Lead Specialist, Category Management (Operations)

Cheniere Energy•Houston, TX

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Specialist, Category Management is an essential Supply Chain Management role reporting to the Manager, Category Management. The position manages a portfolio of contracts throughout the end-to-end contract life cycle, including sourcing, contracting, implementation, and ongoing contract management. It also helps maintain and continuously improve the SCM team’s sourcing and contracting processes, procedures, tools, and systems. The role works with business partners and suppliers across delegated categories to support sourcing and contracting, drive compliance, continuous improvement, and value delivery, and align strategies with business needs and supply market capabilities. It manages direct contract agreement negotiations in collaboration with Legal, Insurance, Treasury, and Risk Management. The position leads or supports category strategy development and implementation, supplier qualification, competitive sourcing, bid evaluation, contract negotiation and execution, and post-award supplier performance management. It also develops expertise in the GEP sourcing and contracting solution, analyzes procurement and contract performance data, supports process improvements and change management, and shares best practices across the Commercial team. The position is based in a typical office environment in Houston, with occasional work from home, after-hours or weekend work, and periodic business travel. Travel may include sites at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi, which are subject to applicable Foreign Trade Zone regulations, including drug and alcohol testing.

Requirements

Minimum eight years of relevant, progressive Supply Chain Management experience.
Experience with sourcing, competitive bidding, RFP development, bid evaluation, supplier selection, and post-award contract management.
Strong understanding of sourcing, commercial terms, and negotiation of general material and service contract provisions.
Understanding of source-to-contract and purchase-to-pay systems.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Self-motivated, with the ability to handle multiple responsibilities.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Ability to work cross-functionally with internal stakeholders.
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
Effective time management skills.
Strategic thinking and strong attention to detail.
Ability to multitask and function in a highly dynamic atmosphere, exercising discretion independently.
Bachelor’s degree preferred; an equivalent combination of education, experience, and certifications may be considered in lieu of a degree.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Oracle and GEP systems is preferred.
Bachelor’s degree is preferred.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with business partners to ensure their ways of working comply with company compliance requirements, ethics, and delegated authorities.
Coordinate business needs with suppliers, leveraging the company’s scale.
Act as the single point of accountability for spend against delegated contracts.
Support Contract Owners in gathering performance feedback for contractor management.
Support delivery of category strategies for delegated contracts.
Lead development and implementation of comprehensive category strategies for defined categories in collaboration with the Manager of Category Management.
Pre-qualify and qualify new suppliers.
Ensure sourcing and contracting activities are compliant, timely, and delivered with quality.
Develop requests for proposal that consider total-cost models, value, operating costs, and supplier price impacts on existing budgets.
Negotiate contracts with qualified suppliers to secure quality services, materials, and equipment on time and at optimum cost.
Prepare bid evaluations and supplier award documentation for business partner approvals.
Draft, evaluate, negotiate, and execute various commercial contract structures.
Ensure contracts are delivered on time and support safe, reliable, and competitive operations.
Maintain contractual records, documentation, and correspondence in appropriate systems.
Support the Delivery Purchasing team in creating Contract Purchase Agreements and Blanket Purchase Agreements, as appropriate.
Manage post-award contract processes, including contract handover and supplier performance management, while ensuring commercial assurance.
Develop expertise in the GEP sourcing and contracting solution and serve as the team’s lead Power User.
Integrate data from multiple sources and conduct procurement analytics to identify trends and insights.
Work with SCM P&E to identify areas for improvement in category management practices.
Lead change management efforts to implement new ways of working and support smooth transitions and user adoption.
Use data analysis and reporting tools to track and evaluate contract and category management performance metrics.
Create clear visual representations of data findings in collaboration with P&E, Commercial, and Delivery teams to support decision-making and communication.
Document best practices and lessons learned to facilitate knowledge sharing within the Commercial team.
Perform other duties as assigned as business demands require.