About the Opportunity

JOB SUMMARY

The Category Manager leads and manages the category management function for assigned spend commodities within the P2P department including the development and maintenance of a multiyear category plan and oversight and support of strategic sourcing projects. Serve as a steward of the Universitys strategic plan accountable for delivering on supplier diversity and ESG goals.

Assigned spend categories include scientific and medical equipment and consumables lab and inventory management hazardous waste services lab diagnostic services gene sequencing and antibodies animals and related care personal protective equipment (PPE) chemicals and compressed gases controlled substances and biological materials and handling and researchrelated consulting.

Collaborate with crossfunctional and regional teams across Northeastern Universitys global network of campuses to develop plan and execute on category plan initiatives to deliver best value to the University including managing competitive bid events facilitating supplier selection and negotiating business terms. Build and manage internal business relationships by providing guidance and expertise on category best practices including supplier discovery and selection demand management industry insights negotiation strategies and contracting. Manage and support communication and change management efforts associated with category initiatives and driving a supplier performance program within assigned centrally managed spend categories.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge and skills required for this position are normally obtained through a Bachelors degree with seven years of experience of relevant sourcing and/or project management experience preferably in the research procurement space.

Strong ability to lead coach and inspire a team to meet and exceed performance goals.

• Experience with category planning activities including working collaboratively with departmental stakeholders and key leaders to regularly monitor and provide updates on progress and results.

• Selfmotivated flexible and agile project manager able to prioritize multitask and work horizontally and vertically across a decentralized organization to drive value.

• Effective interpersonal skills and ability to influence and build trusted advisor relationships by delivering sound bid/pricing analysis customer empathy and data driven decisionmaking.

• Experience in planning and executing competitive RFx events including pricing/bid analysis and negotiating business terms with thirdparty suppliers.

• Experience with supplier management programs including coordinating and facilitating periodic business reviews and developing supplier scorecards to measure performance.

• Strong presentation skills including the development and delivery of content to update key stakeholders and executives on assigned projects and/or P2P initiatives.

• Strong data fluency with demonstrated capability to articulate data requirements to nonProcurement stakeholders and effectively utilize data to tell a story to build strong business cases and drive continuous improvement outcomes for assigned projects.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES

1 Category Planning and Management

Develop and manage the ongoing maintenance of the annual category plan including reprioritized project priorities and assisting with the periodic reporting of progress and results against established goals. Leverage university spend and contract data market insights and stakeholder input to provide recommended additions or adjustments to strategic priorities included in the multiyear category plan for assigned spend categories. Champion and integrate supplier diversity and/or ESG goals into category planning objectives. Balance the competing needs of the customer community and available team capacity to maximize impact and returnoneffort.

2 Strategic Planning and Influence Manage and cultivate key internal customer relationships tied to assigned spend categories. Participate in regular business reviews with key internal stakeholders to determine business needs to influence category plan. Participate and where appropriate lead strategic initiatives with various consortia partners (E&I MHEC Vizient Premier The Boston Consortium etc. and other external groups. Track and report value (cost savings cost savings avoidance revenue etc. generated from assigned category on a regular basis using established methodology and framework.

Present results to P2P leadership and other internal stakeholders as necessary.

3 Project Management and Value Generation

Provide oversight and support to team members assigned to projects and initiatives listed in the category plan. Coordinate training and communication efforts to the Northeastern community on spend category related topics including updates to the P2P website and online marketplace environment.

4 Supplier Management

Manage and monitor performance of strategic suppliers for assigned spend categories.

Lead the of a supplier relationship management framework to include building and deploying a supplier performance / scorecard program and deploy crossindustry best practice category market insight and benchmarking. Serve as a trusted advisor to assist internal business clients with supplier discovery and performance including supplier issues and/or transitions.

5 Technology

Promote use of eProcurement tools including Jaggaer for sourcing (RFx) and electronic catalog enablement and promote other procurement technology initiatives including tail spend management and automated quoting.

6 Professional Development & Training

Proactively develop commodity expertise and professional skills using available thought leadership resources including industry reports thirdparty consultation/subscriptions trade associations and conferences. Facilitate the development implementation and maintenance of processes policies guidelines Standard Operating Procedures related to supplier competition and selection.

Additional Qualification Considerations

• Prior experience with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance procurement principles and related compliance requirements.

• Prior experience with inclusive supplier and/or ESG programs.

• Prior experience with esourcing platforms (e.g. Jaggaer Ariba Coupa).

• Proficiency with project management and/or lean six sigma process frameworks and tools including relevant certifications (e.g. PMP Lean Six Sigma).

Position Type

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience education and skills when extending an offer.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race religion color national origin age sex sexual orientation disability status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Compensation Grade/Pay Type: