Senior Category Manager

Encore Global•Schiller Park, IL

About The Position

The Senior Category Manager is responsible for managing a spend portfolio to develop & regularly maintain/up-dates short-, mid- and long-term category strategy regionally, linking this strategy with overall business strategy/objectives, in alignment with departmental stakeholders (C-suite), as well as, leading direct reports and coordinating with global Procurement teams for alignment and projects. Has and/or forges key strategic relationships with (strategic) suppliers/industry leaders and develops those relationships on behalf of the company being mindful of long-term mutually beneficial and ethical objectives as well as providing the business with access to supplier innovation. The Senior Category Manager leads key strategic procurement projects and provides expert advice and guidance to the C-level community and business stakeholders across all ENCORE. The Senior Category manager is an ‘ambassador’ of best practice, usage of available technology (e-sourcing), innovation and initiatives through the company and across the stakeholder community and optimizes the cost and quality of our services. This role reports to the Senior Director of Procurement. We are hiring two Senior Category Managers. One role will lead our CAPEX category strategy, while the other will lead MRO, office supplies, travel, and professional services.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree
7+ years of Category Management experience - designing and implementing successful Category/Sub-Category Strategies
Proven ability to connect ideas, events, and circumstances to find category management solutions to business problems or goals
Applies flexible approaches to achieving category management results in dynamic situations
Skilled in change adoption, change management, and resource assessment
Ability to work independently, energetic and self-motivated
Experience influencing others to voluntarily adopt Category Management practices
Strong analytical and financial skills
Strong oral and written communication
Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Power Point, Project, Excel and or Access
Decision Quality
Responsiveness
Communicates Effectively
Cultivates Innovation
Action Oriented
Drives Quality Results

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree in related discipline preferred
CPM or CPSM preferred

Responsibilities

Responsible for conducting and overseeing the build out of RFPs, negotiations, contracting and ongoing supplier value management for continuous improvement.
Lead workstreams to understand and leverage current and future business requirements, market intelligence, and historical spend to develop innovative category strategies that drive cost reduction, enterprise consistency, and business value.
Responsible for establishing category metrics and savings targets, monitor performance, and communicate these to stakeholders.
Create a category specific initiative pipeline that will forecast and direct procurement projects and sourcing activities for direct reports.
Implement the category strategy by directing sourcing activities and demand initiatives.
Develop and lead cross functional teams to execute on strategy.
Maintain expertise in the spend category through relationships with direct reports, sourcing teams, business units, suppliers, market experts, and global/regional liaisons.
Know and apply value chain and value stream concepts.
Deliver financial targets in line with business expectations.
Drive the category opportunity agenda and self-sufficiently identifies, agrees and executes these projects.
Identify business enablement opportunities and provide category related insights and recommendations.
Provide commodity knowledge to internal clients on industry trends, benchmarking, and best practices.
Build and maintain collaborative relationships with Sourcing Teams, Line of Business Leaders, key stakeholders and suppliers.
Act as prime negotiator with suppliers relative to pricing, terms, quality, and service.
Share ownership and accountability for driving and delivering results through agreed upon strategies.
Ensure strategies remain in alignment with business goals over time.
Accountable for driving communication and reporting to keep internal clients informed of progress and benefits.
Work with internal risk and compliance groups to ensure category strategies account for relevant laws, regulations, and risk policies.
Lead and develop direct reports identify opportunities and execute against agreed upon strategies.
Support the Senior Director of Procurement, SVP and Operations in achieving positive EBITDA impact, expanding scope of coverage, utilizing e-sourcing tools, and promoting supplier development.
Act as change agent and advocate for Procurement as a value added function.
In conjunction with direct reports and internal customers, identify priorities and negotiate supplier agreements within applicable product/service categories.
Evaluate and identify potential sources of supply including global markets.
Establish a supplier strategy - develop supplier partnerships with new suppliers and improve existing supplier relationships.
Coordinate supplier involvement in new/alternate product design.
Coordinate and implement supplier managed inventory/consignment programs.
Develop and implement process improvements and cost savings ideas with suppliers.
Establish and utilize vendor performance management tools and reports to improve consistency and reliability of suppliers
Supervise the day to day operations of the department staff.
Monitor and evaluate performance of staff, mentoring and developing the individuals and documenting corrective action as needed.
Continually recommend and/or initiate business process improvement opportunities around the purchasing processes, facilitating changes across the team as required.
Identify, implement and monitor required tools, processes and procedures to create an effective and efficient organization.
Model and reinforce a positive working environment centered on company values.