Category Manager, NA - Indirect Procurement

Avery Dennison; Kentucky; On-site; USD 107,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health & wellness benefits

Paid parental leave

401K eligibility

Tuition reimbursement

Employee Assistance Program

Paid vacation & holidays

Job summary

Avery Dennison is seeking a Category Manager North America to optimize total cost of ownership for indirect materials and services across North America. You will lead strategic sourcing, supplier negotiations, and regional procurement initiatives to drive cost savings and operational efficiency.

The role requires at least 5 years in indirect procurement, strong negotiation and cross-functional collaboration, and a track record of delivering value.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Operations, or Engineering.
• MBA is a plus.
• Minimum of 5 years experience in Indirect Procurement.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute strategic sourcing initiatives to optimize TCO for assigned categories.
• Lead the sourcing process including RFPs/RFIs, supplier selection, bids, and contract negotiations.
• Identify and deliver cost savings targets for North America and other indirect categories.
• Coordinate regional and multi-site procurement activities to consolidate spend.
• Manage supplier relationships and ensure operational efficiencies across teams.
• Negotiate with suppliers to achieve best value with quality and reliability in mind.

Skills

Negotiation

Strategic thinking

Commercial acumen

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Communication skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Teamwork

Procurement best practices

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Operations, or Engineering

MBA (good to have)

Tools

Google Workspace

Ariba

Job description

Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY) is a global materials science and digital identification solutions company. We are Making Possible™ products and solutions that help advance the industries we serve, providing branding and information solutions that optimize labor and supply chain efficiency, reduce waste and mitigate loss, advance sustainability, circularity and transparency and better connect brands and consumers. We design and develop labeling and functional materials, radio-frequency identification (RFID) inlays and tags, software applications that connect the physical and digital and offerings that enhance branded packaging and carry or display information that improves the customer experience. Serving industries worldwide — including home and personal care, apparel, general retail, e-commerce, logistics, food and grocery, pharmaceuticals and automotive — we employ approximately 35,000 employees in nearly 60 countries. Our reported sales in 2025 were $8.9 billion. Learn more at www.averydennison.com.

At Avery Dennison, some of the great benefits we provide are:

• Health & wellness benefits starting on day 1 of employment
• Paid parental leave
• 401K eligibility
• Tuition reimbursement
• Employee Assistance Program eligibility / Health Advocate
• Paid vacation and paid holidays

At Avery Dennison, we are transforming our Global Procurement function to be a value creator. The journey to evolve from being a support function to a competitive advantage heavily relies on our talent who continue to remain our biggest asset.

As Category Manager North America, you should enhance total value procured from the Indirect supply base by leading standardization and consolidation solutions across Avery Dennison businesses in North America. This position investigates all new developments relative to Indirect Materials & Services, and makes recommendations designed to reduce costs and improve quality. The Category Manager is also responsible for negotiating commercial terms and implementing procurement agreements with suppliers. This role is based on sustained delivery of business results, including supply assurance, cost, quality, service and innovation, which are required to meet the business needs. The Indirect Procurement Categories are Facilities Management, Utilities, MRO, Packaging, Travel, Professional Services, Capital Equipment, HR Services, Freight, IT and Marketing. This position will be assigned to manage specific procurement categories, or projects spanning multiple categories as required, and will report to the NA Regional Procurement Leader

Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute strategic sourcing initiatives to optimize the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for assigned categories of goods and services, ensuring alignment with global Procurement transformational goals and objectives.
• Lead the sourcing process for assigned categories, including RFP/RFI development, supplier selection, competitive bidding, and contract negotiations to secure best value for the organization.
• Identify and deliver cost savings targets for assigned Categories or projects within North America & across Divisional Indirect Categories. Initiatives could cut across all Indirect Categories or other areas where opportunities exist
• Coordinate regional and multi-site procurement activities, consolidating indirect spend to achieve volume economies and enhance procurement leverage
• Work with key internal customers to implement best practices and ensure operational efficiencies are met
• Aggressively manage supplier base across category area
• Leverage Indirect spend across North America
• Work with Global Category lead to develop and implement Global strategies.
• Implement best practices and cost reduction initiatives across North America
• Lead North American supplier negotiations and contract execution
• Categorize spend data in support of overall Procurement strategies
• Coordinate and consolidate multi-site / local unit Indirect Procurement process
• Track and report savings
• Support procure-to-pay process improvements within Category area
• Develop and implement strategies to improve working capital
• With assistance of cross divisional, cross functional team, develop and implement metrics, which objectively demonstrate success for each cost center and P&L affected
• With assistance of cross-divisional team, develop method of objectively measuring and scoring the performance suppliers
• Analyze suppliers and markets to identify trends, industry dynamics, opportunities for marketplace advantage, and new ideas for products, processes and services
• Gather information about competitors’ materials, technologies, supply base, sourcing strategies, etc. to benchmark competitors’ costs, service, etc.
• Work to develop/publish/implement strategies that enable high quality, delivery, and productivity cost savings.
• Negotiate with suppliers to achieve the lowest cost consistent with considerations of quality, reliability of source and urgency of need.
• Develop and maintain appropriate and productive supplier relationships.
• Improve cooperation across geographic and organization boundaries by identifying barriers and working with Regional Procurement Leaders to eliminate barriers.
• Develop and maintain appropriate and productive supplier relationships, including involvement in critical negotiations

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO BRING TO THE TEAM:

Avery Dennison has a long history of being a market leader. Your history is important to us. It should include the following:

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Operations, or Engineering. An MBA is good to have.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years experience in Indirect Procurement

Skills Competencies:

• Strong negotiation, strategic thinking, commercial, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional and diverse teams.
• In-depth knowledge of procurement best practices and industry trends in indirect procurement.
• Self-starter with the ability to drive indirect procurement projects from initiation to conclusion, effectively collaborating with diverse individuals at all levels of the organization
• Manage and lead multiple projects simultaneously.
• Presentation experience and skills required.
• Proficient in Google workspace, Ariba and function-specific software is a plus.
• Demonstrated success in leading change toward a centralized process.
• Highly motivated with solid team-working skills

WHERE YOU’LL WORK:

Mentor, Ohio (30 Minutes East of Cleveland)

The salary range for this position is $107,250 - $160,160 year.

The hiring base salary range above represents what Avery Dennison reasonably expects to pay for this position as of the date of this posting. Actual salaries will vary within the range, and in some circumstances may be above or below the range, based on various factors including but not limited to a candidate’s relevant skills, experience, education and training, and location, as well as the job scope and complexity, responsibilities, and regular and/or necessary travel required for the position, which may change depending on the candidate pool. Avery Dennison reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, or other protected status. EEOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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