Category Manager Compression

Boardwalk Pipelines, LP Human Resources • Houston, TX

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Boardwalk is a limited partnership operating in the midstream portion of the natural gas and natural gas liquids industry, providing transportation and storage services for our customers. Our 14,000 miles of pipeline and storage assets provide diverse market connectivity to producers and end-users who need reliable sources of natural gas for power generation, home heating or petrochemical feedstocks. We have the experience, knowledge, and flexibility to design service offerings and create system enhancements tailored to our customers’ needs throughout the 13 states in which we operate. As an organization focused on sustainability, we are committed to protecting the environment while delivering this energy source. This commitment is made to our customers, employees, and the communities in which we operate. We incorporate environmental stewardship, safety, and compliance into our day-to-day operations and seek to strengthen and support the communities we serve. Additional information about the company can be found online at www.bwpipelines.com. We are currently looking for a Category Manager Compression for our Houston, TX office.

Requirements

• Minimum 8 to 12 years of progressive experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, or category management within the oil and gas, midstream, power generation, or industrial equipment sector.
• Demonstrated experience managing compression or rotating equipment procurement — including reciprocating compressors, gas turbines, or centrifugal compressors — in a capital-intensive environment.
• Working knowledge of gas compression technology, compressor station design, gas engine and turbine packages, and associated instrumentation and controls.
• Familiarity with natural gas measurement standards including AGA-3, AGA-7, AGA-9, and API MPMS, and FERC measurement requirements applicable to interstate natural gas transmission.
• Understanding of applicable tariff structures and their commercial implications for equipment procurement in a regulated midstream environment.
• Proven ability to develop and execute category strategies at enterprise scale in a capital-intensive industry.
• Strong commercial acumen encompassing equipment pricing structures, OEM escalation mechanisms, warranty provisions, and risk allocation in long-form supply agreements.
• Ability to engage supplier executives at senior levels and negotiate complex multi-year commercial arrangements.
• Strong analytical skills including spend analysis, cost modeling, market benchmarking, and total cost of ownership assessment.
• Clear and confident communicator capable of presenting category strategies and commercial recommendations to senior leadership.
• Ability to influence without direct authority in a matrixed organization with strong technical stakeholders.
• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Chemical Engineering, Business, Supply Chain, or a related technical or commercial field.

Nice To Haves

• Professional certification in supply chain or procurement (CPSM, CSCP, CIPS, or equivalent).
• Experience with Oracle EBS, SAP, or comparable ERP platforms in a procurement workflow.
• Interstate natural gas pipeline or midstream industry experience.

Responsibilities

• Own compression and measurement spend as a commercial portfolio with full accountability for cost performance, supplier strategy, risk exposure, and long-term value.
• Develop and execute multi-year category strategies informed by market dynamics, OEM capacity constraints, demand drivers, and Boardwalk's operational and capital plans.
• Identify opportunities for specification standardization, fleet-level pricing, and demand aggregation across compression classes — reciprocating, centrifugal, and turbine-driven.
• Develop and maintain cost models anchored to underlying market drivers including steel indices, OEM labor, and capacity utilization to support negotiations, budgeting, and leadership reporting.
• Execute the full sourcing lifecycle for assigned categories including supplier prequalification, RFP and RFQ development, bid evaluation, commercial negotiation, and award documentation in compliance with Boardwalk's sourcing policy and delegation of authority.
• Draft, evaluate, and negotiate contract commercial structures in coordination with Legal, Insurance, Treasury, and Risk Management to ensure appropriate risk allocation and commercial terms.
• Ensure all contractual records, bid documentation, and contract correspondence are maintained in Boardwalk's contract management and ERP systems in accordance with records retention requirements.
• Manage post-award contract administration including contract handover, supplier performance monitoring, commercial assurance, and coordination of modifications and extensions.
• Manage strategic OEM relationships with key compression and measurement suppliers to maintain preferred customer status, access to capacity, and competitive commercial terms.
• Lead complex commercial negotiations for equipment supply agreements, service and maintenance contracts, EHM agreements, long-term parts frameworks, and field service arrangements.
• Negotiate and administer Master Supply Agreements and Master Service Agreements in coordination with Legal and Risk.
• Actively monitor OEM financial health, production lead times, geopolitical supply risk, and tariff exposure relevant to imported compression equipment and components.
• Manage commercial disputes related to pricing, escalation mechanisms, performance guarantees, and warranty claims in coordination with Legal.
• Identify and mitigate supply risk including extended OEM lead times, single-source concentration, tariff exposure, and component-level import dependencies.
• Develop mitigation strategies including early engagement protocols, frame agreements with committed lead-time slots, and alternative supplier qualification programs.
• Ensure all procurement activity complies with Boardwalk's sourcing policy, competitive bid requirements, delegation of authority, and contract governance standards.
• Support internal audit, compliance review, and corrective action activities related to assigned categories.
• Maintain current knowledge of compression technology — including reciprocating, centrifugal, and turbine-driven packages — and measurement standards applicable to interstate natural gas transmission.
• Track OEM pricing, allocation constraints, and technology developments; maintain benchmarking data to support cost challenge and negotiation preparation.
• Provide leadership with timely intelligence on supply market conditions, pricing trends, and cost exposure relevant to assigned categories.
• Serve as the primary commercial interface for internal business partners, and other internal stakeholders on all category-related sourcing and contracting matters.
• Lead cross-functional sourcing decisions including supplier selection, commercial trade-off analysis, and specification development.
• Present category strategies, commercial positions, and risk assessments to senior leadership as required.
• Define and track category-level KPIs including cost savings, cost avoidance, supplier on-time delivery, warranty claim rates, contract coverage, and competitive bid compliance.
• Provide regular category performance reporting to supply chain leadership and internal stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement in sourcing processes, bid evaluation rigor, contract terms, and supplier performance management.

Benefits

• Boardwalk Pipelines, LP, maintains a drug-free workplace and will require pre-employment drug & substance abuse testing before hiring.
• Boardwalk Pipelines, LP, is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment regardless of race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior