Responsibilities

You lead category strategy development, deployment and supplier management for Maintenance, Repair & Operations (MRO) categories across all businesses in order to support business strategy and minimize total cost of ownership.

You work closely with stakeholders (e.g. local purchasing, maintenance, operations, ...) to develop effective cost-reduction strategies and execution plans.

You run tenders, conduct fact-based negotiations with suppliers (building on supplier and industry analysis, benchmarks, cost structure analysis), review and select suppliers for contractual agreements.

You manage major supplier relationships on an ongoing basis, measure and track supplier performance and work collaboratively to achieve value.  

In particular, the role includes

Define, implement and monitor execution of the category strategy in collaboration with all stakeholders

• Define category strategies based on analysis of the internal and external fact base 
• Develop implementation plans and build roadmap in collaboration with stakeholders in purchasing, operations, supply chain, maintenance 
• Supervise the development and implementation of defined strategies in collaboration with PMO
• Maintain communication and perform regular strategic alignment with all stakeholders
• Track compliance with set category strategies and take corrective actions where needed

Manage supplier relationships within the categories you manage

• Overview all interactions with key suppliers 
• Lead negotiations, review and select suppliers for major contractual agreements
• Orchestrate RFIs/RFQs, including timeline and process definition, supported by analysts for execution
• Lead and develop supplier management initiatives, e.g. identification and tracking of KPIs, savings initiatives

Identify opportunities to reduce TCO

• Act as a leader in managing the total cost of ownership (TCO) within the category coordinating all actors in procurement as well as all functional stakeholders e.g. operations, supply chain 
• Measure and track performance of the spend category under your management  

Key Qualifications

• Master’s degree in business administration, engineering, or a related field is preferred
• Minimum 10 years’ procurement experience including extensive and demonstrable track record in category management 
• Fluent spoken and written English skills

Other important skills that we are looking for

Professional Skills: 

• Strong strategic and analytical capabilities
• Demonstrable leadership skills and business mindset
• Knowledge of procurement best practices and contract management
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Result-oriented

Interpersonal Skills:

• Good interpersonal skills, thriving at keeping collaboration between all stakeholders 
• Experience of leadership of cross-functional teams
• Strong in communication, influencing and relationship management with stakeholders

IT Skills:   

• Previous procurement software/ system experience a plus
• Knowledge of SAP and PowerBI is an advantage
• Microsoft Office