Procurement Category Manager

At Kraton, we make a Positive Difference, and we are looking for individuals who are also looking to make a difference in their jobs, for our customers and to the world. We are looking to hire a key member of our Procurement team at our Global Headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas.

This role supports both the Procurement strategy and the aligns with the business goals and needs. You will be responsible for leading the development of procurement plans and strategies for key areas of non-pay expenditure and maximizing the value for acquisition of goods and services through sustainable, efficient and effective practices including the management of risks and compliance areas.

• Responsible for implementation of the strategic Sourcing and Contracting vision.
• Responsible for the development, implementation, management, and performance of sourcing strategies within a given Category.
• Manages the assessment, selection and development of strategic suppliers to meet commodity cost and performance goals.
• Managessupplier relationships, performing RCAand resolutions, developing and monitoring supplier improvement plans
• Researches and benchmarks current commodity market conditions/trends, developing technologies, supply chain capacity/capability, product knowledge, customer requirements and supply/demand challenges.
• Responsible for the procurement of contracts including the management of cost, schedule and performance parameters. Developing contract specifications, work statements, and terms & conditions.
• Develops bid packages, conducts bidders' conferences, analyses and evaluates proposals, negotiates subcontract provisions, selects or recommends subcontractors, writes awards, and manages resulting subcontracts
• Maintains vendor performance database and report metrics to Supply Chain management.
• Provides oversight and guidance to Kraton departments, and Procurement staff, regarding the development and implementation of efficient sourcing and category management strategies.
• Assists Contract Managers in creation of negotiation strategy for high-value contracts, overall management and activation processes and procedures of Group Purchasing Organization contracts.
• Communicates cost savings potential of contract changes to internal customers and Leadership
• Provide support and oversight to the Purchasing team members performing transactional buying and exception management.
• Performs contract review (interfacing with Legal department when needed), including the authority to execute contracts.
• Provides oversight to staff regarding contractual agreements and terms with suppliers.
• Models management of key suppliers and department staff to improve supplier performance, processes and reporting tools and measurement.
• Ensure Contract Managers are contracting within all guidelines, policies, procedures, regulations, including compliance requirements.
• Ensure Contract Managers are managing suppliers within their category, to include business reviews and Service Level Agreements.

• 5+ years of experience in Procurement Category Management, with 10+ years preferred. Experience in the Chemical Industry is preferred.
• Able to negotiate and develop effective strategies at high level to ensure lowest cost/best value to the company.
• Project management skills.
• SAP knowledge.
• Ability to delivercost savings, providing exceptional customer service, ethical procurement practices and accountability.
• Ability to developstrong working relationships with key departmental leaders and meets regularly to identify major contracting and procurement initiatives and communicate cost savings opportunities. Proactively develops timeframes necessary tomeet objectives.
• Ability to develop, monitor, and report KPI metrics to Procurement Leadership.
• Ability to establish strong network and fostercollaboration with customers, suppliers, key stakeholders and team members.

• Bachelor's degreerequired, Chemical Engineering preferred

The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. Statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required for this position.

Kraton's internal talent acquisition team manages our recruiting efforts and from time to time works with pre-selected/pre-approved external staffing agencies.We do NOT accept unsolicited resumes or candidate referrals from recruiters and/or agencies who are not pre-selected/pre-approved.

Kraton is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.