Regional Category Manager

Georg Fischer; Shawnee (KS); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Georg Fischer seeks a Regional Category Manager to shape and execute regional procurement strategies, closely aligning with Global and Regional leadership. You will build strong relationships with internal stakeholders, perform regional market analyses, and lead supplier negotiations to drive value and sustainability in the GF supply chain.

Success requires 5–10 years in procurement with 3+ years in category management, plus strong analytics, communication, and leadership capabilities to guide

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience.
• 5–10 years of procurement experience with at least 3 years in a category management role.
• Analytical skills with the ability to use a structured approach to understand, analyze and solve complex problems.
• Strong written and oral communication skills and the ability to present convincingly at senior levels.

Responsibilities

• Develops and implements regional procurement category strategy in close alignment with Global/ Regional Heads.
• Develops relationships with internal stakeholders at all levels to understand requirements and gain buy-in.
• Conducts market analysis on a regional level.
• Leads local and regional negotiations and manages supplier relationships.
• Supports major claims on a regional level with regional/global stakeholders.
• Optimizes procurement category efficiency through harmonization and automation with global/local teams.
• Reports regular global/regional category results to the Global Procurement Category Manager.
• Empowers procurement category teams in personnel and professional development.
• Leads supplier management strategy including supplier development, consolidation, risk mitigation, and cost reduction roadmaps.

Skills

Procurement

Category management

Stakeholder engagement

Negotiation

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

The Regional Category Manager will provide procurement category input to the Global Procurement Category Manager and develop or enhance local/regional procurement category Strategies working closely with segment and divisional business partners, operations and other key stakeholders to deploy strategies that drive value and sustainability in GF supply chain.

Main Tasks:

• Develops and implements regional procurement category strategy in close alignment with the Global Procurement Category Manager (global categories) or Regional Head of Procurement (regional categories) and other Regional Procurement Category Managers
• Develops strong relationships and collaborates directly with internal stakeholders at all levels within the organization to understand requirements, manage buy-in
• Conducts market analysis on a regional level
• Leads local and regional negotiations and manages supplier relationships with key suppliers
• Supports major claims on a regional level in close alignment with regional and global Stakeholders
• Optimizes procurement category efficiency through product and process harmonization/ automation acting in close alignment with the Global Procurement Category Manager and Head of Procurement Excellence
• Reports regular global/ regional category results to the Global Procurement Category Manager
• Empowers procurement category teams in personnel and professional development
• Lead Supplier management strategy including supplier development, supply base consolidation and risk mitigation, cost reduction roadmaps and implementation of supplier segmentation plan.

Extensive leadership and communication skills:

• Aligns with Global Procurement Category Manager on global category strategy and results (e.g. supplier and price lists)
• Aligns with Regional Head of Procurement on region-specific category strategy
• Receives support in escalations of region-specific topics from Regional Head of Procurement
• Manages expectations and targets towards supplier negotiations for Sourcing Managers; ensures exchange of best practices with Sourcing Managers
• Manages supplier- and internal customer relationships on regional level; ensures sufficient sourcing/ supply

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience
• 5-10 years of procurement experience with at least 3 years in a category management role
• Analytical skills with the ability to use a structured approach to understand, analyze and solve complex problems / issues
• Strong written communication and excellent oral presentation skills, and the ability to present convincingly at senior levels