Sr. Manager, Indirects – MRO

The Sr. Manager, Indirects –  Maintenance Repair, and Operations (MRO), DOE & Special Projects will be responsible for leading all strategic planning and sourcing activities for the related subcategories (e.g. Equipment maintenance and repair, Power Transmission and Bearings, Electrical, Cutting Tools, Valves, Cleaning and Janitorial Supplies, Personal Protective Equipment) with total spend of $339 million across the Kraft Heinz NA enterprise and 800+ suppliers. This position will demonstrate their experience and knowledge to build comprehensive strategies at the category level and execute the strategy through the sourcing process. They will drive program compliance through Supplier and Contract Management creating value for Kraft Heinz. This position will drive sustainable strategies that will actively seek to reduce and/or control costs for products and services while increasing efficiencies for the business. This position will work closely with stakeholders in various Maintenance, R&D, FSQA, Operations, and corporate functions to provide innovative ideas that meet business objectives supporting the operation. In addition, this position collaborates with other Procurement professionals to ensure end-to-end project delivery and works jointly with our India-based internal shared services team supporting these procurement categories. A successful candidate must be able to deliver superior service to internal business clients, organize and prioritize initiatives within the space, and collaborate to provide value for the company. 

Essential Functions & Responsibilities  

• Manage mid to executive-level client and supplier relationships on an ongoing basis to ensure customer satisfaction 

• Lead Sourcing and Category Management for a wide portfolio of complex and/or critical categories to Kraft Heinz 

• Establish and deliver performance goals for a portfolio of categories representing a significant amount of spend 

• Establish clear ways of working to collaborate with the procurement internal shared services center  

• Establish effective ways of working with the Capital Procurement team to ensure short- and long-term asset management is delivered from a cost and service perspective 

• Lead strategic sourcing projects for supplier selection/optimization to implement Category Management vision and strategies 

• Manage Supplier Relationships and conducts Supplier Business Reviews – High Level Partner concerns, Performance Delivery, and Risk Issues 

• As part of Supplier Management, segment suppliers at category level 

• Develop and manage supplier base for specific categories including routine review of suppliers’ portfolios 

• Lead discussions with critical suppliers around long-term objectives and strategies, ongoing market trends, innovation and technology advances, and potential investment decisions 

• Support major supplier issues and work with partners to identify and drive resolution 

• Identify business needs at the sourcing and category project level in the following areas: Assurance of Supply, Quality, Service, Cost, and Innovation (AQSCI) 

• Develop multi-year category vision and strategy based on the data, insights and business requirements. 

• Build strong business relationships to increase influence over total category spend 

• Identify and prioritize potential value generating projects based on complexity, resources, risk, time to implement, and estimated financial impact 

• Manage prioritized portfolio of projects for the category and collaborative projects with our Capital and Facilities procurement teams  

• Implement highly complex contracts in accordance with policies and processes; ability to apply competency across categories 

• Apply expert level of negotiation techniques and tools in all situations 

• Actively maintain strong understanding of category dynamics (current market, pricing, cost drivers, industry and supplier variables) through trade groups, publications, etc. and communicates changes to business partners 

• Manage Total Cost of Ownership at the category level through collaboration with Data Analytics, accountable for measuring and reporting value delivery 

• Enable continuous process improvement and cost reduction 

• Ensure the strategic sourcing process is robustly applied to all sourcing projects 

• Collaborates with Global Procurement peers to ensure support of and alignment to the supported functions 

Expected Experience & Required Skills 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience 

• 5-7 years of proven experience in Indirect Procurement (preferably MRO), or combination of direct Maintenance, Repair, or Operations industry experience 

• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite, familiarity with eProcurement Source-to-Pay tools desirable (e.g. Ariba & SAP), Experience in Supplier Performance & Risk Management tools desirable 

• Proficient with data and cost analysis exercises to draw themes or recommendations from a data set 

• Excellent verbal and written communication is a must 

• Confident presentation and negotiation skills 

• Ability to challenge and influence peers and leadership 

Work Environment & Schedule 

This position is considered a normal office environment with moderate travel to customer locations, manufacturing facilities, etc.; offices are open workspaces. To create a more agile and modern workplace, we allow Chicago/Aon Center based employees to work virtually for up to two days each week and expect them to work in-person during the defined core days at their assigned work location at least three days per workweek.