Director, Category Management

Job Title: Director Category Management

Location: Columbus, OH (preferred) & Merrillville, IN

Hybrid

Schedule:

Onsite Tuesday - Thursday

The Director Category Management leads the design, development and execution of the NiSource Supply Chain Category Management strategy and all associated category-level strategies. The Director manages a team of professionals to support the supply chain needs of NiSource stakeholders in a high-quality, consistent and cost-effective manner. By optimizing category strategies, fostering supplier innovation, advocating for Economic Inclusion, and driving cost efficiencies, the Director Category Management plays a critical role in ensuring a resilient, cost-effective, and sustainable supply chain.

* The Director Category Management is responsible for managing the largest spend category at NiSource and all things related to provide procurement services for our Gas business

• Owns overall accountability for strategic sourcing and category management strategy to support the business partner goals and objectives
• Promotes Economic Inclusion strategies and reinforces their value in category management strategies
• Leads diverse team of qualified individuals with authority to hire, terminate, promote, demote, coach, develop and performance manage
• Leads the collaboration with Strategic Sourcing & Procurement and Economic Inclusion teams to execute on ongoing Supplier Relationship Management programs across all categories and facilitate desired outcomes including supplier sourcing and contract negotiation activities
• Engages with Category Management leaders in other industries to explore the applicability of strategies and tactics
• Collaborates with Supply Chain leaders and key business partners to gain a comprehensive understanding of business requirements and Supply Chain's role in to effectively assess risk levels, manage supply continuity, develop contingency plans and establish risk management strategies to mitigate risk
• Defines the standard for business knowledge for the Category Management team and supports team member engagement with the business via experiential learning, local engagement and close partnership
• Continuously identifies and implements strategies and improvement initiatives to reduce cost, improve quality and result in a lower total cost of ownership
• Owns Category Management KPIs and reports performance to leadership (e.g., TCO, category spend under management, purchase price variance, on-time delivery, etc.)
• Develops forecasts and implementation plans to ensure category strategy goals are achieved
• Continuously evaluates supplier performance and creates and leads teams to improve supplier performance as necessary
• Conducts external research to stay abreast of the supply market trends and their potential application at Ni Source
• Analyzes category spend management opportunities and deploys appropriate strategic plans
• Explores ways to leverage advanced analytics/AI to identify performance improvement opportunities and optimize strategies

• Bachelor level degree from an accredited institution required (following fields are preferred: Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Finance, Technology)
• 10+ years supply chain and category management experience
• 5+ years of experience leading category management teams
• Experience managing critical suppliers and associated contractual agreements
• Proven track record of delivering results and achieving goals in a collaborative/matrixed environment
• Current knowledge of leading supply chain practices and benchmarks
• Ability to build and maintain trusted relationships with leaders within and outside the company
• Highly developed strategic thinking, decision-making, conflict resolution and relationship building
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, including experience delivering presentations and recommendations to Executive Leadership
• Demonstrated leadership and ability to build support and consensus
• Proven cost management skills and financial acumen
• Experience assessing business risks and ability to identify, problem solve and drive innovative solutions
• Experience with supply chain and/or ERP applications (e.g., Ariba, Coupa, SAP, etc.)
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, BI
• Travel requirement: some travel to all states of the footprint with construction teams for projects as needed (quarterly business reviews with main suppliers held in Columbus)

• MBA
• Category Management experience in the Utilities or Telecommunications industries
• Experience/certification in performance improvement methods (e.g., Lean and/or Six Sigma)
• Advanced certifications:
  Portfolio Management Professional (PMP), CIMP/CSCP, CPA

• Standing
  - Occasionally
• Walking
  - Occasionally
• Sitting
  - Constantly
• Lifting
  - Rarely
• Carrying
  - Rarely
• Pushing
  - Rarely
• Pulling
  - Rarely
• Climbing
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• Balancing
  - Rarely
• Stooping
  - Rarely
• Kneeling
  - Rarely
• Crouching
  - Rarely
• Crawling
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• Reaching
  - Rarely
• Handling
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