Regional Category Manager - Americas

Perfetti Van Melle•Erlanger, KY

About The Position

The Regional Category Manager, Americas—Indirect Materials leads regional category management for indirect materials, maximizing total cost-of-ownership savings and procurement value for the Perfetti Van Melle Group. The role also supports global indirect category management through supply-market studies, supplier scanning, negotiations, stakeholder management, information sharing, reporting, and budgeting. The position supports SAP Ariba implementation projects and leads Procurement processes and implementation activities. It manages supplier relationships and performance, leads supplier review meetings, uses KPI scorecards and performance reports, and brings strategic suppliers’ sustainability and innovation capabilities into the group. It also supports local procurement with claim handling, supplier agreements, and troubleshooting. The role leads regional Budget/LE/Price Forecast processes, coordinates and verifies data and buyer inputs, delivers category indices and unit-rate inputs for global and regional portfolios, coordinates with Global Category Managers on global categories, and presents results to stakeholders. It also supports functional budget owners in setting annual budgets.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field; procurement specialization preferred.
At least 8 years of professional experience in strategic procurement.
Proven experience implementing SAP Ariba for Procurement on the process and user side.
Extensive knowledge of Procurement process domains, such as Order to Cash, Purchase to Pay, catalogue buying systems, and supplier marketplaces.
Broad and deep knowledge of relevant indirect procurement categories, including facilities, ICT, MRO, travel, and logistics, and their supplier bases.
Ability to quickly build a professional network in new markets.
Project management and well-developed negotiation skills.
Strong analytical skills, including Excel, data analysis, and report generation.
Experience in contract and risk management.
Strong strategic business-case development, stakeholder management, presentation, and communication skills at senior management level.
Understanding of the Source to Pay process.

Nice To Haves

Supply chain or procurement certification.
Sustainable sourcing experience.
Spanish fluency.

Responsibilities

Lead regional category management activities for indirect materials to maximize total cost-of-ownership savings and procurement value.
Support global indirect category management activities, including supply-market studies, supplier scanning, negotiations, stakeholder management, information sharing, reporting, and budgeting.
Support SAP Ariba implementation projects and lead Procurement processes and implementation activities.
Manage and grow vendor relationships in line with Group Procurement’s vision, with particular emphasis on strategic vendors.
Manage supplier performance to maximize value from strategic suppliers in selected categories.
Lead supplier review meetings with senior supplier stakeholders to drive regional performance and address regional performance issues.
Use supplier KPI scorecards and performance reports to inform supplier reviews.
Bring strategic suppliers’ sustainability and innovation capabilities into the group and support development in these areas.
Support local procurement with claim handling, supplier agreements, and troubleshooting.
Lead regional Budget/LE/Price Forecast processes, controlling quality and timelines.
Collect data from operating companies and verify local buyers’ inputs with support from the GPS team.
Deliver GPS category indices for global portfolios using regional market and supplier analysis.
Provide unit-rate inputs for global and regional execution categories and coordinate with Global Category Managers for global categories.
Own overall results and present them to stakeholders.
Support functional budget owners in setting annual budgets.

Benefits

PTO package including vacation, wellness, and pay-it-forward time off.
13 paid holidays.
401(k) with company match up to 8%.
Annual bonus potential and merit-based increases.
Comprehensive health insurance.
Annual well-being subsidy.
20 weeks of maternity leave and 12 weeks of paternity leave options.
Annual Sam’s Club or Costco membership reimbursement.
Tuition-free college program or free continued education, including bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Monthly candy allotments.