Sr. Category Manager – Commodities

About the role

The Sr. Global Category Procurement Manager – Resins & Latex (NBR) is accountable for developing and implementing a 12–36 month strategic sourcing strategy for the key raw materials, including resins, chemicals, natural and synthetic latex with an annual spend of approximately $100M. Operating within a center-led hybrid procurement framework, this position drives negotiation strategy, designs index-linked, formula based contracting frameworks, and establishes long-term market positioning to respond to macroeconomic trends. Acting as the critical link between centralized strategy and site-level execution, the role ensures regional operations are protected from commodity price fluctuations while delivering aggressive cost efficiencies and strengthening supply network robustness.

Responsibilities

• Category Strategy: Develop and deliver a robust, clear and aggressive 12–36 month global category strategy for resins and NBR latex, that takes innovation, supply chain resilience, supplier relationship, commodity volatility to deliver 4-5% cost savings to enable clear commercial advantage.
• Supplier Expansion & Continuity: Actively manage the global supply base to reduce supply chain risk by diversifying sourcing across regions and strengthening supply resilience.
• Contract Design & Negotiation: Establish index-linked, transparent pricing frameworks tied to key feedstocks to secure favorable terms and visibility.
• Cost Control & Margin Protection: Drive savings through tiered volume incentives and price ceilings to limit exposure during demand spikes. Evaluate and implement hedging strategies for commodity-driven feedstocks to manage risk.
• Market Insights & Risk Mitigation: Track macro trends, capitalize on favorable cycles with forward buys, and align inventory programs with production demand. Leverage visual reporting and analytics tools to ensure stakeholders get a view of future outlook, rationale for changes and translate into P&L impact to their business.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Coordinate with R&D, Operations, Product Management, Finance, and Legal to ensure centralized governance while enabling efficient plant execution.
• Sustainability Integration: Advance low-impact material adoption by collaborating on bio-based and compliant NBR solutions meeting global regulatory standards.
• Team Leadership: Lead and coach regional procurement resources, ensuring strong execution of sourcing strategy and supplier engagement.
• Cost Analytics: Build robust total cost models, should-cost models and LPP modeling techniques incorporating yield, scrap, freight, and quality to identify, dimension and deliver on savings opportunities.
• Executive Communication: Prepare concise, insight-rich updates for senior leadership on market dynamics, supplier performance, and risk posture. Lead senior leader level communication on commodity market impacts, mitigation strategies, and procurement-driven savings opportunities to deliver business value.
• Performance Management: Enforce supplier KPIs covering quality, delivery, emissions, and competitiveness through disciplined tracking systems.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Polymer Chemistry, or a related highly analytical discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive, global procurement experience, with at least 5 years dedicated to resins, specialty chemicals, elastomers, or rubber/polymer raw materials
• Deep, structural understanding of petrochemical value chains, raw material markets (propylene, butadiene, acrylonitrile, naphtha), and advanced strategic sourcing methodologies.
• Proven track record of operating effectively within a center-led hybrid procurement organization.