Strategic Category Manager (m/f/d) - HR Services - REF79676H

We are looking for you as a Strategic Category Manager (m/f/diverse) - HR Services for our business area Tires at our headquarters in Hanover. 

The tasks include: 

Stakeholder Partnership

• Act as interface and represent the interests of Continental and the Purchasing Community towards all internal and external stakeholders (e.g. Engineering, Plants, Suppliers)
• Understands the business and purchasing strategy to derive actions for own managed category
• Guide, support and train local and central stakeholders to execute with the right tools, methods and processes

Category Management

• Develop and sustain (supplier) strategy for respective integrated category in alignment with all relevant stakeholders and supervisors (e.g. Engineering, Regions, Plants) and in compliance with all relevant purchasing processes, guidelines and procedures
• Understand multiple data management systems and manage data analytics for the respective integrated category (identify spend profile and concentration, estimate / predict demand etc)
• Turns strategy into concrete actions and tangible goals as well as defining, monitoring and reporting relevant KPIs to track progress where applicable
• Ensures stakeholder satisfaction through transparent and early communication / involvement

Supplier Management

• Analysis of the global supplier market and conduction of benchmark analysis to derive actions for the global supplier portfolio
• Implements and maintains sustainable supplier relationship and conducts Strategic Supplier Meetings to deploy the global integrated category strategy
• Responsible for steering the annual supplier evaluation and derives development programs where needed
• Performs annual and regular negotiations to constantly improve the cost situation for respective integrated category, actively drives improvement or Total Cost of Ownership programs with suppliers
• Monitor if supplier acts in line with Continentals Business Partner Code of Conduct (BPCoC), responsible value chain (RVC) rules and processes and takes actions accordingly
• Initiates the New Supplier Introduction Process

Source to Contract

• Autonomous preparation, conduction and finalization of international negotiations for own integrated category including supplier decisions compliant with the relevant internal policies (incl. audit-compliant documentation) with the target to achieve the defined goals and a special focus on highest value creation (e.g. with support of Terms & Conditions (TCO) analysis)
• Drives make or buy scenarios, optimizes bundling effects and initiates Value-Engineering projects
• Conduct complaint and claim negotiations with special strategic interest which can’t be performed independently by the local units
• Effective management of contract lifecycle for both existing and new contract agreements - compliant with the relevant internal policies (incl. audit-compliant documentation) -  in order to ensure performance, financial and operational success

Project Management

• Ensure Compliance with Business Partner Code of Conduct, Continental Ethics and Values and all Corporate Guidelines
• Lead or participate in projects with relevance for owned category or within the purchasing organization

• Academic degree in economics, engineering or equivalent qualification
• Several years of relevant professional experience in Purchasing (or similar functions) in an international environment
• Advanced experience in project management and working in projects with an international scope / environment
• Good experience in conducting negotiations with a global responsibility
• Knowledge on purchasing processes (and/or relevant to the field) description and optimization
• Proper experience of the MS Office 365 programs as well as other relevant IT tools
• Fluent skills in English language, written and oral, further languages skills are beneficial (i.e. German, Spanish, etc)
• International and intercultural competency as well as several years of work experience in an international environment required
• Working experience in negotiating and operating with different cultures and international teams (e.g. on purchasing issues)

Applications from severely disabled people are welcome. 

We want our employees to do well with us. That's why we offer them not only an exciting job in an international technology group, but also numerous additional offers such as flexible and hybrid working, sabbaticals and other benefits. Click here to find out more.

We offer the following benefits:

• Potential to an out of Tarif salary contract
• 30 day of paid vacation per year 
• Attractive career development opportunities 
• We offer balanced working conditions by doing partly mobile work, working part time, flexible working time as well as Sabbatical options
• Cross-Border mobile work options up to 40 day per year from other EU countries
• Company Pension plan
• Attractive employee benefits with discounts
• Diverse offers that support a better “work-family” balance (e.g. company childcare places and free emergency care for your children)
• Discounted access to the Egym Well-Pass for accessing sport facilities across Germany
• A highly diverse environment across our location
• A new canteen on site with a variety of lunch options

If this sounds like a perfect match for you and if you want to become the next supporter of our core values: Trust, for one another, passion to win and freedom to act - we are looking forward to receiving your application.

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Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. In 2022, Continental generated sales of €39.4 billion and currently employs around 200,000 people in 57 countries and markets