Global Category Manager – Facilities, MRO & Office Supplies

Zebra Technologies•Lincolnshire, IL

28d•$122,800 - $184,200•Hybrid

About The Position

As a member of Zebra's global supply chain organization, this role is part of an environment where innovation, operational excellence, and a commitment to making a positive impact are valued. The position emphasizes a customer-first approach and agility, leveraging team creativity to adapt to challenges and create value. Collaboration and teamwork are central to operations, with an operating model and value set that emphasizes genuine accountability and collective success. The role inspires continuous improvement and aims to make a meaningful impact. The ideal candidate for this individual contributor role possesses deep category expertise, strong leadership capabilities, and a proven history of managing complex, regional-to-global projects. Functioning as a change agent with an innovation mindset, the Global Category Manager will collaborate with business stakeholders to identify, define, and execute strategic initiatives over a 12-to-36-month timeframe. This role encompasses the entire source-to-contract process and includes conducting supplier management reviews, with a specific focus on Facilities, MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations), and Office Supplies.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree required
8+ years of experience
Category Management in Facilities, MRO or other cross-category experience
Proven work experience in the field of Indirect Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Management
Ability to simultaneously manage 8+ highly complex projects, leading all deliverables, analytics, negotiations and project management details (as needed). These projects will span from a regional to global scope and will support the company’s key strategic priorities. Additionally, these projects will typically impact multiple functions and involve medium to large sized project teams representing multiple business areas.
Strategic Category Management: Requires a proven track record of developing and executing multi-year category strategies across a variety of spend areas.
Procurement Transformation & Operational Excellence: Requires demonstrable experience participating in or leading large-scale procurement transformation initiatives, with a history of contributing to the evolution of a procurement function from an operational to a strategic focus.
Strategic Sourcing & Execution: Expertise in managing a portfolio of complex, global sourcing projects simultaneously, including leading cross-functional teams and proactively managing project risks and dependencies, and change management to ensure successful implementation and adoption.
Negotiation & Supplier Partnership: A documented history of structuring and leading complex, high-value negotiations for non-standard contracts, with a focus on optimizing total value beyond price (e.g., risk, innovation, long-term partnership). Expertise in contract management, including ensuring compliance with terms, managing obligations, and resolving performance issues, is essential.
Supplier Relationship Management (SRM): Proven ability to develop and manage strategic partnerships with critical suppliers, including establishing joint governance to drive innovation, mitigate risks, and create mutual, long-term value.
Stakeholder Influence & Communication: A history of building influential relationships with senior and executive-level stakeholders, responsible for using data-driven insights to build consensus and drive decisions. Ability to deliver compelling, persuasive presentations to any audience, including senior leadership, using data-driven storytelling to influence key decisions and inspire action.
Ambiguity Management: Expertise in navigating ambiguous business challenges and translating them into clear, actionable strategies with measurable outcomes.
Digital Acumen & AI Application: High proficiency in using data analytics to create compelling business cases, with a focus on proactively identifying and evaluating opportunities to apply new technologies.

Nice To Haves

MBA, CPSM is a plus
Proven work experience in the field of Indirect Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Management
Excellent communication skills (listening, providing clear and concise information, using proper language and grammar)
Project Management
Demonstrated ability to interface with all levels of management and manage stakeholder issues
Subject matter expert in Indirect Sourcing & Procurement discipline
Ability to lead teams collaboratively
Overseeing highly complex issues and applying advance root cause analysis
Oversees management and strategy of documented processes
Advanced analytical skills
Highly experience in effectively providing direction to manage in a fast-paced, high growth, rapidly changing environment
Ability to identify and manage process improvements
Spend Analytics
Contract Compliance
Supplier segmentation and score carding
Executive Presentation
Demonstrated leadership skills coupled with desire an ability for continuous learning & self-development
Strong proficiency in spreadsheet software (e.g. Microsoft Excel), presentation software (i.e. Microsoft PowerPoint), Microsoft Word, Oracle iProcurement, Workday Scout, and SpendHQ (or similar programs)

Responsibilities

Inspire trust and confidence with executive leadership.
Engage with management team and stakeholder team members to drive strategic initiatives effectively balancing the RFx process and the TCO evaluation of suppliers against the business stakeholder’s requirements and supplier preferences.
Manage full sourcing process for the most complex projects– inclusive of supply market analysis, leverage spend, establishing business requirements, driving requirements, negotiating SOWs, contract terms, executing and monitoring complex contracts, conducting and monitoring supplier business reviews.
Independently collaborate with key stakeholders to develop annual category management plan that incorporates the stakeholder’s strategy, goals, challenges, constraints and objectives with a 1 to 3- year time horizon – key outputs included but not limited to spend breakdown, strategic sourcing pipeline, process improvements, supplier rationalizations, targeted supplier business reviews, sourcing levers, etc.
Maintain accountability, delivering against timelines, building relationships and becoming a trusted advisor with business stakeholders, executive management and suppliers.
Perform significant total cost of ownership evaluations, perform supply-market research, conduct the most complex pricing audits and impact analysis for the pursuit of continuous cost improvements.
Work collaboratively with suppliers and stakeholders to identify and execute continuous cost improvement programs and resolve significant and unique strategic supplier performance issues to ensure business satisfaction.
Contribute to measuring success, including savings, innovation related to process improvements, improved delivery and simplified processes.
Maintain a high level of product and industry awareness to keep current on best practices, new suppliers, market trends, etc.