Technology Category Management Consultant

Nationwide•Columbus, OH

8d•$97,000 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Nationwide's Technology team is seeking a passionate individual to join their dynamic organization. This role will enable a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales to drive innovation and adopt new technologies that deliver business results. The Category Manager will be responsible for managing complex, primarily indirect categories of spend, leading category/supplier segmentation and strategy development, supporting the development of the procurement strategy by facilitating and influencing alignment between Technology, Business, and Finance, and driving category strategies through the Procurement team to ensure contracts execute in alignment with strategy. This role specifically supports the Property and Casualty Technology Organization, focusing on strategies for software and other technology, while maintaining the lowest total cost and highest quality and service. The role is hybrid to the Columbus OH offices, with an anticipated in-office presence of once or twice a week. The role does not qualify for employer-sponsored work authorization and Nationwide does not participate in the Stem OPT Extension program.

Requirements

Undergraduate degree in supply chain, procurement, business, finance, accounting, management information systems, economics or related fields preferred.
Procurement, purchasing, or project management designations, as applicable.
Typically, eight or more years of experience in all aspects of supply chain management including relationship management; or equivalent professional experience in other closely related industries.
Specialized knowledge of principles, practices and procedures of supply chain management or other related industry.
In-depth knowledge of the legal environment to analyze impact of major/complex initiatives on the company.
In-depth understanding of the enterprise structure and business objectives.
Knowledgeable in financial controls, insurance business concepts, systems and data processing concepts, and financial planning/analysis.
Excellent verbal, and written communication skills and math skills required to negotiate with suppliers.
Ability to develop and maintain strong supplier relationships.
Ability to conceptually think of new projects and lead project teams towards a common objective.
Ability to influence with limited authority.
Ability to train others on most complex and technical procurement policies, practices, and processes.
Proficiency in common office software like Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Responsibilities

Development of category strategies which maximize customer value leveraging a continuous improvement structure
Create, and implement strong communication plans to achieve positive outcomes for individual contracting events and the categories as a whole
Develop and execute leverage management strategies for individual negotiations
Develop and implement cost-based reduction strategies capable of delivering annual target savings
Execute annual cost savings, cash improvement and action plans to deliver the corporate and business objectives for year over year improvement
Monitor the use of appropriate KPI’s to measure and improve the effectiveness of the key elements of the category strategies and supplier performance
Responsible for supporting supplier partnerships through activities such as, identifying alternative suppliers, marketing analysis, risk mitigation, performance management and category innovation
Idea generation for new innovations (end to end) in their category to make sure it meets the timeline, includes critical terms and conditions, minimizes risks, leverages marketplace shifts and maximizes value
Benchmark historical performance and forecast future price movements, communicating necessary adjustments to plan
Identify and execute Procurement strategies such as payment term improvements, consolidation of supply base, channel optimization, etc.
Create and present executive summaries to the most senior leaders in Technology and Business organizations, highlighting trends, issues and opportunities
Develop pipeline reporting and PowerPoint decks for and facilitate internal Contract governance meetings
Partners and collaborates with Business Partners, Finance, Technology and other Procurement team members to manage new sourcing requests, current contract pipelines for multimillion dollar categories and vendor agreements.
Works with reporting teams to develop data analytics and suggests revisions to Procurement policy and procedures to ensure a predictable, easy-to-follow and efficient procurement process.
Conducts advanced, continuous industry research and benchmark analysis within a defined spend category.
Establishes a category strategy for a highly technical domain, monitors purchasing trends and identifies top suppliers and innovations within the category.
Works with Business Partners to manage Business Unit and Procurement relationship by building forecasts of demand, service levels requirements, Total Cost of Ownership models, contractual and other risk requirements (by category domain, actual and forecasted spend), identifying cost reduction opportunities, and developing recommendations.
Acts as a Project Manager with business partners, Finance, Technology as needed.
Facilitates moderately complex to complex competitive bid activity, including requests for proposal (RFP), quote (RFQ) or information (RFI), where applicable.
Negotiates the terms of the contract, including conditions, clauses, and service level agreements.
Documents achieved savings for Finance approval.
Assesses supplier risk prior to contract and collaborates with applicable risk partners, including Information Risk Management, Technology Review Boards, Privacy etc., for additional specialized assessments or necessary contract provisions.
Analyzes and aligns Category goals and objectives to maximize usage of Diverse Suppliers and best practices in Sustainability.
Mentors and trains new associates on Procurement policy, processes and helps them develop Sourcing Skills.
May perform other responsibilities as assigned.