Category Manager Paper NA

Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY) is a global materials science and digital identification solutions company. We are Making Possible™ products and solutions that help advance the industries we serve, providing branding and information solutions that optimize labor and supply chain efficiency, reduce waste, advance sustainability, circularity and transparency, and better connect brands and consumers. We design and develop labeling and functional materials, radio frequency identification (RFID) inlays and tags, software applications that connect the physical and digital, and offerings that enhance branded packaging and carry or display information that improves the customer experience.

Serving industries worldwide — including home and personal care, apparel, general retail, e-commerce, logistics, food and grocery, pharmaceuticals and automotive — we employ approximately 35,000 employees in more than 50 countries. Our reported sales in 2024 were $8.8 billion. Learn more  .

Avery Dennison Materials Group North America is composed of 4 main businesses;
Label and Packaging Materials, Graphics Solutions, Reflective Solutions, and the Performance Tapes businesses.

The Category Manager - Paper is responsible for setting and implementing the procurement strategy for the Paper category in North America. The role will focus on ensuring competitiveness and value creation within the regional procurement spend while driving the 5 levers strategic plan that will enable spend and category optimization.

This position will be based out of Avery Dennison’s corporate headquarters in Mentor, Ohio and reports directly to Sr. Procurement Manager of Paper and Freight.

Critical Objectives:

• Strategic Leadership:
  Lead and implement Project Nova initiatives within assigned business
• Drive the functional transformation in sync with our Avery Dennison Plan to Win, our Material Groups Global Strategy and the 5 Levers Strategic Plan.
• Supplier Relationship Management:
  Manage supplier relationships and drive necessary quarterly business reviews driving holistic performance conversations.
• Deliver the latest thinking and best practices in the areas of strategic sourcing, cost modeling, supplier relationship development, and total cost of ownership.
• Strategy & Execution:
  With support from the Global & Regional Procurement Team as well as other cross functional partners, develop and implement long-term strategies that are geared toward developing competitive advantage in materials and reducing supply base risk.
• Creating Differentiation:
  Stay on the leading-edge of materials trends, creating first mover advantages and delivering innovation, new materials and new suppliers to the business.
• Provide Market Intelligence & enable actions:
  Share market, competitive, geo‑political intelligence on a regular basis in all aspects of the supply chain to enable the enterprise the necessary navigation.
• Drive Sustainability & Innovation:
  Work with Marketing, R&D and the greater Procurement team to determine future sourcing needs to extract maximum value from the supply base and develop sourcing plans to address the future direction of the business.
• Drive Fundamentals:
  Ensure value stream analysis, supplier roadmaps and cost models are robust and complete for the category. Liaison with the other regional and the global procurement teams managing global supply risk and help identify and qualify new sources of supply that are aligned with the subcategory procurement strategy and the business strategy.

Skills, Capabilities &

Qualifications:

• 7+ years purchasing or related experience with Supervision and Leadership experience
• Market/application/product knowledge of the paper label industry is a plus
• Excellent presentation, oral and written communication skills
• Proven vendor selection and negotiation skills with strong business acumen
• Relationship builder
• Strategic planning and project execution
• Innovative and sustainable thinker
• Prior experience leading complex RFx, supplier/vendor negotiations and developing contracts
• Possess leadership, mentoring, training and project management experience
• Ability to travel domestically and…