Global Category Manager

Johnson Controls•Glendale, CA

2d•$100,000 - $150,000

About The Position

As a part of the Global Products and Solutions business unit, the Global Category Manager role is a member of the Direct Materials Procurement Category team. This team is responsible for partnering with key stakeholders across Global Products and Solutions Organization to develop global sourcing strategies for all key categories, establish a best-in-class global sourcing footprint, act as a Center of Excellence for their respective categories, actively support the business in new product development and help the Global Products Organization meet their business objectives. This Global Category Manager works with the Product Business Units to ensure that commodity strategies and activities are aligned. This strategic role works on a team with a purpose to assure strategic commodities alignment across functions of the business, and project manages the strategy deployment across the products business globally. As a member of this team, you will work within a dynamic environment that provides a high-level of exposure and influence on people and business decisions. As the Global Category Manager for Packaging, Labels, Literature, Adhesives, Paints and Coatings you will manage the macro category portion of overall spend budget and associated savings. You will develop, communicate, and implement comprehensive category strategies. As a Global Category Manager you handle ambiguity well, can make decisions without all the data, can shift gears comfortably and can effectively cope with change. You believe that the best work is done in teams – you’re seen as a cooperative leader. You can manage multiple priorities simultaneously because of your excellent project management, organization and time management skills. You are intellectually curious – driving continual learning for you and your team. You’re also interpersonally curious – understanding that internal and external collaboration fuels improvement and best practice. You are seen as a leader and have strong indirect people management skills to influence multidisciplinary teams and peers, and to drive the global PBUs and Regional Teams towards success.

Requirements

Bachelor degree required
Min. 5 years of experience in a strategic sourcing role
Project Management experience
Extensive global sourcing experience
Very strong negotiation skills
Experienced in supplier relationship management
Indirect people management skills to influence dotted lines
Capability to interface with senior leadership across regions both internally & externally
In depth understanding of purchasing tools and practices
Strong MS Office skills; including advanced spreadsheet skills and ability to lead virtual meetings in Microsoft Teams
Strong costing and analytical skills
Working knowledge of Oracle / SAP or other equivalent ERP systems
Travel up to 20% domestic and international
Language skills not required but preferred

Responsibilities

Responsible for developing detailed category strategies to support the Global Procurement Direct Materials organization.
Mentor and lead assigned Product Business Unit Buyers to support sourcing and supplier management while driving cost savings and continuous improvement initiatives.
Ensure alignment of category strategies to business requirements and objectives.
Lead supplier contract negotiations, supplier selection and contract lifecycle management.
Act as a center of excellence for the respective categories through complete understanding of industry, competition, future technologies and innovations etc.
Responsible for overall continuity of supply and active risk mitigation.
Project manage with plants to resolve quality, delivery, capacity and other issues as required.
Support make vs buy decisions when applicable.
Meet or exceed profit plan goals related to categories: cost savings, raw material economics, quality, supplier rationalization, payment term extensions and other agreed objectives.
Lead monthly or quarterly category reviews with dotted line global category team across the product business units and regions.