Strategic Sourcing Specialist — Professional Services

FirstEnergy; Akron (OH); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

FirstEnergy, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, is seeking a Professional Services Category Specialist to drive strategic sourcing across consulting, legal, HR, marketing and other services. This on-site role partners with internal stakeholders and suppliers to deliver cost savings and improve service quality.

You will analyze spend data, lead RFP processes, define contracting strategies, and monitor supplier performance to ensure compliant, value-driven procurement across the enterprise.

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

Supply chain

Sourcing

Project management

Compliance

Stakeholder collaboration

Education

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

High School or equivalent

Job description

FirstEnergy, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, is seeking a Professional Services Category Specialist to drive strategic sourcing across consulting, legal, HR, marketing and other services. This on-site role partners with internal stakeholders and suppliers to deliver cost savings and improve service quality.

You will analyze spend data, lead RFP processes, define contracting strategies, and monitor supplier performance to ensure compliant, value-driven procurement across the enterprise.