leading teams, and managing both small value spend and multi-million dollar high-value spend/contracts.
• Experience working in diverse global cross-functional teams in highly matrixed environments.