Category Manager, Indirect Sourcing

Job Purpose

Own strategic sourcing and category oversight for assigned categories, including MRO, facility management, utilities, lab supplies & quality management, IT, marketing, HR services, and professional services. Develop category strategies and lead sourcing and complex contract negotiations, including SaaS, master service agreements, and statements of work. Partner with operations and corporate functions across all sites to manage total cost, ensure supply continuity, and improve supplier performance.

Essential Functions

• Develop and execute multi-year category strategies and roadmaps for MRO, facility management, utilities, lab & quality supplies, IT (hardware, software/SaaS, services), marketing, HR services, and professional services
• Provide procurement governance and escalation support for complex purchasing requests while improving procurement processes and policy compliance
• Lead RFx events, competitive bids, and negotiations, including complex commercial and contractual terms such as SaaS subscriptions, master service agreements, and statements of work; deliver measurable savings and cost avoidance against annual targets
• Manage supplier relationships, contracts, renewals, and performance scorecards; drive quality, delivery, service, and continuity improvements and track contract expirations for timely renewals
• Partner with plant maintenance, engineering, facilities, EHS, and quality stakeholders to standardize specifications and consolidate demand across sites
• Partner with IT, HR, Marketing, Finance, and Legal stakeholders to align sourcing with business needs, data security, and compliance requirements
• Reduce maverick spend, redundant subscriptions, and off-contract buying; drive adoption of preferred suppliers, catalogs, and guided-buying channels
• Analyze category spend, market conditions, benchmarks, and cost/consumption drivers using spend analytics and should-cost/TCO methods
• Support MRO inventory optimization, energy/utility strategies, software/subscription license management, contingent-labor/professional-services programs, and marketing agency/production sourcing
• Ensure contract governance and risk terms (data privacy, IP, indemnification, SLAs) and audit readiness in partnership with Legal
• Maintain contracts, pricing, and supplier records in procurement systems (SAP/SRM, DocuSign/SharePoint) and support P2P compliance
• Resolve escalated supplier issues affecting plant uptime, quality, and food safety
• Triage with internal stakeholders to monitor supplier performance relative to core KPIs and correct supplier non-conformances, including driving corrective and preventive actions during routine business reviews
• Support food safety program, quality standards, and legality of manufactured products
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned

Qualifications (Education, Experience, Competencies)

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, engineering, finance, IT, or a related field; CPSM/CIPS or MBA desired
• 5-8+ years of strategic sourcing/category management experience, preferably spanning MRO, facilities, utilities, IT, professional services, or other operations and corporate categories
• Manufacturing, food, or CPG multi-site experience preferred
• Strong negotiation, contracting, and supplier management skills; familiarity with TCO/should-cost modeling and SaaS/software licensing and services contracting terms
• Proficiency in ERP/P2P systems (SAP preferred), advanced Excel, and data visualization (Power BI helpful)
• Ability to influence plant, functional, and executive stakeholders and manage multiple priorities across sites; comfortable managing confidential and executive-facing categories
• Willingness to travel to plants and supplier sites

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C. Residents Only: The salary range for this role is $124,698.00 to $145,500.00 annually. Pay is based upon several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. Rise Baking Company complies with all minimum wage laws as applicable. In addition to your annual salary, Rise Baking Company offers benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, annual bonus eligibility, incentive and recognition programs and 401k contributions (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). At Rise Baking Company, our people are our finest ingredient.

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