Category Specialist

We are looking for team members who bring ideas forward, champion others and work together to do better. Does that sound like you? 

Category Specialist

About the job:

Nouryon’s Katy, TX location is looking for top candidates to fill the key role of Category Specialist. This position is essential to:

Optimizing and supporting the deployment of Non-Product Related (NPR, Indirect) commercial agreements in

Nouryon for the categories to which aligned. 

Categories of potential focus:

• Technical and Engineering Services (Mechanical, Civil, Piping, Scaffolding, Insulation, Industrial Cleaning, Engineering, etc.)
• Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental (QHSE)
• Lab and Facilities Management
• Waste Management
• Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO)
• Fabricated Equipment
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Process Automation (PA) and Instrumentation

In your future role as a Category Specialist, you will:

• Support the Category Management of aligned areas of responsibility.
• Manage the procurement of aligned contracts to deliver optimized Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
• Coordinate with Manufacturing Stakeholders to improve country and regional supply and cost positions.
• Drive Supplier Management and Development to support business initiatives.
• Deliver continuous improvements by coordinating with suppliers and stakeholders.
• Deliver procurement-related value delivery metrics, ensuring results are tracked via appropriate systems.
• Drive working capital improvement.
• Support implementation of identified work process changes.
• Generate and implement efficient sourcing and category management strategies in areas of responsibility.
• Estimate risks and apply risk minimizing techniques.
• Implement and improve the sourcing standard processes, the required culture and sourcing continuous improvement programs.
• Identify best practices and benchmarks and ensure deployment within areas of responsibility.
• Develop and maintain in-depth market knowledge within areas of responsibility.
• Research and anticipate shifts in the negotiation power of suppliers.
• Develop and drive the organization to identify improvement areas, explore cost reduction opportunities and establish a total cost of ownership approach internally and with external suppliers.
• Actively work to improve commercial terms with suppliers, identify ways to support minimize spending and reduce cost to support the company’s financial objectives.
• Work actively with key stakeholders in the businesses and ISC including manufacturing, engineering, and finance and other functions to build alignment around targets and establish common execution plans to support business growth and profitability improvement.
• Represent Nouryon; build and maintain a network of business contacts in support of organizational objectives; conduct business in a responsible and ethical manner.
• Develop and implement sourcing strategies for product and services designed to support the identified business needs and in line with the Global Procurement strategy.
• Collaborate with Nouryon’s India Service Center in support of Tail Spend (Low Spend) sourcing automation to ensure robust procurement support to Nouryon’s Manufacturing Sites.
• Travel: 10% in region

We Believe You Bring:

• University Bachelors or Master’s degree level, preferably in Business Administration, Engineering, Logistics, Supply chain.
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in procurement and / or operations roles.
• Good understanding of the Supply Chain and Manufacturing functions: strategy, processes, systems and organization.
• Experience (direct / indirect) dealing with sales and customer service organizations.
• Change management: managing improvement programs with diverse teams as well as the cultural aspects of the change to be delivered.
• Strong Project management experience with lean management methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma.
• Experience in Sourcing including Strategic Sourcing Methodology and contract management.
• Preferably background in purchasing and/or manufacturing.
• Preferably background in engaging across The Nordics and Rest of Europe and India.

Great If You Have:

• Excellent interpersonal relationship, networking, and communication skills.
• Stress resistance, flexible, problem-solving attitude.
• Seen by others as credible, trustworthy, and open to new ideas.
• Strong focus on results.
• Good problem-solving skills, able to identify and structure issues, run accurate analyses and summarize recommendations.
• Strong desire to improve existing status.
• Fluency in oral and written English.
• Further profound language skills of the region would be an advantage.
• MS Office skills

We Believe You Are:

• Driving for Results: Aggressively pursues challenging goals and objectives; will put in considerable time and effort to accomplish objectives; takes a highly focused, goal driven approach toward work.
• Negotiating Agreements: Effectively leverages negotiating strategies and tactics to reach mutually agreeable solutions; focuses on win-win solutions; outlines requirements, contingencies and timetables that help drive discussions toward completion.
• Demonstrating Initiative: Acts on his/her own without being prompted; handles problems independently; able to resolve issues without relying on extensive help from others; does more than is expected or asked.
• Making Accurate Judgments and Decisions: Bases decisions on a systematic review of relevant facts and information; avoids making assumptions or rushing to judgment; provides clear rationale for decisions.
• Acting with Integrity: Clearly states goals and beliefs; lets people know his/her true intentions; does what he she said they would do; follows through on commitments.
• Controlling Cost: Establishes clear budgets for different activities; looks for ways to reduce the cost of activities; delivers projects on time and under budget; prevents cost overruns.

Good to know:
 

This is a permanent position on a full-time basis, reporting to the Global Category Director, Technical Services, based in Katy, TX.  

Please apply via our online recruitment system. We will not accept applications via e-mail. Once it's with us we will review to see if we have a match between your skills and the role! For more information about our hiring process, visit: nouryon.com/careers/how-we-hire/  

We look forward to receiving your application! 

We kindly ask our internal candidates to apply with your Nouryon email via Success Factors.  
  

About Nouryon:

We’re looking for tomorrow’s Changemakers, today. 

If you’re looking for your next career move, apply today and join Nouryon’s worldwide team of Changemakers in providing essential solutions that our customers use to manufacture everyday products such as personal care, cleaning, paints and coatings, agriculture and food, pharmaceuticals, and building products. Our employees are driven by the wish to make an impact and actively drive positive change. If that describes you, we will gladly make way for your ambitions. From day one we support you with your personal growth, through challenging positions and comprehensive learning and development opportunities, in a dynamic, international, diverse, and proactive working environment. 

Visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn.  

#WeAreNouryon #Changemakers 

We have already chosen our sourcing channels for this recruitment and kindly ask not to be contacted by any advertisement agents, recruitment agencies or staffing companies. 

Nouryon is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.