Procurement Category Mgt Lead – Direct Materials LOOKING FOR Procurement Category Mgt Lead – Direct Materials JOB AT Arlington, VA

This role is the face of their assigned category to Nestrade and serves as the key interface with business/functional leadership across US16 for respective category. You are an expert of the category, setting the procurement strategy for spend areas in your scope and localizing any globally created strategies. This role identifies value-creation opportunities and leads cross-functional projects for the category, as well as supplier strategy, collaboration, and local relationship management with a focus on risk mitigation, innovation, sustainability, and DEI. You will provide oversight for category-critical tasks like business continuity planning, supplier performance management, ensure supply, PPV forecast, etc., while working with the business to understand strategy, requirements, and challenges and to report updates.

Role level and category alignment dependent on applicable category experience, category complexity, supplier fragmentation, total spend, and other relevant factors.

Job Duties:

• End-to-end management of assigned category/categories, including localization of global strategies, development of at-market strategies, and coordination with suppliers and Nestrade buyers (as required)

• Execute Nestlé’s 7-Step Strategic Sourcing Process in the North American market, enabling value generation through sustainability, innovation, and cost improvements for Nestlé business units
  • Identify value creation opportunities by developing a deep understanding of each relevant business unit’s requirements, challenges, and opportunities, and leveraging these insights to create and implement savings initiatives
  • Leverage opportunities to lower total cost of ownership or increase value to the business while ensuring supply
  • Assign initiative owners for category aligned spend initiatives; provide category expertise and help guide initiative savings execution and pull through
  • Use knowledge of global suppliers and processes to bring opportunities to the forefront
  • Benchmark against competitors and promote supplier-led innovation to unlock value
  • Use insights and trends to liaise strategically with the business, factories, and suppliers

• Define risk management strategies for the business and promote mitigation activities to reduce the chance of disruption
  • Proactively manage supplier relationships resulting in a reduction of contractual risks
  • Clearly communicate risks and issues to key stakeholders, knowing when and to whom to escalate significant issue
• Suggest improved ways of working, introducing new processes or re-engineering existing ones in support of key priorities
  • Recognize strategic drivers and activities that support key priorities, both within your category and across the organization
  • Leverage intelligence tools and participate in professional associations to learn best practices and industry trends; apply the learnings to the category strategies to drive continuous improvement
  • Comply with all Procurement and company policies, procedures, and practices, and promote adherence across the organization
  • Apply project management principles to drive cross-functional teams in effective and efficient delivery of business objectives for both day to day activities and key projects

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in applicable fields required
• 3+ years of knowledge of and experience with global procurement and sourcing processes, legal contract negotiations, and contract management systems
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including but not limited to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, SAP, Ariba, and I-Nexus experience preferred

Requisition ID: 194469

We are Nestlé, the largest food and beverage company. We are 308,000 employees strong driven by the purpose of enhancing the quality of life and contributing to a healthier future. Our values are rooted in respect: respect for ourselves, respect for others, respect for diversity and respect for our future. With more than CHF 91.4 billion sales in 2018, we have an expansive presence with 413 factories in more than 85 countries. We believe our people are our most important asset, so we’ll offer you a dynamic inclusive international working environment with many opportunities across different businesses, functions and geographies, working with diverse teams and cultures. Want to learn more? Visit us at www.nestle.com.