Category Manager

Computacenter AG & Co. oHG; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Computacenter is seeking a Category Manager to lead a defined category within the partner management organization in North America. You will have personnel responsibility for the category team and manage commercial relationships with manufacturers, distributors, and service partners to secure a competitive advantage for sales teams.

You’ll drive Operational Excellence and support the Quote to Cash process. You will oversee the category team's performance, set targets, conduct reviews, and mentor

Qualifications

• University degree or equivalent qualification, more than 3 years of professional experience or professional specialization
• Distinct strategic and analytical thinking; high problem-solving competence
• Very good communication skills and professional appearance in language and appearance, also excellent abilities to structure complex issues and present them convincingly
• Ability to lead and motivate teams - even across regional borders
• Comprehensive understanding of culture, ability to work constructively and result-oriented in dialogue with team members and contacts throughout CC North America
• Excellent relationship management - build and maintain a comprehensive network of internal and external stakeholders
• Negotiating skills - strong ability to conduct complex negotiations for the benefit of Computacenter
• Team-oriented thinking and working; high competence in moderation and motivation of teams
• High resilience and self-motivation; sustainability and implementation strength
• Comprehensive technology and market understanding in the relevant category environment
• Ability to define, agree and develop clearly formulated strategies and business plans
• Ability to build and develop an opportunity pipeline for the responsible business to achieve set objectives
• Confident business English for conversations with manufacturer contacts across Computacenter North America and Group

Responsibilities

• Managing the defined category with personnel responsibility for the category team
• Setting targets and mentoring the category team
• Performance reviews and personnel development plans
• Aligning team towards high-performance; optimize use of strengths
• Maintaining contact with team via on-site and distance leadership
• Responsible for commercial contribution growth and profitability
• Negotiate with partner agreements and programs with strategic alliance
• Coordinate with other category managers and Expert Services
• Develop and communicate partner segmentation and strategy
• Maintain supplier relations and manage P&L for the category
• Support strategic alliance sales negotiations
• Oversee operational purchasing and supply chain performance
• Manage inventory valuation and logistics for the category

Skills

Strategic thinking

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Team leadership

Negotiation skills

Presentation skills

Relationship management

Education

University degree or equivalent qualification

Job description

Category Manager

About the role

Responsibility for a defined category within the partner management organization. Personnel responsibility for the category team. Management of the relevant commercial partner relationships with manufacturers, distributors, and service partners with the aim of achieving a commercial competitive advantage for the sales teams in the country units. Delivering Operational Excellence and supporting the “Quote to Cash “Process.

What you’ll be doing

• Performing the personnel responsibility for the employees in the defined category.
• Setting an example and creating a trustful, productive and positive working environment.
• Delegation of responsibility for processes and tasks to the category team, setting and measuring corresponding targets for the individual team members.
• Conducting regular performance reviews, developing and coordinating personnel development plans, coaching and mentoring employees in their own team. Ensuring the professional qualification of employees.
• Aligning and developing one's own team towards a high-performance team, in which each individual team member is deployed in accordance with his or her strengths and, in cooperation with the team members, makes a valuable contribution to the success of the team and the fulfilment of the set goals.
• Ensuring regular contact with employees through the appropriate combination of on-site presence and the use of telecommunication media such as teams, etc. Use of "distance leadership" methods where continuous on-site team leadership is not possible.
• Responsibility for commercial contribution growth in the defined category
• Maximise overall profitability using existing or negotiating alongside the strategic sales alliance team new partner agreements or programmes
• Achieving the optimal commercial agreements within the Computacenter Group through close cooperation and
• Coordination with the corresponding category managers within the partner management organisation and with Expert Services
• Positioning of the team in the direction of the country unit (especially sales) as knowledge carriers to the partners' contacts, processes, and programmes
• Regular coordination, revision and communication of the partner segmentation and strategy for the defined category
• Responsibility for the qualitative development of relations with the defined partners in the category
• Preparation and coordination of an annual business plan per category and coordination with the goals for Strategic Alliance Partner function
• Management and further development of effective commercial instruments such as PVC (Preferred Vendor Contribution) and War chest
• Further development and maintenance of an opportunity pipeline for the category as well as coordination and communication of a regular forecast for sales, Soft$ and MDF income.
• Responsibility and management of P&L for the category
• Support Strategic Alliance Sales Directors with complex commercial negotiations and working in harmony to deliver the right outcome.

Management of operational purchasing

• Stock responsibility regarding valuation and inventory management
• Day to Day Support for buyers and ensuring logistics and end to end supply chain performance is best in class
• Managed inbound delivery disputes and be a point of escalation for the buyers,
• Workflow and Due Data management is monitored to delivery operational excellence to the Country Unit

What you have

• University degree or equivalent qualification, more than 3 years of professional experience or professional specialization Good knowledge of business administration, distinctive overall entrepreneurial thinking and acting
• Distinct strategic and analytical thinking; high problem-solving competence
• Very good communication skills and professional appearance in language and appearance, also excellent Abilities to structure complex issues clearly, to prepare them vividly and to present them convincingly
• Ability to lead and motivate teams - even across regional borders
• Comprehensive understanding of culture, ability to work constructively and result-oriented in dialogue with team members and contacts throughout CC North America
• Excellent relationship management - Ability to build and maintain a comprehensive network of internal and external stakeholders at employee and management Level.
• Negotiating skills - strong ability to conduct complex negotiations for the benefit of Computacenter
• Team-oriented thinking and working; high competence in the moderation and motivation of teams
• High resilience and self-motivation; high sustainability and implementation strength
• Comprehensive technology and market understanding in the relevant category environment
• Ability to define, agree and develop clearly formulated strategies and business plans
• Ability to build and develop an opportunity pipeline for the responsible business in order to achieve the set business objectives
• C onfident business English for conversations with manufacturer contacts across Computacenter North America and Group –
• E xisting personnel responsibility or passed management experience
• Diverse specialist activities with decisions and development of solutions
• Collaborative skills to partner closely and alongside the Strategic Sales Alliance team to achieve mutual benefits for Computacenter
• Strong presentation skills to be able to present complex commercial solutions to key stakeholders

What you can expect

There’s so much more to enjoy about being at Computacenter than just having a rewarding career. In addition to offering competitive compensation plans and long-term career opportunities, we provide an attractive mix of benefit plans to contribute to your good health, future financial security, and peace of mind.

About us

Computacenter is a leading independent technology partner, trusted by large corporate and public sector organizations. We help our world-renowned customers to source, transform, and manage their IT infrastructure to deliver digital transformation, enabling users and their business. We’re a public company quoted on the London FTSE 250 (CCC.L) and employ over 21,000 people worldwide. In the US, we support some of the country’s best-known businesses with regional hubs in San Francisco and Irvine, CA; Norcross, GA; Plano, TX; and New York City; and Integration Centers in Silicon Valley and Atlanta. www.computacenter.com/us