Category Manager Operations & Maintenance

Boardwalk•Houston, TX

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Boardwalk Pipelines, LP is seeking a Category Manager for Operations and Maintenance for its Houston, Texas office. The position has end-to-end commercial ownership of recurring service and materials categories that support the company's pipeline system. It develops and executes category strategies across a broad O&M portfolio, including field maintenance, pipeline integrity, cathodic protection, right-of-way maintenance, environmental services, equipment rental, and MRO materials, with a focus on cost efficiency, contractor performance, and service reliability across Boardwalk's multi-state operating footprint. The role manages category spend and supplier strategies, runs sourcing and contracting activities, oversees contractor performance and contract administration, manages supply and regulatory risks, and partners with Operations, Integrity Engineering, Environmental Health and Safety, and Field Operations. It also tracks category KPIs, reports performance to supply chain and operations leadership, and leads continuous improvement initiatives.

Requirements

8 to 12 years of progressive experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, or category management, focused on O&M services, field services, or MRO categories in the oil and gas, pipeline, or utilities sector.
Demonstrated experience managing service contractor portfolios across multiple geographic regions, including MSA development, performance management, and safety qualification programs.
Working familiarity with PHMSA pipeline integrity management regulations and their implications for O&M contracting, scheduling, and service provider selection.
Ability to develop and execute multi-category sourcing strategies for a geographically dispersed operating company.
Strong commercial acumen in services contracting, including unit-rate structures, time-and-materials arrangements, performance bonding, and service-level agreement design.
Ability to engage field-level operations stakeholders and translate operational requirements into structured commercial strategies.
Strong analytical capabilities in spend analysis, cost benchmarking, contractor performance metrics, and savings reporting.
Strong interpersonal and cross-functional collaboration skills, including the ability to manage competing priorities across multiple operating regions.
Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, engineering, or a related field.
Must complete pre-employment drug and substance abuse testing.

Nice To Haves

Experience with pipeline integrity services, cathodic protection, or right-of-way maintenance contracting.
Professional supply chain or procurement certification, such as CPSM, CSCP, or equivalent.
Experience with Oracle EBS, SAP, or comparable ERP platforms in an O&M or services procurement workflow.
Experience with ISNetworld, Veriforce, or a comparable contractor safety management platform.

Responsibilities

Own O&M spend categories as a commercial portfolio, with accountability for cost performance, supplier strategy, contract coverage, and service reliability.
Develop and execute multi-year category strategies across O&M sub-categories, including pipeline integrity, cathodic protection, right-of-way maintenance, field services, environmental services, and equipment rental.
Maintain spend analytics and demand visibility across operating regions and turn operational demand into sourcing strategies and supplier engagement plans.
Identify opportunities for contractor consolidation, national alliance agreements, volume leverage, and process standardization.
Execute the sourcing lifecycle, including supplier prequalification, RFP and RFQ development, bid evaluation, commercial negotiation, and award documentation.
Draft, evaluate, and negotiate contract commercial structures in coordination with Legal, Insurance, Treasury, and Risk Management.
Maintain contractual records, bid documentation, and correspondence in contract management and ERP systems according to records retention requirements.
Manage post-award contract administration, including handover, supplier performance monitoring, commercial assurance, and contract modifications and extensions.
Develop and manage commercial strategies for field maintenance services such as pipeline repair, valve maintenance, corrosion control, cathodic protection, facility maintenance, and environmental remediation.
Negotiate and deploy Master Service Agreements with regional and national contractors, including appropriate rate structures, safety requirements, indemnification, and insurance provisions.
Manage contractor performance using KPIs for safety, mobilization, work quality, invoicing accuracy, and regulatory compliance.
Develop contractor qualification and tiering standards aligned with work risk, scope complexity, and geographic coverage.
Develop and maintain preferred suppliers for O&M sub-categories, including qualification criteria, performance expectations, and safety prequalification standards.
Negotiate MSAs and service agreements covering unit rates, mobilization fees, escalation mechanisms, performance standards, and insurance minimums.
Monitor contractor market conditions, including labor availability, specialty equipment capacity, and regional service market dynamics.
Identify and manage supply risks, including contractor capacity constraints, specialty service availability, single-source dependencies, and regulatory compliance risks.
Ensure O&M procurement complies with Boardwalk's sourcing policy, competitive bid requirements, safety prequalification standards, and applicable PHMSA and DOT requirements.
Support internal compliance reviews and corrective actions related to O&M contracting and invoice management.
Serve as the primary Supply Chain commercial partner to Operations, Integrity Engineering, Environmental Health and Safety, and Field Operations across operating regions.
Engage field operations leadership to understand operational requirements, service performance gaps, and emerging procurement needs.
Present category strategies, contract recommendations, and supplier performance results to the VP Supply Chain and senior Operations leadership.
Define and track O&M category KPIs, including savings, cost avoidance, competitive bid compliance, contract coverage, contractor safety, on-time service delivery, and invoice accuracy.
Provide regular category performance reporting to supply chain leadership and regional operations teams.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives to increase contract coverage, reduce maverick spend, and improve contractor safety outcomes.