Director of Global Category Management: Workplace, Infrastructure & Lab Operations Portfolio - (M6)

Applied Materials•Austin, TX

47d•$160,000 - $220,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Applied Materials is seeking an experienced executive leader to serve as the Director, Global Category Management – Workplace, Infrastructure & Lab Operations Portfolio Leader. This role is accountable for one of Applied Materials' largest and most strategic global indirect spend portfolios and serves as the executive-level business partner supporting Global Workplace & Infrastructure (GWI). The Director is responsible for defining portfolio strategy, building organizational capability, establishing governance, developing talent, leading supplier relationship management programs, driving business partnership excellence, and delivering measurable value across Workplace, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Construction, Laboratory Operations, Technical Facilities, Engineering Services, Energy, Security, Facilities Services, MRO, and related categories. Operating within Applied Materials' center-led category management model, the Director owns portfolio outcomes while leading a global organization of category leaders, category managers, and supporting sourcing organizations to deliver value, improve stakeholder experience, reduce risk, and enable enterprise growth.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain, Construction Management, Finance, Architecture, Real Estate, Operations, or related discipline.
15+ years of progressive leadership experience.
10+ years leading global teams and managers.
Experience leading category management organizations.
Experience managing large global spend portfolios.
Background in Workplace, Infrastructure, Facilities, Construction, Real Estate, Engineering Services, Laboratory Operations, or similar environments.
Demonstrated experience with organizational design and transformation.
Proven executive stakeholder management capability.
Experience leading supplier governance and SRM programs.
Experience operating within complex global and matrixed organizations.

Nice To Haves

Semiconductor industry experience.
Advanced manufacturing experience.
Capital construction and infrastructure experience.
Workplace and IFM category expertise.
Laboratory operations and equipment category expertise.
Experience building category management organizations from the ground up.
Global SRM leadership experience.
MBA, CPSM, CIPS, CPM, PMP, or equivalent.

Responsibilities

Own the global Workplace, Infrastructure, and Lab Operations portfolio strategy.
Align category strategies to Applied Materials growth objectives, business priorities, capital planning, and operational needs.
Develop multi-year roadmaps supporting growth, readiness, scalability, resilience, and value realization.
Govern portfolio performance across value creation, stakeholder experience, supplier performance, operational excellence, and risk management.
Ensure portfolio priorities remain aligned with business strategy, forecasted demand, and long-term investment plans.
Build and lead a world-class Category Management organization.
Lead Category Leaders, Category Managers, and matrixed sourcing teams.
Finalize and scale the Workplace & Infrastructure organizational model.
Recruit and develop category leadership talent globally.
Build succession plans and leadership pipelines.
Define capability models aligned to the future GSP operating model.
Establish talent development, coaching, certification, and capability-building programs.
Drive workforce planning and organizational readiness.
Build a culture focused on business partnership, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Serve as the primary executive relationship leader supporting Global Workplace & Infrastructure.
Act as the strategic interface between GSP and GWI leadership.
Lead annual planning and demand alignment activities.
Ensure early engagement in business planning, investment planning, and capital planning cycles.
Create governance forums that improve transparency and decision-making.
Drive alignment around category priorities, supplier strategies, sourcing roadmaps, and business outcomes.
Champion proactive engagement models that move procurement upstream into business planning.
Lead deployment of enterprise category management disciplines.
Category strategy development
Demand management
Supplier segmentation
Market intelligence
Opportunity pipeline development
Category governance
Preferred supplier programs
Category performance management
Analytics and reporting
Establish consistent frameworks, standards, and governance across all categories globally.
Lead strategic supplier governance across the portfolio.
Executive sponsorship for strategic suppliers.
Develop and drive SRM programs.
Sponsor executive business reviews.
Establish supplier performance governance.
Drive supplier innovation programs.
Build supplier segmentation frameworks.
Strengthen supplier resiliency and risk management programs.
Align suppliers to Applied's long-term growth strategy.
Lead deployment of the future-state GSP Category Management operating model.
Establish governance and decision frameworks.
Scale category management best practices globally.
Drive preferred supplier programs.
Standardize sourcing and category management playbooks.
Build category performance scorecard frameworks.
Improve stakeholder engagement models.
Expand adoption of business relationship management practices.
Institutionalize scalable category management capabilities.
Lead adoption of AI-enabled category management capabilities.
Deploy AI-enabled market intelligence capabilities.
Improve forecasting and demand visibility.
Leverage automation to reduce administrative effort.
Improve sourcing, contracting, and supplier governance efficiency.
Develop AI-enabled category planning tools.
Build digital dashboards supporting portfolio decisions.
Drive innovative ways of working that improve productivity and decision quality.