Direct Materials Procurement, Sr Category Manager, Paper Board and Substrates

Overview:This role reports to the Director of Paper Services on the Direct Materials Procurement team and will be responsible for category strategy activities supporting our packaging and commercial print plants. This role will work closely with business stakeholders to understand business priorities and develop/execute category strategies to reduce total cost of ownership and ensure supply continuity. This will be achieved through an understanding of industry benchmarking, best in class performance, and by leveraging supplier innovation, supplier management, complex deal negotiation skills, sourcing tools and processes.Responsibilities:Responsible for developing, communicating and implementing procurement strategies for assigned categoriesBuild relationships to partner with key internal stakeholders to understand strategic direction and business priorities in order to develop and execute effective strategies to achieve business objectives Achieve business requirements while effectively capturing value (i.e. cost improvements, risk mitigation, supply continuity, cost avoidance, process improvements, supplier management) Develop and sustain strategic relationships with key suppliers Research, evaluate and qualify new suppliers as business needs require and to ensure competitive advantagesEvaluate supplier core competencies and competitive positioning using cost models and benchmarking tools Ensure systems are continuously updated to contain the most current documentation, terms, etc. Ability to conduct successful sourcing events, negotiations, and thorough market analysis Negotiate supplier agreements with Key Performance Indicators (KPI), Service Level Agreements (SLA), appropriate price protection, and continuous improvement efficienciesAdditional responsibilities as required to achieve business objectives