Reporting to the Global Procurement Senior Manager category, the Global Category Manager, Indirect Procurement Supply Chain is accountable for developing and executing global category strategies across an assigned portfolio of indirect spend: Waste Management, Utilities, MRO, Laboratory supplies, Material Handling Equipment…, representing approximately in total $400M annually.
The role is responsible for delivering sustainable business value through cost optimization, working capital improvement, demand management, supplier performance, innovation, risk mitigation and total cost of ownership optimization, while ensuring continuity of supply and alignment with business priorities.
As a global procurement Manager, the role provides direction to geographically dispersed teams, influences senior stakeholders across functions and regions, develops strategic supplier relationships, and establishes the governance and performance routines required to deliver category objectives consistently.
Key Responsibilities
1. Global Category Strategy & Value Creation
- Develop and own global category strategies and multi-year value roadmaps for assigned Indirect Procurement categories.
- Translate business requirements, spend analytics, market intelligence and supplier capabilities into clear category strategies, priorities and measurable objectives.
- Aggregate global and regional data, identify opportunities and challenges, and establish ambitious category goals aligned with Procurement and business objectives.
- Lead global go-to-market and strategic sourcing initiatives, including RFPs, e-auctions, competitive bidding and complex commercial negotiations.
- Deliver measurable value through cost savings, cost avoidance, working capital improvement, demand management, specification optimization and total cost of ownership improvements.
- Identify opportunities for supplier and spend consolidation, demand optimization and improved commercial models in partnership with Procurement Business Partners and business stakeholders.
- Leverage market intelligence and supplier capabilities to identify innovation and competitive-advantage opportunities.
- Drive and deploy category strategies by leveraging global sourcing opportunities, digital tools, analytics and emerging technologies, including AI-enabled procurement solutions.
- Support strategic global initiatives and continuously improve category performance, processes and ways of working.
2. Strategic Supplier Management, Negotiations & Risk
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key global and strategic suppliers.
- Lead complex global negotiations and engage with senior supplier executives to achieve optimal commercial terms, service levels, innovation and long-term value.
- Establish appropriate Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) models for strategic suppliers.
- Monitor supplier performance and ensure delivery against contractual, commercial and operational expectations.
- Proactively manage supplier and category risks, including supplier concentration, business continuity and critical service dependencies.
- Develop appropriate contingency and risk-mitigation strategies for business-critical suppliers and services.
- Link knowledge of market trends with supplier capabilities to identify new opportunities and strengthen the organization's competitive position.
- Ensure compliance with applicable regulations, standards, policies, contractual requirements and Procurement governance.
3. Global Value Governance & Performance Management
- Establish and lead global category governance and routines, including:
o Category Strategy Reviews
o Supplier Relationship Management
o Supplier Performance Management
o Savings and Value Reviews
o Best-Practice Sharing
o Risk and Compliance Reviews
- Partner with Global/Corporate Finance to ensure alignment with savings methodologies and consistent implementation of value calculation, validation and reporting.
- Establish clear category KPIs and performance measures and ensure effective tracking of value delivery.
- Drive accountability for category performance and measurable P&L and business impact in support of overall organizational objectives.
- Ensure visibility and transparency of category performance, risks, opportunities and value delivery.
- Drive consistency in global processes, methodologies and governance while enabling appropriate regional execution.
- Identify and implement opportunities for continuous improvement in category management and Procurement performance.
4. Executive Stakeholder Management & Business Partnership
- Build trusted relationships with executive, divisional, functional and regional stakeholders.
- Act as a strategic Procurement partner by understanding business priorities and translating them into effective category and supplier strategies.
- Communicate category strategies, market developments, supplier risks, value opportunities and recommendations effectively to senior leadership.
- Influence global and regional stakeholders to build alignment around category strategies and enable successful execution.
- Balance regional and functional requirements with global Procurement objectives to maximize enterprise value.
- Develop compelling business cases and recommendations supported by strong financial, commercial and market insights.
- Demonstrate strong executive communication and the ability to influence decisions in a complex, matrixed organization.
5. Global Procurement Collaboration, Influence, and Partnership
- Coordinate and collaborate with regional Procurement teams across four major regions to drive consistent implementation of global strategies.
- Operate effectively across cultures, geographies and time zones, creating strong collaboration between global and regional teams.
- Foster an inclusive environment that encourages diverse perspectives, curiosity, collaboration and constructive challenge.
Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will combine strong strategic Procurement expertise with commercial and financial acumen and the ability to influence within a complex global organization.
The candidate should demonstrate:
- Strong strategic thinking combined with a track record of delivering measurable business results.
- Ability to develop and execute sophisticated global category strategies and multi-year value roadmaps.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, including understanding of Procurement's impact on P&L, cash flow and working capital.
- Advanced negotiation capabilities and experience managing complex supplier relationships.
- Strong executive communication, influencing and presentation capabilities.
- Ability to influence stakeholders and drive alignment without relying solely on formal authority.
- Ability to operate effectively in a global, multicultural and matrixed organization.
- Ability to constructively challenge established approaches and create productive tension to improve business outcomes.
- Strong analytical capability and the ability to convert data, market intelligence and business requirements into actionable strategies.
- Digital curiosity and willingness to adopt analytics, automation, AI and emerging Procurement technologies.
- Strong ownership, resilience, accountability and execution focus.
- Commitment to safety, integrity, ethical business practices and doing what is right for the organization.
Preferred Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Business, Engineering, Finance, Supply Chain, Procurement or a related discipline.
- 7–10 years of Procurement experience, with significant experience in Indirect Procurement and complex global or multi-regional categories.
- Strong commercial background and proven international or global working experience.
- Demonstrated experience developing and executing strategic category plans.
- Proven experience leading complex global sourcing initiatives and negotiations.
- Experience establishing and managing strategic supplier relationships and SRM programs.
- Demonstrated leadership, teamwork and project-management capabilities.
Working Requirements
- Ability to operate effectively across global regions and time zones.
- Flexibility in working hours to support global stakeholders, teams and suppliers.
- International travel of approximately 20–30%, depending on business requirements.
Ecolab’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) reflects our longstanding value of working together to integrate diverse perspectives to challenge ourselves, reach our goals and do what’s right.
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