Sr. Category Manager - Sterilization & Specialty Materials

Medtronic•Minneapolis, MN

13h•$138,400 - $207,600•Onsite

About The Position

Join our Global Supply Management team as a Sr. Category Manager – Sterilization & Specialty Materials. In this role, you will utilize your strong track record of delivering results in a matrixed organization, where collaboration with diverse individuals, teams, and skill sets is essential for success. You will take charge of developing and executing global category strategies for Medtronic’s sterilization spend, with primary focus on EO, Gamma, and Radiation (e-beam) sterilization modalities, while also owning assigned specialty material subcategories. You will dive deep into managing a highly regulated, capacity-constrained, and strategically critical category that directly impacts product availability, patient safety, regulatory compliance, and business continuity. The Sr. Category Manager will lead commercial strategy, supplier engagement, and cross-functional alignment across all sterilization technologies used within Medtronic’s global manufacturing network, and will help advance category management performance by driving KPIs across specialty materials. You will look beyond immediate suppliers, assessing multiple tiers of the supply chain to maximize leverage, ensure compliance, and safeguard supply continuity, while also playing a key role in Make vs Buy decision-making by partnering with Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Engineering, and Supply Network teams. At Medtronic, we bring bold ideas forward with speed and decisiveness to put patients first in everything we do. In-person exchanges are invaluable to our work. We’re working a minimum of 4 days a week onsite as part of our commitment to fostering a culture of professional growth and cross-functional collaboration as we work together to engineer the extraordinary.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree required
Minimum of 7 years of experience in Category Management, Strategic Sourcing, or Supply Management, or an advanced degree with a minimum of 5 years of relevant category management experience
For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required.

Nice To Haves

Experience with EO, Gamma, or Radiation sterilization, medical device manufacturing, or regulated industries.
Familiarity with sterilization validations, capacity planning, and supplier risk management.
Strong negotiation, analytical, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills.
Experience partnering with Quality, Regulatory, and Manufacturing organizations.
Excellent communication, collaboration, organization, and project management skills; strong presentation abilities.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Excel, analytics tools, and SAP.
Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally to vendor sites.

Responsibilities

Own and execute category strategies: Develop and execute global category strategies across Sterilization Services (EO, Gamma, and Radiation sterilization) and assigned specialty material subcategories, aligned with business growth, network strategy, regulatory requirements, and KPI targets.
Negotiate & optimize contracts: Lead commercial negotiations, contract renewals, pricing actions, and capacity commitments across sterilization modalities and applicable specialty material subcategories to deliver cost optimization (savings), improve contract coverage, and protect service levels.
Drive KPI performance management: Monitor supplier cost drivers (e.g., regulatory burden, energy inputs, utilization, demand volatility) and lead corrective actions across sterilization and specialty materials to improve supplier performance, reduce risk, and strengthen business continuity for high-revenue and high-risk product portfolios.
Lead market, capacity & supply analysis: Leverage demand, utilization, and capacity insights (and relevant market intelligence) across sterilization and specialty materials to inform sourcing decisions, anticipate constraints, and maintain KPI operating cadence (forecast accuracy, capacity assurance, and risk posture).
Support quality, compliance & change initiatives: Partner with Manufacturing, SQE, Regulatory, Network Strategy, Logistics, and Operating Units to support product launches, validations/qualifications, and ongoing compliance for sterilization services and applicable specialty material subcategories.