Procurement Category Manager

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This role is in support of Cencora's wholesale distribution services in Europe operating through our Alliance Healthcare business.

We're hiring the Procurement Category Lead - Fleet to join our Procurement team at Cencora.

The Role:

The Category Lead develops category strategies for regional and local categories, including sourcing strategy definition, deployment, value engineering and stakeholder management.

The Category Lead supports the implementation of Category Strategies in Europe, to maximise total cost of ownership savings and procurement value contribution. He/she is the resident expert for strategic procurement in the specific category, sharing and facilitating best practices, working closely with the local businesses, wider Cencora business and category teams.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

• Leads strategic planning for regional and local categories and ensures alignment across businesses in Europe:

• Takes strategic and long term view of category, identifies and develops innovative sources and contractual arrangements

• Develops category strategies and initiatives, including value engineering

• Provides analysis and support in relation to the setting of category spend baseline and category profile, including risk assessment

• Aligns category strategy with local businesses and their financial plans

• Supports VP Procurement for the IBG in the definition of a priority list of categories suitable for strategic sourcing initiatives, aligned with the countries & Global Indirect Category procurement

• Records and reports value delivery of conducted sourcing projects

• Leads implementation of procurement strategy and sourcing execution:

• Participates in internal and external analysis (industry and supplier) in collaboration with in-country procurement Managers as a member of a cross functional sourcing team

• Aligns global, regional and local category activities

• Supports supplier selection and provide recommendations to VP Procurement for final decision

• Supports fact-based negotiations with suppliers

• Obtains stakeholder and leadership team approvals as required eg SCP & Delegation of Authority

• Ensures that governance processes are followed eg SCP, Delegation of Authority, Code of Conduct

• Ensures that category specific operational processes and policies are in place and a compliant usage

• Proactively organises sessions with internal customers to identify further Total Cost of Ownership reduction and value engineering opportunities for regional categories

• Supports the delivery of value engineering projects in countries

• Establishes measures and controls for countries to ensure and track successful implementation in alignment with KPIs

• Supports alignment of negotiation timing and contract durations between countries to enable Best Practice Sharing and supplier leverage

• Actively engages in local key initiatives (aggregate demand, construct bid packages, value engineering projects and support sourcing through suppliers around the region) especially negotiations to ensure value levers are effectively played

• Leads contract implementation and drives contract compliance and payment terms as per agreed procurement policies:

• Works in close collaboration with in-country procurement Managers to ensure local acceptance of new contracts, and extended value generation to increase customer satisfaction

• Coordinates contract implementation tasks with in-country procurement Managers and users

• Closely monitors internal customers contract compliance; defines and takes approved corrective actions to improve contract compliance

• Secures knowledge transfer and exchange by creating and storing project deliverables and relevant tools and templates in knowledge repositories

• Manages supplier relationships with key suppliers within the defined category scope:

• In line with defined procurement strategy, supports the classification and categorisation of suppliers, including definition of supplier evaluation and audit policies

• Continuously tracks supplier performance, according to defined framework

• Supports supplier development activities; sets up cross functional review meetings with suppliers to improve performance and further reduce cost

• Proatively organises work with suppliers under the guidance of VP Procurement to identify further value delivery projects

• Initiates and conducts supplier audits according to defined framework under the guidance of VP Procurement

• Continuously identifies potential contract improvement opportunities and re-negotiations

• Executes large Spot Buys:

• Sources major unplanned ad hoc demands to keep control over high spend utilising deep sourcing and/or category expertise

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Knowledge and Experience Required

Academic background:

• Appropriate University/bachelor's degree qualification is essential. A recognised qualification in procurement would be considered an asset.

Experience:

• Extensive knowledge of Fleet industry

• Proven extensive experience in Procurement

• Proven Strategic Category Management Development

• Experience on implementing Pan-European Fleet Agreements

• Has worked with significant annual Category Spend (greater than £50m per annum)

• Experience of complex Fleet requirements and specification development desirable

Language skills:

• Proficiency in English essential

Travel: This role will require regular travel across markets within the IBG as well as supplier visits.

​Benefit offerings outside the US may vary by country and will be aligned to local market practice. The eligibility and effective date may differ for some benefits and for team members covered under collective bargaining agreements.

Cencora is committed to providing equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or membership in any other class protected by federal, state or local law.

The company's continued success depends on the full and effective utilization of qualified individuals. Therefore, harassment is prohibited and all matters related to recruiting, training, compensation, benefits, promotions and transfers comply with equal opportunity principles and are non-discriminatory.

Cencora is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the employment process which are consistent with legal requirements. If you wish to request an accommodation while seeking employment, please call or email We will make accommodation determinations on a request-by-request basis. Messages and emails regarding anything other than accommodations requests will not be returned