Category Management Specialist Sr Staff

Entergy Corporation; New Orleans (LA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Entergy is seeking a Senior Staff Category Management Specialist to lead strategic sourcing and supplier engagement for an assigned portfolio. The role integrates safety, cost management, and risk mitigation across cross-functional teams and multiple locations.

Responsibilities include developing category strategies, managing spend, and coaching other specialists while working in a hybrid in-office setting two to three days per week. Travel up to 25% may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or related discipline; 12+ years in category management or strategic sourcing, or 16+ years without a degree.
• Minimum 6+ years’ energy industry supply chain experience in category management or strategic sourcing.
• Preferred CPSM, APICS, or similar industry certification.

Responsibilities

• Actively promote safety behaviors and ensure the team prioritizes safety.
• Develop and execute category and subcategory strategies; manage spend and track market trends.
• Review commercial, process, technical, risk management and sustainability strategies for product categories.
• Lead supplier management to ensure performance and cost effectiveness.
• Forecast demand and bundle purchasing across departments to optimize spend.

Skills

Category management

Strategic sourcing

Contract management

Data analysis

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or related

Job description

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert:

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Company: Entergy

Job Title: Category Management Specialist Sr Staff

Work Place Flexibility: Hybrid

Legal Entity: Entergy Services, LLC

Please note:Authorization to work in the United States is a precondition to employment in this position. Entergy will not sponsor candidates for work visas for this position.

Note: This is a hybrid position requiring in office work two - three days a week, and can be based our offices in The Woodlands, TX, Jackson, MS, Little Rock, AR, or New Orleans, LA. The selected candidates will be placed as a Category Management Specialist Sr Staff. Relocation assistance is not available for this posting.

Job Summary/Purpose

The Senior Staff Category Management Specialist utilizes extensive supply chain, category management, strategic sourcing, and contracting knowledge and experience to implement Supplier Commercial Excellence for an assigned collection of categories. The role is Supply Chain’s (SC) single point of contact and strategic lead for a given category(ies) and supports the placement of Entergy’s ~$4B third party spend into the appropriate supply markets. The position is responsible for the utilization of the standard Category Management process of Plan-Strategy-Source-Perform across assigned categories and will operate across multiple cross-functional teams to leverage end-to-end value for an assigned portfolio of spend. The senior staff specialist operates autonomously and in an advisory capacity providing oversight, support, guidance, and training in the technical and professional skills areas to other category management specialists. The role is recognized inside SC, and within Entergy, as a subject matter technical adviser on category management, strategic sourcing, contract strategy, methodology, analysis, and contract provisions. The primary objective of the role is to create value through the supply chain in terms of safety, cost, risk mitigation and enhanced supplier performance.

Key interfaces for this position are internal business customers such as a business unit, Tax, Finance, Risk Management, Safety, Human Resources, Legal external suppliers and industry organizations. Within SC, common interfaces for this role are Procurement Operations, Capital Projects & Decommissioning and Warehousing and Inventory Management, Safety, and Supplier Diversity.

Job Duties/Responsibilities

• Safety/Human Performance:
  • Actively promote strong safety behaviors and ensure the team always puts safety first.
  • Utilize key tools, programs, and proactive field visits to assure standards and behaviors.
  • Monitor and influence suppliers to proactively identify any safety concerns.
• Perform storm role duties as assigned through the Storm Assignment Management System (SAMS).
• Category Strategy:
  • Develop and execute category and subcategory strategies, checklist, manage spend and regularly track market trends, Ability to work strategically and tactically to deliver positive business results.
  • Category Processes:
  • Systematic process to review commercial, process, technical, risk management and sustainability strategies for product categories and subcategories.
• Supplier management strategy in place, linked with supplier segment, category strategies, and business reviews to ensure supplier performance.
• Supplier Base: Supplier portfolio is regularly reviewed based on price/performance and cost structure comparison.
• Optimization;
  • Recurrent effort to bundle purchasing and to forecast demand across departments/business units.
• Ability influence and work across Cross-functional teams and levels in the organization to optimize supply-chain, redesign-to cost and make-or-buy strategies.

Minimum Education & Experience required of the position

• Category Management Specialist, Sr Staff
  • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Accounting, Engineering, Legal, or other related discipline and minimum 12+ years of category management, strategic sourcing or other related supply chain experience OR in lieu of a degree, minimum 16+ years of category management, strategic sourcing or other related supply chain experience
    Minimum 6+ years’ energy industry supply chain experience in category management or strategic sourcing
    Preferred:
    Certification from an industry accreditation organization such as CPSM, APICS, etc.

