Manager

Job Title:          Procurement Category Manager – Warehousing & Freight

Function:        Corporate Procurement     

Reports to:     Head of Global Procurement

Location:        Dublin, Ireland

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WHY THIS ROLE IS VALUABLE: 

The Procurement Category Manager will lead Ornua’s Warehousing & Freight category, embedding a global category‑led procurement strategy that strengthens supply chain resilience, delivers value, and enables growth.

Integral to the role is developing practices which deliver a low-cost supply base to continue offering a competitive product in a highly competitive market by leveraging the global scale of Ornua’s operations.  

The candidate will be an experienced category manager, able to provide key contribution to our Procurement transformation, will have a proven track record of success in leading a significant spend portfolio within an EMEA / Global procurement organisation, and will be able to implement best practices in areas such as cost management, supplier relationship management, and category strategy development and execution.

Key Accountabilities:

• Responsible for the development of a forward looking, Global Procurement Category Strategy for Warehousing and Freight aligned with overall procurement targets and our new Transformation for Growth strategy. 
• Develop and manage strategic partnerships with key third party providers ensuring optimal value creation for Ornua.
• Lead global procurement initiatives through the Centre of Excellence for Warehousing and Freight
• Understand the product portfolio and spend under management for the Warehousing and Freight category to guide strategic planning.
• Deliver global and regional COVI initiatives (Cost Out Value In) through effective category management.
• Serve as the escalation point for strategic supplier issues, ensuring consistent resolution, performance recovery, and business continuity
• Ensure effective supplier relationship management through periodic KPI and business review processes.
• Responsible for the development of a Warehouse Capacity Plan in conjunction with Supply Chain Operations that is aligned to the warehouse policy.
• Drive alignment and consensus across global procurement, regional stakeholders, and the supplier base, balancing local operational needs with global scale and leverage.
• Grow spend under global procurement management for assigned categories.
• Manage risk by analysing current and future market conditions and defining contingency plans to ensure critical supply needs are met.
• Responsible for the contracting process and proactively managing contract expiry consistent with legal, regulatory and procurement policies.
• Act as the primary procurement interface to business units for Warehousing and Freight, ensuring supplier relationships align with global category strategy and business needs.
• Managing transactional approvals and process/policy compliance. 
• Provide global commercial leadership and market intelligence to inform business decision making and future category strategies.
• Understanding key cost drivers and monitoring global/regional risk and opportunity.
• Able to travel on occasion both domestic and International.

Essential experience for the role:

• Proven procurement Category Management Skills with deep knowledge in Warehousing and Freight.
• You have developed and managed Warehousing & Freight Category strategies within FMCG, Dairy or Pharma sectors (currently managing a spend in excess of €100m).
• Key relationship owner of external suppliers – lead all commercial discussions and escalations.
• A successful track record leading negotiations & tendering processes
• Proven negotiation and conflict management skills with the ability to resolve issues at all levels of management.

• Previous experience leveraging e-procurement tools planning and leading RFI and RFP’s, e-Auctions.
• CIPS or APICS or other Certification advantageous.

Competencies essential to the role:

• Proficient stakeholder management across all levels of the organisation.
• Strong supplier relationship manager.
• Commercially astute.
• Strong decision-making ability and team management skills.
• Ability to define action plans to resolve programme/project issues and implement corrective actions where required.
• Willingness to take on new spend categories.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATION: Thursday 23rd April