Regional Category Manager - Americas

Perfetti Van Melle•Erlanger, KY

About The Position

Perfetti Van Melle is seeking a Regional Category Manager, Indirect Materials, to lead category management activities for indirect materials across the Americas. The role focuses on maximizing total cost of ownership savings and procurement value for the group, while also supporting global indirect category management activities such as 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, especially for strategic vendors, and brings suppliers’ sustainability and innovation capabilities into the group. The role also supports local procurement with claims, supplier agreements, and troubleshooting; leads regional budget, LE, and price forecast processes; and coordinates category indices and unit-rate inputs with local and global procurement teams. It supports functional budget owners in preparing 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 functional domains and processes, including Order to Cash, Purchase to Pay, catalogue buying systems, and supplier marketplaces.
Wide 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 skills 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 special 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 supplier performance and address regional performance issues.
Use supplier KPI scorecards and performance reports to inform supplier reviews.
Bring the sustainability and innovation capabilities of strategic suppliers 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, including quality and timeline control.
Collect data from operating companies and verify local buyer inputs with GPS team support.
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 on global categories.
Take responsibility for overall results and presentations to stakeholders.
Support functional budget owners in setting up 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 BA and Master’s programs.
Monthly candy allotments, including Airheads, Airheads Xtremes, and Mentos.