Category Manager

Location: Singapore, Singapore

In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow's possible.

Thales established its presence in Singapore in 1973 to support the expansion of aerospace-related activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Throughout the last four decades, the company grew from strength to strength and is today involved in the primary businesses of Aerospace (including Air Traffic Management), Defence & Security, Ground Transportation and Digital Identity & Security. Thales today employs over 2,100 people in Singapore across all its business areas.

**Responsibilities**:
The Category Manager (CM) supports one or several procurement categories. The CM works in close relation with the relevant Global Category Managers (GCM), the Categories Team Leader (CTL) and the Tactical Buyer (TB). All CM actions have to be in line with the strategy defined by the Global Category Manager and the CM will have a regular feedback loop with the GCM. The CM's prime role is the management of the RFI or/and RFP's until PVet 4 stage for business critical work packages (up to PVet 5 based on some Regions) in order to provide competitiveness to the business.

In addition to this their main tasks are:
**Strategy**:

- Provide input into worldwide category strategies for short, medium and long term needs
- Ensure the relevant players have a good knowledge of Thales need and support the category strategy so that the business secures targeted projects and customer competitive advantage.
- Ensure that clear and measurable savings targets are identified and delivered by category and endorsed by business / project.
- Ensure category commitment and spend compliance tracking is well reported.

**Procurement Competitiveness Capture**:

- Monitor category markets on an on-going basis to identify and understand key players, newcomers, economic evolutions, market or regulation constraints, innovations and technology in order to support the development of the most up to date category strategies for the businesses.
- Based on the above provide insights as to how products / projects could be more competitive via the adoption of different suppliers / methodologies / technology etc.
- In conjunction with the Procurement Product, Bids and Project Managers (PPM) and cross functional teams, the CM supports the preparation of Make / Buy decisions (lead by the PPM) in order to optimize business performance.

**Governance, Leadership and Performance Management**:

- Ensure THALES governance is applied using KPI's and root cause corrective actions

**Supplier / Acquisition Management**:

- Performance management of the supply base in line with the standards set out by the Global Category Manager.
- Ensure that supplier competitions follow the governance process and are balanced and fair in order to improve business and customer performance.
- Ensure that the supplier contracts and framework agreements are negotiated when required in line with the category strategies.
- Ensure that global contracts / framework agreements are adopted and utilized.
- Ensure that specific legal compliance government or special customer requirements are taken into account during conception / implementation of category strategies.
- Ensure that Thales e-Acquisition and all THALES procurement tools are properly used according to governance procurement work packages at global level.
- Ensure that the risks, opportunities and Tier supply chain mapping is understood and managed in order to optimize business performance.
- Based on the performance management of the supply base identify the suppliers who require focused development actions and ensure that the Supplier Development Team have the required support / leverage to conduct successfully these actions.

**Operational Support**:

- Ensure the Tactical Buyers receive all required information to raise the Purchase Orders.

**Job Requirements**:

- Recognized professional qualification (CIPS, EIPM, ISM, MAI...) are essential.
- Business, Procurement, Supply Chain or Engineering degrees are desirable, coupled with other professional qualifications (e.g.) in Project Management.
- 5+ years’ experience in Procurement is required
- Possesses experience of interactions with senior management and senior stakeholders, in complex project environment, in product policy, design / product development with cross-functional teams in a Procurement Bids and Project role, in sub-contract management and delivery of complex solutions, and experience & ability to define and to implement category strategy.
- Strong implementation of the strategy on an operational basis.
- Strong contractual knowledge especially of framework agreements, Liability & insurance.
- Ability to lead complex neg