Specialist - Senior Category Manager - Consulting

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world's most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions. Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure:
Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide. With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Major Duties :

• Develops best-in-class procurement and category management practices enterprise-wide, including: effective sourcing and overall procurement strategies; processes and infrastructure to effectively manage procurement activities across all spending categories; sustainable purchasing methods, delegating tactical and administrative tasks as appropriate.
• Works with Category Managers to establish and communicate category strategy and provide updates on adherence to strategy.
• Mentors Category Managers on the approach and resources to educate themselves in their industry and expand their knowledge base.
• Develops, implements and communicates an overall strategy to meet both the Business Unit's and Corporation's strategic plan.
• Establishes periodic strategic reviews with executive leadership to promote top down alignment and best practices with clients.
• Leads and manages sourcing events (e.g. Request for Proposal, Request for Information, Request for Quote, Renewals, New Product negotiations) and the sourcing process, including project management, development of RFx, negotiations and award process.
• Responsible for contract review, drafting and creation of various agreements, including NDAs, Master Agreements, Statements of Work, etc. and leading all aspects of contract & price negotiations and ongoing contract administration.
• Responsible for adherence to procurement processes and procedures.
• Supports supplier adherence to contracts, manages suppliers via supplier activity reporting and business/performance reviews, supports supplier scorecards, supplier rationalization and demand management opportunities.
• Supports regulatory and compliance requirements (e.g. OFAC, FCPA, Spend Analysis, Client Relationships).
• Manages reporting of Procurement performance metrics, and provides ongoing support for internal and external audit requests.
• Establishes and maintains relationships with key partners, education on policy/guidelines and resolving related purchasing issues.
• Utilizes Contract Management System for systematic organization and classification of contracts.
• Interacts with business and Partners to formulate and implement strategy and solutions to enhance existing services, create new services or improve processes. Identifies impact of changes and processes; facilitates acceptance of change through training and communication. Provides ongoing support for the solution.

• Requires specialized depth and/or breadth of expertise in Strategy Sourcing and Category Management best practices.
• Interprets internal/external business challenges and recommends best practices to improve products, processes or services.
• An experienced Procurement Consultant to provide end-to-end category management, strategic sourcing, and procurement of indirect procurement categories (consulting & professional services category experience is a plus) on a global scale under general supervision (but will work independently most of the time).
• Communicates difficult concepts and negotiates with others to adopt a different point of view.
• Ability to act as a catalyst for change and improvement.

• Master's Degree in Business, Supply Chain Management or Finance is preferred.
• Fifteen or more years' experience in Sourcing or Procurement related field or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• MBA or other advanced degree and a professional Procurement/ Supply…