Procurement Senior Category Lead - Office of Procurement

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JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Penn State's Office of Central Procurement is searching for a Senior Category Lead who will have University-wide responsibility for creating and driving strategic sourcing and vendor management for the Professional Services and Consulting Category Team.

The Senior Category Lead acts as a strategic business partner providing leadership in the designated category, providing strategic planning and sourcing and other procurement processes such as supplier relationship management, spend performance management, category contract management, internal spend and external market analysis, and category governance for all units/colleges that are active in the assigned category. The Senior Category Lead collaborates with stakeholders on the development and implementation of annual and multi-year category strategies in order to achieve category goals, achieve business strategies and deliver sustainable category value.

The successful candidate for this position will serve as the subject matter expert within a large, high performance category buying team, including assigning workload, monitoring cycle time, identifying efficiencies and providing status updates to procurement leadership and customers. The Senior Category Lead will also coach and mentor buying team members and provide a support structure for the team to excel.

The successful candidate for this position must demonstrate knowledge of broad concepts, industry policies and procedures related to the development, management, and implementation of a strategic category management plan with University-wide impact. They must possess:

• Extensive knowledge of category, market, and suppliers to drive value and savings for categories.
• High level of analytical skill to develop and maintain detailed reporting and analysis of proposals and vendor capabilities, negotiations, and supplier selection as well as ability to analyze purchasing data, trends and habits within the category.
• High level of communication skills to create and maintain sustainable partnerships and networks both within and outside of the University to ensure comprehensive strategy planning and implementation. This position communicates at all levels of the University and with external vendors and other stakeholders. These communications often involve significant and complex situations, and the successful candidate must be able to relay this information in a way that is objective and adaptive to the audience.

Minimally requires aBachelor'sdegree plus 8 years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.A degree in business administration, supply chain, finance, or related field is preferred. Professional certificationssuch astheCPSM (Certificate in Supply Chain Management) ortheCPM (Certified Purchasing Manager)from the Institute for Supply Management Inc.are preferred.Recent experience with purchasing, data analysis,RFXs,negotiation, contracts, legal terms and conditions, and e-procurement, as well as proficiency in MS Excel, Word, and Outlookispreferred.

This position offers a flexible work arrangement that combines remote and on-campus work. Questions related to flexible work should be directed to the hiring manager during the interview process.

The Pennsylvania State University is committed to and accountable for advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability in all of its forms. We embrace individual uniqueness, foster a culture of inclusion that supports both broad and specific diversity initiatives, leverage the educational and institutional benefits of diversity in society and nature, and engage all individuals to help them thrive. We value inclusion as a core strength and an essential element of our public service mission.

The salary range for this position, including all possible grades is:

Salary Structure - additional information on Penn State's job and salary structure.

CAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS: