Strategic Services Sourcing Specialist

Socket.dev; Akron (OH); On-site; USD 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

FirstEnergy in Akron, Ohio, seeks a Professional Services Category Specialist to drive strategic sourcing across consulting, legal, tax, HR and related services. This on-site role partners with internal stakeholders and service providers to deliver cost savings, improve service quality and manage risk.

You will support the category manager, develop contracting strategies, lead supplier selection, and implement category improvements while ensuring compliance with corporate policies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, business administration, engineering, or related discipline and 2+ years of related work experience is required.
• In lieu of a degree, High School or equivalent and 4+ years related work experience is required.
• Related work experience includes supply chain or sourcing.
• Project management experience is preferred.
• Professional Services sourcing experience preferred.
• Successful implementation of category improvements.
• Ensure compliance with all policies and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Supporting the strategic category manager in achieving significant cost reductions in assigned professional services categories
• Defining contracting optimization strategies that seek total cost of ownership and service level improvements
• Partnering with stakeholders across the enterprise to develop optimization strategies, identify opportunities, and execute improvement plans.
• Leveraging technology, analytics, and tools to collect and analyze supplier spend data to drive savings
• Analyzing supplier performance data and provide input to category sourcing strategy
• Developing strategic plans for contracting and improving managed categories
• Ensuring execution of strategies within user area
• Leading supplier selection and management
• Measuring and tracking performance of overlooked suppliers
• Developing knowledge and best practices in the categories within areas of responsibility
• Ensuring user satisfaction of the strategic sourcing process
• Keeping strategic manager informed about procurement progress
• Planning and leading RFP processes in assigned categories
• Coordinating with users’ technical assessment of received proposals
• Negotiating contract conditions that are more favorable for FirstEnergy
• Tracking market dynamics of categories
• Defining cost benchmarks for categories under management

Skills

Sourcing

Project management

Stakeholder collaboration

Contracting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, business administration, engineering, or related discipline

4+ years related work experience without degree

Tools

None

Job description

FirstEnergy in Akron, Ohio, seeks a Professional Services Category Specialist to drive strategic sourcing across consulting, legal, tax, HR and related services. This on-site role partners with internal stakeholders and service providers to deliver cost savings, improve service quality and manage risk.

You will support the category manager, develop contracting strategies, lead supplier selection, and implement category improvements while ensuring compliance with corporate policies.