We have an exciting opportunity for a Professional Services Category Manager within Indirect Supply Chain Organization. This Manager will be responsible for creating and developing an industry leading Professional Services category management strategy to manage the $30M+ portfolio of spend strategically to create step changes in value creation and industry leading performance in all aspects of procurement including strategy, organizational alignment, sourcing and category management, supplier relationship management, operating process management, performance management, digital and technology.

Category Planning:

• Lead the aggregation, normalization, and analysis of spend data to identify potential value opportunities;
• Ensure proper sequencing and business support for value capture initiatives;
• Researches and provides information on Industry category trends and best practices;
• Support TSA exit plan;
• Develop and Deploy Categories and Subcategories Purchasing Strategies. 

Sourcing and Contracting:

• Drive sourcing projects;
• Define goals, including roles and responsibilities of stakeholders;
• Incorporate business requirements into sourcing plans and Strategies;
• Manage the planning and launch of RFx events;
• Enhance competition by leveraging spend and qualified new suppliers;
• Deep dive current spend information/data to identify sourcing projects for individual subcategories, and develop an overall cost reduction plan, scorecards and continuous improvements plans;
• Coordinate and lead negotiations; help stakeholders understand trade‐offs and benefits of negotiation strategies/outcomes;
• Develop global/regional contracts that are commercially sound and provide optimum protection of company assets;
• Quantify and report both identified and implemented sourcing project results;
• Execute strategic sourcing best practices, and initiatives that support improvements in supplier quality, total cost effectiveness, enhanced services levels, improved coordination, delivery, pricing, lead times, payment, risk compliance and other areas as identified.

Process Improvement:

• Identify and capture profit improvement opportunities beyond leveraged sourcing, e.g., demand management opportunities, insource versus outsource decisions, efficiencies in the company’s comprehensive supply chain, and/or other strategic and operational process improvements;
• Ensure appropriate cross-functional partnering on process improvement projects;
• Track and work with corporate finance to report results for identified projects and when applicable, work with other functions across company to replicate projects with positive results;
• Actively seeks ways to streamline business processes. 

Supplier Relationship Management:

• Foster performance-based supplier relationships to create short-term and long-term value for the company;
• Lead global business reviews with strategic suppliers to ensure performance against contracted obligations and entities expectations;
• Anticipate and minimize performance issues via use of key performance indicators (KPIs);
• When performance issues emerge, identify root causes and drive for efficient resolution of issues at hand by working across both internal and external stakeholders;
• Lead vendor risk assessments (information Security, Business continuity, Physical coordinating efforts across all stakeholders;
• Negotiates and develops contract terms & Conditions including SLA & pricing.

Educational Background:

• BA/BS degree in Business or Engineering with 4+ years of experience;
• MA/MS degree with 5+ years of experience.

Professional Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in Indirect Purchasing, ideally with expertise in Professional Services commodity management;
• 3+ years of experience in a multicultural and matrix environment.

Skills and Abilities:

• Proven ability to exercise independent business judgment to drive strategy and results;
• Proven ability to interact effectively with people from different cultures;
• Ability to excel in a dynamic environment;
• Ability to partner with CCR Local Indirect teams to develop and deploy the most efficient strategies in Professional Services;
• Ability to partner with CCR HR team to develop a joint roadmap;
• Ability to travel within Europe and internationally as required.

Collaboration and Communication:

• Develop strong collaboration with HR department, local entities, and indirect local buyers to align on strategy, supplier selection, change management, and sustainability of value creation;
• Effectively communicate and influence both internally and externally up to the C-suite level;
• Effectively manage supplier relationships up to and including the C-suite level, transforming traditional buy-sell relationships into joint value creation/co-risk share models;

Strategic Sourcing and Negotiation:

• Institutionalize Carrier strategic sourcing processes and oversee adoption and adherence, including creating standards for supplier selection based on total cost of ownership, contracting, and negotiation strategy;
• Lead selected strategic negotiations up to the C-suite level;
• Oversee project and strategy development, contract management activities, and team productivity using CCR tools to manage supplier performance measures, financial incentives in contracts, and continuity of supply.

Team Leadership and Project Management:

• Create an inspiring team environment with an open communication culture;
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, often under tight timeframes;
• Hands-on experience leading multi-regional or global initiatives;
• Experience managing indirect spend categories using multi-step strategic sourcing processes, especially in Professional Services and HR;
• Track record of managing change through influence, capable of driving major commercial decisions across a diverse set of internal stakeholders;
• Expert-level financial and analytical skills, embracing fact-based decision making and leveraging/integrating market data, spend analytics, and cost modeling;
• Strong project management skills, including stakeholder, timeline, and meeting management skills.