Minimum knowledge, skills, and abilities required of the position

• Technical
  • Deep understanding of Entergy’s business model and key interfaces across the business and SC;
    o Masterful application of strategic and creative thinking to produce a range of solutions to problems, anticipating changes in the business environment, and making data driven decisions;
    o Mastery and innovative solutions for category management processes; including supplier diversity, safety metrics and tools; category strategies are used as exemplars across SC;
    o Deep understanding of supplier relationship/vendor management principles and practices;
    o Mastery in the application of pre-award and post-award contract management processes; integrate business unit specific knowledge; identify and mitigate contractual risks to Entergy;
    o Mastery in leading/coaching the development and implementation of sourcing strategies; strategies are used as exemplars across SC;
    o Deep proficiency in understanding the capacity and cost structure of existing suppliers;
    o Extensive knowledge in developing detailed RFx price breakdowns and deconstructing vendor pricing models to support financial analysis and bid comparison;
    o Masterful ability to extract data and apply market intelligence to assess supply market status and evolution;
    o Deep expertise in leading/coaching the development “cost to serve” for customers;
    o Mastery in leading/coaching the implementation of clear strategies to develop supplier bases; strategies are used as exemplars across SC;
    o Deep expertise in creating negotiation strategies and leading supplier negotiations that support operational excellence through safety, price, quality, service and innovation; strategies are used as exemplars across SC;
    o Extensive knowledge of business and SC operations within Entergy; including how Entergy buys and pays (HEBAP); experience and knowledge of supply chain systems and processes;
    o Deep influencing skills to promote effective demand planning across business units, functions and SC (zero-based purchasing, pro-active purchase planning and hedging).
• Professional
  • Expertise to advise on the application of project management principles to ensure systematic, thorough completion of assignments, identifying critical pathways and risks to delivery;
    o Mastery in the application of commercial skills and financial acumen to capital projects, with the inclusion of key business drivers and impact to Entergy on outcomes;
    o Capability to lead on the development of data/information analyses to assist the business in decision making; provide business insights and data trends through detailed reports;
    o Ability to communicate autonomously with category management stakeholders, including executive level, delivering key messages concisely, supported by relevant data; influencing skills to develop best outcomes;
    o Proficient at building extensive relationships and effective networks with all stakeholders;
    o Deep understanding of change management relative to category management solutions for the business;
    o Deep experience and knowledge to effectively manage the costs of the business; understand the impact of contract terms on Entergy cost structure.

Primary Location: Louisiana-New OrleansLouisiana : New Orleans || Arkansas : Little Rock || Mississippi : Jackson || Texas : The Woodlands
Job Function: Corporate
FLSA Status: Professional
Relocation Option: No Relocation Offered
Union description/code: NON BARGAINING UNIT
Number of Openings: 1
Req ID: 125188
Travel Percentage:Up to 25%

An Equal Opportunity Employer, Minority/Female/Disability/Vets.

EEO Statement:The Entergy System of Companies provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a protected veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. The Entergy System of Companies complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment including, but not limited to, recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.
The Entergy System of Companies expressly prohibits any form of unlawful employee harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of the Entergy System of Company employees to perform their expected job duties is absolutely not tolerated.

Accessibility:Entergy provides reasonable accommodations for online applicants. Requests for a reasonable accommodation may be made orally or in writing by an applicant, employee, or third party on his or her behalf.

Additional Responsibilities:As a provider of essential services, Entergy expects its employees to be available to work additional hours, to work in alternate locations, and/or to perform additional duties in connection with storms, outages, emergencies, or other situations as deemed necessary by the company. Exempt employees may not be paid overtime associated with such duties.

The non-confidential portions of the affirmative action program for individuals with disabilities and protected veterans shall be available for inspection upon request by any employee or applicant for employment.

WORKING CONDITIONS:As a provider of essential services, Entergy expects its employees to be available to work additional hours, to work in alternate locations, and/or to perform additional duties in connection with storms, outages, emergencies, or other situations as deemed necessary by the company. Exempt employees may not be paid overtime associated with such duties.

Please note: Authorization to work in the United States is a precondition to employment in this position. Entergy will not sponsor candidates for work visas for this position.