Our client is one of the largest fully regulated natural gas and electric utility companies in the United States. We are seeking a Category Lead for a 6+ month contract based in Valparaiso, IN 46383.

You will have the opportunity to work a hybrid schedule (remote on Monday and Friday)

Qualifications:

• Minimum 3+ years strategic sourcing experience, preferably 5+ years. That does not include buyer type experience, someone issuing purchase orders.
• Purchasing expereince
• Strong organizational skills, managing multiple projects at once
• Self-starter & Initiative Communication and relationship building (leading without authority)

Responsibilities:

• Establishing, leading/facilitating and supporting cross functional category management teams to develop and maintain category plans and ongoing category performance
• Developing deep knowledge and experience within assigned spend management responsibilities
• Developing spend/performance and external market analyses to monitor category performance and identify performance improvement opportunities
• Developing spend and savings/performance improvement forecasts to monitor progress and ensure goals are achieved
• Developing plans to capture identified opportunities
• Defining category requirements through collaborative efforts with respective stakeholder groups
• Collaborating with stakeholder groups to develop consensus on the appropriate category plans and priorities
• Leading performance improvement initiatives defined by the category plan including strategic sourcing and other performance improvement initiatives
• Establishing, leading/facilitating and supporting cross functional strategic sourcing/performance improvement teams as needed/prescribed by category plans to achieve savings and performance targets (e.g. reduce cost, improve quality and result in a lower total cost of ownership, meeting supplier diversity goals)
• Leading negotiations with suppliers as needed
• Maintaining critical supplier agreements including renewals, negotiation of terms, issue identification, tracking and resolution

Supplier Management responsibilities include:

• Developing and maintaining supplier criticality ratings and managing resulting critical supplier relationships
• Managing supplier relationships including conducting Quarterly Business Reviews with critical suppliers and NiSource
• Executive Sponsors

Stakeholder Management responsibilities include:

• Developing successful partnerships with key stakeholders / business partners to achieve desired results
• Developing and managing cross-functional category management and strategic sourcing teams as needed
• Collaborating with stakeholders to drive needed decisions to achieve desired results