Sr. Category Manager - Global Indirect Procurement

Vantage Specialty Chemicals; Deerfield (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, HSA, dental, vision

FSA (limited purpose, dependent care,

Life and AD&D insurance

Accident, hospital indemnity and

Short- and long-term disability

EAP, identity theft protection

Paid time off, Parental Leave

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Vantage Specialty Chemicals in Deerfield, IL seeks a Senior Category Manager – Global Indirect Procurement to own a broad indirect spend portfolio across CapEx, OpEx, professional services, and other third‑party spend. You will lead a small team and influence senior stakeholders while delivering measurable cost savings and supplier value.

The role requires strong analytics, strategic sourcing, and execution excellence, with global reach and cross‑functional collaboration across the US, Germany,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, Finance, Engineering, Economics, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, category management, or related function.
• Experience managing large indirect-spend portfolios across CapEx, OpEx, professional services, or facilities.

Responsibilities

• Global Category Ownership: Lead indirect-spend strategy and performance across all categories with cost, supplier, risk, and process improvements.
• Strategic Sourcing & Commercial Management: Lead sourcing from strategy through negotiation, contracting, and implementation.
• Spend Analytics & BI: Use analytics to identify opportunities, guide decisions, and measure category performance.
• Stakeholder Leadership: Build trusted partnerships and influence alignment on procurement priorities and value.
• Supplier Management & Risk: Develop strategies strengthening performance, value, and risk mitigation.
• Team Leadership & Development: Lead and develop a small procurement team and drive continuous improvement.
• Execution & Continuous Improvement: Drive high-value initiatives from analysis through execution and governance.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Spend analytics

Stakeholder influence

Team leadership

Commercial mindset

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, Finance, Engineering, Economics, or related

Tools

Excel

ERP systems

BI tools

Job description

Position Title:

Senior Category Manager – Global Indirect Procurement

We are seeking an experienced, highly analytical, and commercially driven Senior Category Manager – Global Indirect Procurement to take ownership of a broad and strategically important global indirect-spend portfolio.

Position Summary

This role will be responsible for developing and executing procurement strategies across Capital Expenditures (CapEx), Operating Expenditures (OpEx), professional and business services, and other third-party goods and services. The majority of the company’s spend is in the United States, with additional spend and stakeholders across Germany and Spain.

This is a senior, hands-on category leadership role. The successful candidate will be expected to operate independently, analyze complex spend and business data, identify and prioritize opportunities, develop category strategies, influence stakeholders, lead negotiations, and drive initiatives through implementation and measurable results.

The role will also have direct responsibility for leading and developing a small team of 1–2 procurement professionals. The focus, however, remains on ownership of the category portfolio, strategic sourcing, commercial results, and business impact while also continuously improving the team’s efficiency.

The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking with strong execution. They are comfortable working with big data, making decisions in ambiguous situations, challenging the status quo, influencing senior stakeholders, and moving quickly from identifying an opportunity to delivering results.

Key Responsibilities

• Global Category Ownership: Lead global indirect-spend strategy and performance across all categories while delivering value through cost, supplier, risk, and process improvements.
• Strategic Sourcing & Commercial Management: Lead strategic sourcing and commercial management from strategy development through negotiation, contracting, and implementation.
• Spend Analytics & Business Intelligence: Use analytics and business intelligence to identify opportunities, guide decisions, and measure category performance.
• Stakeholder Leadership & Influence: Build trusted stakeholder partnerships and influence alignment around procurement priorities, value, and commercial decisions.
• Supplier Management & Risk: Develop and manage supplier strategies that strengthen performance, value, innovation, and risk mitigation.
• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, develop, and hold a small procurement team accountable while building capability and continuous improvement.
• Execution & Continuous Improvement: Drive high-value initiatives from analysis through execution while improving procurement processes, governance, and ways of working globally.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, Finance, Engineering, Economics, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, category management, or a related commercial function.
• Experience managing large, complex indirect-spend portfolios across relevant categories such as CapEx, OpEx, professional services, business services, facilities, MRO, or other third-party spend.
• Proven track record of delivering measurable cost savings, commercial value, and supplier negotiation outcomes.
• Strong analytical capability, including experience using spend data, Excel, ERP, procurement, or business intelligence tools to support decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and communicate clearly across business, supplier, and international teams.
• Experience leading and developing a small team.

Benefits

Vantage offers a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees, including:

• Medical, HSA, dental, vision
• FSA (limited purpose, dependent care, and commuter/parking)
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Accident, hospital indemnity and critical illness insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• EAP, identity theft protection
• Paid time off, Parental Leave
• 401(k) with company match

Equal Employment Opportunity

Vantage is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other protected category.

About Vantage

Vantage provides natural solutions to our customers’ technical performance and marketing needs through a unique combination of chemistry, application expertise and service. Underpinned by our broad portfolio of formulations, ingredients and actives that are built on a backbone of sustainable oils, fats and their derivatives, Vantage targets selected markets and applications including personal care, food, surface treatment, agriculture, pharma, and consumer and industrial performance. Vantage is headquartered in Deerfield, IL., operates in 11 countries worldwide and employs more than 1,000 talented professionals focused on delivering exceptional customer experiences with every interaction.

We are a dynamic people-centered organization where you’ll be part of a collaborative global team. Embracing our cultural diversity, we learn from each other to constantly improve, adapt and iterate. We value the voices and talents of our colleagues, empowering them to drive their unique ideas to completion. We’re convinced that exceptionally motivated employees produce outstanding results, and we celebrate them by fostering a culture of recognition, development, learning, excellence and shared achievement. Most importantly, we know you’re going to like it here.

For more information visit: vista or LinkedIn/vantage.