Senior Manager Procurement Project Lead

Kion Group AG; Grand Rapids (MI); On-site; USD 127,000 - 186,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Career Development

Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Pay Transparency

Global Opportunities

Job summary

Dematic seeks a Senior Manager, Procurement Project Lead to guide a team of Procurement Project Leads across multiple high-value projects. You will partner with Program Management, Engineering, Finance, Quality, Manufacturing, and Suppliers to ensure on-time, within-budget procurement execution.

You will develop strategies, manage risk, and drive continuous improvement, standardization, and supplier readiness while aligning with budgets and customer commitments in a dynamic, global environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of project-based procurement experience in complex capital equipment or similar environments.
• 5+ years of people leadership managing procurement professionals or project teams.
• Proven ability to lead procurement implementation for large-scale, strategic projects.
• Experience developing and executing procurement strategies in dynamic, fast-paced settings.
• Deep expertise in project management: critical path, risk, governance, and reporting.
• Experience with project tools: risk registers, scorecards, action logs, issue tracking, and metrics.
• Able to influence cross-functional leaders without direct authority.
• CPSM or PMP or similar certifications preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead procurement for Dematic's most complex, strategic, high-value customer projects.
• Develop and implement project-specific procurement strategies aligned with objectives.
• Provide leadership across multiple concurrent projects with governance.
• Collaborate with Program, Engineering, Finance, Quality, Manufacturing, Category Management, and suppliers.
• Mentor and manage a team of Procurement Project Leads with clear goals and development plans.
• Ensure Procurement Implementation Plans include critical path activities and mitigations.
• Drive procurement on project critical paths and protect key commitments.
• Manage impacts from scope changes, supplier changes, and schedule revisions.
• Maintain project controls: risk, issues, actions, scorecards, and schedules.
• Resolve supplier performance, material shortages, and commercial disputes with executives.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Analytical skills

Negotiation

Cross-functional influence

Project management

Risk management

Change control

Performance reporting

SAP

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Office

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Business/Engineering/Supply Chain

Master's degree preferred

Tools

SAP

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Office

Job description

Tasks and Qualifications

What You Will Do in This Role

• Lead procurement efforts for Dematic's most complex, strategic, and high-value customer projects, ensuring successful delivery of scope, schedule, cost, quality, and customer commitments.
• Develop and complete project-specific procurement strategies aligned with project objectives, commercial goals, and customer requirements.
• Provide leadership and oversight across multiple concurrent projects, ensuring consistent execution, performance, and governance.
• Collaborate closely with Program Management, Project Management, Engineering, Finance, Quality, Manufacturing, Category Management, and suppliers to ensure project success.
• Lead, mentor, develop, and performance manage a team of Procurement Project Leads while establishing clear goals, expectations, and development plans.
• Mentor procurement professionals in project execution, collaborator management, risk mitigation, change management, and procurement standard methodologies.
• Ensure Procurement Implementation Plans are developed and sustained, including critical path activities, supplier commitments, dependencies, deliverables, and mitigation actions.
• Drive procurement activities on project critical paths and take action to protect key achievements and customer commitments.
• Assess procurement impacts resulting from scope changes, supplier changes, engineering revisions, commercial decisions, and schedule modifications.
• Ensure effective use of project controls including risk registers, issue logs, action registers, achievement reporting, executive scorecards, and critical path schedules.
• Serve as the senior point of contact for supplier performance challenges, material shortages, commercial disputes, project risks, and schedule issues that present blocking issues.
• Lead cross-functional resolution of issues impacting project cost, quality, schedule profitability, scope, or customer commitments.
• Partner with Category Management and strategic suppliers to improve supplier readiness, capacity planning, performance, and risk mitigation while conducting executive-level supplier reviews.
• Establish and monitor procurement performance metrics, portfolio reporting, and executive scorecards to drive visibility, accountability, and execution excellence.
• Lead continuous improvement, lessons learned, and standardization initiatives while ensuring procurement decisions support budgets, savings targets, profitability objectives, and commercial decision-making.

What We Are Looking For

• 10+ years of project-based procurement experience supporting complex capital equipment, automation, industrial, construction, engineering, or similar project environments.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience managing procurement professionals, project teams, or related functions.
• Proven ability to lead procurement implementation for large-scale, complex, strategic customer projects.
• Proven ability to develop and implement procurement execution strategies in dynamic, fast-paced project environments.
• Deep expertise in project management fields including critical path management, risk management, issue resolution, collaboration with partners, change control, and performance reporting.
• Experience using project execution tools and methodologies such as risk registers, executive scorecards, action registers, issue tracking systems, heat maps, and achievement reporting.
• Strong track record managing executive-level blocking issues and resolving complex supplier, commercial, and project execution challenges.
• Ability to influence cross-functional leaders, project teams, suppliers, and customer collaborators without direct authority.
• Strong leadership, mentoring, communication, presentation, analytical, and negotiation skills.
• Experience leading highly complex, multi-stakeholder, and multi-region initiatives with competing priorities.
• Background in continuous improvement, operational excellence, and process standardization.
• Ability to operate independently, make sound business decisions, and lead through ambiguity.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office; experience with SAP and Microsoft Teams preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related field (or equivalent experience); Master's degree preferred.
• CPSM, PMP, or similar professional certifications preferred.
• #LI-JR1

Dematic seeks a Senior Manager, Procurement Project Lead (PPL or related experience) to guide a team of Procurement Project Leads. These leads assist with managing Dematic's most complex, strategic, and high-value customer projects. This important leadership role collaborates directly with Regional Program Management, Engineering, Solutions Development, Finance, Quality, Manufacturing, Procurement Category Management, and Suppliers to ensure procurement success throughout major project portfolios. The Senior Manager is responsible for developing and implementing procurement strategies that align with project goals, minimize risk, maintain schedule alignment, optimize cost efficiency, and improve customer happiness. This role leads the management of complex project procurement, handles resolution of critical supplier and project concerns, and serves as a main point of contact for procurement issues impacting project scope, timeline, cost, quality, and customer commitments. This role suits an experienced procurement and project leadership professional who can effectively lead teams, engage with partners across functions, develop creative solutions, and deliver successful outcomes in challenging project environments.

At Dematic and KION, our talent is key to creating the magic of supply chain solutions. As part of a global community of communities, you’ll help orchestrate intelligent logistics that power the future of commerce. Here, you can push your career forward in an environment built on collaboration, growth, and real-world impact.

• Career Development
• Competitive Compensation and Benefits
• Pay Transparency
• Global Opportunities

Learn More Here: https://www.dematic.com/en-us/about/careers/what-we-offer

Dematic provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

The base pay range for this role is estimated to be $127,125 - $186,450 annually at the time of posting. Final compensation will be determined by various factors such as work location, education, experience, knowledge, and skills.

KION brands keep the world moving – globally, regionally, and locally. KION is the Supply Chain Solutions Company. With over 42,000 employees in more than 100 countries, we enable smart, sustainable, and reliable supply chains worldwide - wherever goods are stored, moved, or delivered. KION offers its customers the full spectrum of solutions to make their supply chains future-ready. Our international brands, Linde Material Handling, STILL, and Baoli and our regional brands, Fenwick and OM, stand for outstanding technological innovation, intelligent automation and service excellence in forklift trucks and warehouse equipment. Dematic complements this expertise with state-of-the-art automation technology and AI-supported software solutions that optimize intralogistics across warehousing, production, and distribution. Whether locally or globally – we offer exciting career opportunities in an innovative environment shaped by our core values: Integrity, Collaboration, Courage, and Excellence. Together, we create the magic of supply chain solutions.