Senior Manager Global Category Management - Plastics, Resins and Cables m/f/d

We’re Hiring for a Senior Manager Global Category Manager (m/f/d) – Plastics, Resins and Cables!

If you are excited and passionate about helping #LetsSolveWater, consider joining our team today!  Xylem, Inc. is a leading global water technology company servicing more than 150 countries and is dedicated to solving the world’s most challenging water issues.  We are looking for individuals to join our mission by exceeding customer expectations through smart sustainable solutions.  At Xylem, you will have the opportunity to solve water by participating in our paid Volunteer Program, Xylem Watermark!

THE ROLE:

The Senior Manager of Global Category Management (m/f/d) will have an overall ownership for setting strategic direction for the categories of Plastics, Resins and Cables purchased by Xylem globally.  The candidate will be responsible for developing and executing global sourcing strategies to support all Xylem Business units across the world.   This Position will report to the Sr. Director of Global Category Management and will have 1 direct report and multiple strategic buyers reporting in dotted line.     

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:  To perform the job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

• Develop and execute best-in-class sourcing strategies, both short and long term.
• Responsible for complete supply base management of key KPI’s, including between others: Productivity, Supplier Quality, Delivery, Working Capital, Risk Management, VAVE, Continuous Improvement, Make vs. Buy, Material Price Formula (MPF), Sustainability and Diversity.  
• Cultivate key partnerships with our strategic suppliers covering all business units across the world.
• Maintain an effective supply chain that consistently provides Xylem’s manufacturing facilities with quality material per specification. 
• Partner with regional procurement leaders, R&D and Engineering (all key stakeholders) when developing overall Category Strategies and having a clear understanding of the internal Voice of the Customer.
• Predict future global trends and disruptions within the industry and de-risking methodologies.  Must work horizontally to stay abreast with changing technology and demand and have clear understanding of product taxonomy to a sub-tier level.    Drive opportunities to continually create productivity projects and lead the sourcing efforts needed to ensure completion of such projects. 
• Identify & execute second sourcing initiatives down to the sub-tier categories.
• Run regular category project calls with cross functional team, closely monitoring progress to committed timeline.  Establish and maintain a Corporate Category Council.   
• Manage commodity’s KPI metrics, report and track the progress towards the annual team goals to ensure goals are met or exceeded. 
• Support a continuous improvement environment with a track record of achieving significant productivity improvement (Quality, Service Levels, Delivery and Cost) year on year.
• Analyze spend data and present insights based on the needs of the audience.
• Ensure that all applicable suppliers have fully executed Corporate Supply Agreements (CSA) and that such CSA are up-to-date and fully administered to. The CSA will be owned by the incumbent.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 10+ years’ experience in material control systems and processes
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience (preferably Business, Supply Chain or Engineering)
• At least 5 years of successful project management experience in supply chain, engineering, or program management business area in global companies.
• Experience managing Plastics and/or Cables categories and understanding of their manufacturing process.
• Experience and knowledge of purchasing process and market of Resins and Polymerics.
• Strong experience of Contract Management including contract negotiation.
• A solid track record for performance and progression within operations, business, and supply chain  
• Demonstrated relentless drive and determination to achieve success

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Strong influence and change management skills, especially in a matrix environment with cross-functional stakeholders
• Ability to present information clearly and effectively to a variety of audiences
• Ability to influence senior management, teams and individuals across multiple cultures, disciplines and geographies
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work collaboratively across business units’ hierarchy and functions
• Ability to analyze spend data and present insights based on the needs of the audience.
• Demonstrated experience working with cross-functional teams with proven abilities to influence others

DAY IN THE LIFE:

In this role, the working environment is mainly in an office environment but will have frequent visits and interactions at a manufacturing site where use of PPE, exposure to hazardous materials, and loud noises may be present. In addition, this role requires travel internationally at least 50% of your time. 

For questions regarding this opportunity, please reach out to Britta Reimann, Corporate Recruiter at Tel.: +49 152 22832510

We are looking forward to your application!

At Xylem, we embrace diversity and strive to create avenues where employees feel valued and appreciated through our DE&I initiatives and Employee Resources Groups (ERG).  Xylem is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action workplace.  Xylem prohibits discrimination, harassment of any kind and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or sexual orientation (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, marital status, medical conditions or disability, genetic information, age, or other non-merit factors.

Join the global Xylem team today!  Xylem is a team creating advanced technology solutions to the world’s water challenges through developing new technologies and services that will improve the way water is used, conserved, and re-used in the future is central to our work. Our products and services move, treat, analyze, monitor, and return water to the environment, in public utility, industrial, residential, and commercial building services settings. Xylem also provides a leading portfolio of smart metering, network technologies and advanced analytics solutions for water, electric and gas utilities.

Disclaimer: The information listed within this job description is designed to indicate the general nature of work expected for this position and shall not be viewed as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required in this position.  Employees must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job absent undue hardship.  Xylem reserves the right to modify this job description or assign other duties to this position as needed.