Lead Category Manager

L3

Harris is dedicated to recruiting and developing high-performing talent who are passionate about what they do. Our employees are unified in a shared dedication to our customers’ mission and quest for professional growth. L3

Harris provides an inclusive, engaging environment designed to empower employees and promote work-life success. Fundamental to our culture is an unwavering focus on values, dedication to our communities, and commitment to excellence in everything we do.

L3

Harris is the Trusted Disruptor in defense tech. With customers’ mission-critical needs always in mind, our employees deliver end-to-end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security.

Job Title:

Lead, Category Manager

Job Code: 41141

Job Location:

Palm Bay, FL OR Rochester, NY OR Wilmington, MA OR Chantilly, VA OR Colorado Springs, CO OR Fort Wayne, IN OR Camden, NJ OR Greenville, TX

Job Schedule:

9/80 (Every other Friday off)

Job Description:

L3

Harris is seeking a Category Lead to join our Space and Mission Systems Category Management Team. The Category Lead is responsible for developing and executing multi-year category strategies that optimize cost, quality, service, supply continuity, and compliance across assigned commodities. This role serves as the category subject matter expert, leading sourcing strategy development, supplier performance, and risk mitigation while partnering cross-functionally to support business objectives, technical requirements, and product roadmaps.

A key aspect of this role is identifying, assessing, and mitigating countries of origin (COO), rare earth element (REE), critical mineral, geopolitical, and regulatory risks to strengthen enterprise supply chain resilience.

• Develop and execute multi-year category strategies focusing on rare earths and critical minerals to drive cost reduction, supply continuity, risk mitigation and compliance
• Serve as the category SME, partnering with internal stakeholders to align sourcing strategies with business objectives, technical requirements, and product roadmaps
• Monitor market conditions, supplier capabilities, geopolitical risks, trade regulations, and emerging technologies to inform category strategy and sourcing decisions
• Lead supplier diversification, strategic negotiations, and long-term agreements to strengthen supply resilience and maximize enterprise value
• Influence cross-functional teams and suppliers to drive design-to-value ideation, joint process improvement, and enhanced innovation
• Develop market insights through research and data, industry developments, supply/demand dynamics, emerging technologies, and leading-edge practices
• Drive supplier risk management, traceability, and due diligence to ensure compliance with sourcing restrictions, import/export controls, and regulatory requirements
• Manage strategic supplier relationships, performance reviews, and escalations to improve accountability, quality, service, and delivery
• Apply procurement levers and analytics such as supplier rationalization, should-cost modeling, make-vs.
  
  -buy, and inventory optimization to deliver value
• Partner cross-functionally with engineering, R&D, quality, legal, and operations to support innovation, NPI execution, and overall category performance
• Assess supplier and platform risks, develop appropriate contingency plans, and drive inclusion into the overall decision-making process

• Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of 9 years of prior relevant experience;
  Or, Graduate Degree and a minimum of 7 years of prior related experience;
  Or, in lieu of a degree, a minimum of 13 years of prior related experience

• Strong analytical, negotiation, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills
• Ability to influence without direct authority and manage multiple strategic priorities simultaneously
• Experience working with forecasting, demand planning, and supplier capacity alignment processes
• Comprehensive knowledge of Category Management and Strategic Sourcing processes
• Experience in the Aerospace & Defense (A&D) industry preferred, with specific FAR/DFARS experience
• Self-managed/m…