Job Description:

The Senior Manager, Category Management will be responsible for developing and leading projects, strategic initiatives, and continuous improvement events for a $7B segment comprised of 30 manufacturing facilities. This role will be relied on to lead category councils across the segment in close coordination with CHQ and sector category managers and will serve as the primary liaison to CHQ category management.  Key responsibilities include working with executive leadership and functional stakeholders to lead category management councils, strategic sourcing, and supplier relationship management. This includes creating and executing category and sourcing strategies aimed at cost reduction, supply optimization, and risk mitigation across a diverse supply base of $700M in annual spend.  Strong business acumen, advanced negotiation skills, and a deep understanding of global economics and market data are required to forecast trends, reduce material costs, and drive continuous improvement. The role requires evaluating supplier risk and actively implementing risk mitigation strategies. Additionally, this position demands excellent interpersonal and leadership skills to influence change across sectors.  Finally, the Sr. Manager will be responsible for leading the annual skills survey to understand knowledge gaps across the workforce and coordinate follow-on training.

The Sr. Manager, Category Management will report into the IMS Segment Director of Supply Chain Strategy.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Develop market insights through research and data, industry developments, supply/demand dynamics, emerging technologies, and leading-edge practices
• Collaborate with sectors to coordinate category strategies and align priorities
• Lead category councils across the segment in close collaboration with CHQ category managers
• Leverage data analytics to identify optimization opportunities to inform category strategies
• Look for opportunities to leverage segment wide spend and establish Long Term Agreements with strategic suppliers
• Deploy the procurement & category management skills surveys on an annual basis and use the results to manage a training curriculum to close identified skill gaps across the segment
• Serve as the segment’s primary liaison for CHQ led Supplier Business Reviews, providing critical inputs to drive supplier performance and accountability
• Work with Supply Chain Operations to assess supplier risk across the managed categories and develop appropriate contingency plans
• When required, assist in sector led negotiations to leverage segment-wide spend
• Leverage advanced procurement analytics and tools (e.g., cost modeling, price regression analysis, market indexes, etc.) to instill best practices across the segment
• Provide coaching on how to leverage should cost modeling in supplier negotiations

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of 12 years of prior relevant experience. Graduate Degree and a minimum of 10 years of prior relevant experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum of 16 years of prior related experience
• Expert level knowledge of Category Management and Strategic Sourcing processes in the Aerospace and Defense industry with specific FAR/DFAR experience
• Proven experience in leading high performing teams
• Excellent analytical and organization skills
• Full proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (PowerPoint, Excel, Word)
• Must be a US Citizen (no dual citizenship)                 

Preferred Additional Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, or related discipline.  Master’s degree in a related field desired, MBA a plus
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills including the ability to interact with all levels of leadership
• Ability to manage change in an organization, reengineering its culture and approach to workload management
• Ability to work in an agile, fast paced environment and prioritize competing work assignments and initiative to complete tasks