Indirect Purchasing Regional Category Manager Apac

**Job Description
MISSON/PURPOSE
Management of logistic services category groups within Group Purchasing's Regional Indirect Materials organization, providing Continental with expertise and best practices in the fields of Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, Supply Market Analysis, Category and Supply Base management, and others related.
The main objective is to establish the best commercial conditions while optimizing a supplier base through the aggregation of spend and common strategies in order to maximize Supply Chain security. Ensure efficient and compliant sourcing in close alignment with Tire Logistics, Automotive SCM, CT SCM.

RESPONSIBILITY/TASKS
- Strategic Sourcing: Initiate, design, and drive demand pooling across the divisions and material fields to ensure optimum use of purchasing power and maximize the contribution to the operating profit and component quality.
- Category management: Assist in the definition and initiation of innovative category management and sourcing strategies, develop cross-divisional procurement processes, and implement optimum sourcing strategies with qualified suppliers to lay the foundation for procurement success in the medium term and to achieve a maximum contribution to the operating result.
- Negotiations: Define and implement innovative negotiation concepts and strategies, and carry out cost and contract negotiations leading to an agreement being signed to guarantee uninterrupted supply at optimum conditions.
- Supporting Global/local category managers: Act as the Ambassador for Indirect Purchasing in supporting the Global/local Category managers in their process of establishing optimum conditions for their respective host facility. They act as the window interface between that facility and the Procurement community.
- Contract management: Ensuring contracts are based on Continental regional or global standards and implemented.
- Contract and price negotiations as well as contract & price confirmation and signing.
- Ensuring the availability of all warehousing-related contracts in Continental-specific systems.
- Management of contract databases to early establish following up processes and RFQs to ensure smooth running operations and processes."
- Processes & Guidelines: Establish sustainable warehouse sourcing processes and procedures among all Continental divisions.
- Aligning warehouse sourcing processes with all Continental divisions and ensuring the implementation of those.
- Ensuring the usage of Continental policies and guidelines and supporting local logistics and purchasing teams to implement them."
- Strategy: Jointly define warehouse sourcing strategies with all internal business partners such as logistics central functions, local logistics, and purchasing teams and ensure the implementation.

COMPETENCIES:

- Management skills, tools and techniques which ensures a strategic, profit and resulted oriented handling (Balanced Scorecard, Benchmarking, etc.)
- Human relations skills (team skills, conflict management, open-mindedness, networking)
- Communication skills, including Presentation and Negotiation techniques to operate in different cultures
- Problem-solving and decision-making tools and techniques
- Project management skills, tools and techniques
- Procurement Process and Product Life Cycle (PLC) knowledge
- Purchasing Management (including standards of Quality system requirements, policies and norms (IATF 19649/ VDA 6.1)
- Risk Management
- Technical understanding of specific Logistics techniques and processes
- Commercial knowledge includes contract law etc.
- Leading remote teams at a regional level, leveraging technologies, and systems for the team lead

**Job Requirements**
- Bachelor's Degree: Procurement, Information Technology, Engineering, Business Administration, Supply Chain Management or related field required;
- 10-15 years of professional experience;
- Profound Experience in Logistics and Procurement including spend aggregation, executing category strategies, negotiations and supply base evaluation.
- Experience in Warehouse Distribution operation is a plus;
- Strong Leadership Experience as well as excellent presentation and Communication skills;
- Understanding of systems and processes, establishing and building, and motivating new teams on an international level, and strategical thinking on a regional scale;
- Strong Leadership Experience as well as excellent presentation and Communication skills;
- Capability of Leading remotely.
- High degree of international and intercultural experience is required.
- Professional international assignment(s) or work experience in international teams of at least 5 years preferred