Strategic Sourcing & Category Manager –Merchandise/Manufacturing
About The Position
The Strategic Sourcing & Category Manager is responsible for developing and executing sourcing, purchasing, and inventory strategies that support both Speedway Motorsports’ retail merchandise business and race car manufacturing operations. This role oversees supplier relationships, category management, procurement analytics, inventory planning, and strategic sourcing to ensure products and components are acquired at the optimal cost, quality, and delivery while supporting operational and financial objectives. The successful candidate will serve as the primary procurement partner for retail merchandising and manufacturing teams, using data-driven decision making to improve supplier performance, reduce costs, optimize inventory investment, and ensure uninterrupted product availability.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- Five or more years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, category management, supply chain, or purchasing.
- Demonstrated success negotiating supplier agreements and managing vendor relationships.
- Strong analytical skills with advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and ERP systems.
- Excellent communication, organizational, negotiation, and project management skills.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in retail merchandising, consumer products, manufacturing, motorsports, automotive, or related industries.
- Experience using Power BI, SQL, Power Query, or other business intelligence tools.
- Knowledge of inventory optimization, demand forecasting, and category management principles.
- Professional certification such as CPSM, CSCP, CPIM, or equivalent.
Responsibilities
- Develop and execute sourcing strategies for souvenir merchandise, licensed products, apparel, race car components, manufacturing materials, and related products.
- Lead supplier selection, contract negotiations, pricing discussions, and vendor performance management.
- Identify opportunities to consolidate suppliers, improve purchasing leverage, reduce total cost, and mitigate supply chain risk.
- Establish and maintain strong relationships with domestic and international suppliers while developing alternate sourcing strategies for critical products.
- Manage assigned product categories through demand forecasting, inventory planning, lifecycle management, and purchasing execution.
- Analyze sales trends, production schedules, inventory levels, and business forecasts to develop purchasing plans.
- Ensure merchandise availability for Speedway events while maintaining healthy inventory turns and minimizing obsolete inventory.
- Coordinate material purchases to support race car manufacturing schedules and customer demand.
- Develop reporting and dashboards that measure purchasing performance, supplier effectiveness, inventory health, spending trends, and cost savings.
- Analyze supplier spend, purchase price variance, freight expense, gross margin, inventory turns, and forecast accuracy.
- Recommend process improvements, inventory optimization strategies, sourcing initiatives, and cost-reduction opportunities supported by business data.
- Present recommendations and key performance metrics to leadership.
- Partner with Retail, Manufacturing, Engineering, Finance, Operations, Warehouse, and Sales teams to align purchasing decisions with organizational priorities.
- Support new product introductions, special events, seasonal merchandise planning, and manufacturing initiatives.
- Ensure purchasing activities comply with company policies, financial controls, and procurement best practices.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
