The Strategic Buyer II plays a critical role within the Strategic Supply Management (SSM) department. Reporting directly to the Category Manager for Technology, this position will support the day-to-day development and execution of category management strategies and the corresponding procurement plans, ranging from market assessment and intelligence gathering to supplier identification and development, and to maintaining strategic supplier relationships. Critical to success in this position is for the candidate to have a strong technical background and experience necessary to effectively engage and collaborate with the engineering, project management, operations teams, and other key partners.
Information Technology category management background is preferred: software, services, hardware, emerging technologies, or maintenance of existing infrastructure.
Responsibilities
Support Category Manager to create value, drive continuous improvement, and report realized savings by using strategic sourcing and category management best practices.
Develop and maintain category strategies and initiatives.
Conduct sourcing events for pertinent categories.
Assist in market analysis to understand supply and market for category, developing category profile, execute category governance initiatives and total cost of ownership, evaluate demand to increase efficiency, coordinate with other internal teams to drive demand/project planning.
Encourage internal compliance with Supply Chain and Procurement policies, procedures, strategies, and guidelines on an ongoing basis.
Negotiate with customers and/or contract representatives regarding contractual/legal matters of significance to the organization and update contract terms.
Build strategic supplier relationships and improve supplier performance by addressing concerns and escalating, as necessary.
Utilize data to gain insight and provide accurate and realistic forecasts for the group.
Collaborate with teams to provide knowledge of other initiatives or projects in the organization, including Canal Corporation, that may interact with projects.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Highly collaborative and team-oriented, with ability to build relationships with suppliers and technical and business resources.
Proactive, innovative, organized, and able to yield outcomes quickly.
Solid presentation, verbal and written communication skills.
Procurement experience establishing category management capabilities to strengthen compliance, performance, reduce cost, and reduce risk.
Problem-solving skills with the ability to identify, quantify and utilize information to make recommendations that support business choices.
Education, Experience and Certifications
Bachelor’s degree.
Minimum 6 years of professional experience in Procurement, Finance, Accounting, Supply Chain, Engineering, or related functional area.
Utilities industry experience preferred.
Experience with sourcing platforms and enterprise resource planning, i.e. Ariba eSourcing, SAP, and other related systems and solutions preferred.
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