Manager - Purchasing

At Cleco, we're not just powering lives-we're powering a cleaner, smarter future for Louisiana.With bold investments in innovative energysolutions, we're transforming how we power our communities: smarter, cleaner, and more sustainable.

This is a long-term commitment to our people and our communities because our future-and the future of generations to come-depends on it. If you're ready to make an impact where it matters most, join us at Cleco
- where we're Energizing Your Tomorrow.

The Manager - Purchasing is critical to the Supply Chain's ability to align with broader corporate goals related to finance, reliability, and safety. Responsible for developing strategic approach to the corporate procure-to-pay (P2P) process with a focus upon adding value and efficiency. This leadership role directs the procurement of goods and services for the stakeholder as well as guides a team that will have the tactical responsibility for execution of procurement strategies, policies, and procedures through the purchase of goods and services.

Demonstrate excellent leadership and communication skills that will foster collaboration with key stakeholders. Achieves results by directing, overseeing, coordinating procurement activities and developing team members responsible for procurement.

• Champions a corporate culture that emphasizes transparency, integrity, safety, environmental responsibility, employee development, sense of belonging , customer service, and operational excellence
• Leads the procurement group with the execution and monitoring of key functions such as supplier enablement, supplier diversity , requisitioning, PO execution, receipt to payment, and supplier master data management
• Owns and administers the overall procurement strategy, processes, policies, procedures, systems, and metrics, ensuring alignment with key stakeholders
• Leads ongoing support and training for P2P processes and systems; serves as subject matter expert on P2P process and technologies
• Manages transactional procurement compliance through enabling technologies and standardized processes, promoting P2P compliance and resolving chronic issues and concerns
• Promotes best practice end-to-end transactional procurement throughout the business, communicating significant changes to stakeholders
• Identifies risks and challenges across the transactional processes and enabling technologies and serves as escalation for staff to report risks, ensuring business expectations, goals and objectives are understood and met; escalating to functional leadership, when necessary
• Establishes and maintains productive work relationship with internal stakeholders and leverages these to identify improvement opportunities
• Collaborates closely with Category Management to maximize strategic supplier alliances and minimize off-contract spend
• Reviews and approves team project plans, oversees project execution, balances projects between short & long-term focus, secures alignment with cross-functional partners
• Provides lea dership, influence change, and driving the overall definition and execution of procurement initiatives required to achieve efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation objectives
• Assists in Supply Chain Management governance process by providing regular communication to Director of Supply Chain, including status of project activities, identification of risk, key metrics, and resourcing needs.
• Owns and oversee s the development of governance, standards, procedures, processes and metrics frameworks ensuring alignment w ith broader function frameworks
• Oversees and manages the performance of procurement staff; lead s and guide s the work of technical staff, monitor progress, develop their skills and hold them accountabl e to defined project milestones.

• Required Education , Skills & Experience
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management , Business or related field
• 7-10 + years of related experience
• 2
  -5 + years people management experience , preferred
• Knowledge and expertise in the end-to-end procure
  -to-pay process in order to develop and execute strategies focused upon process optimization, automation, productivity, cost savings, and risk management.
• Thorough knowledge of SAP, specifically experience creating business processes and leading integration project initiatives in Procurement.
• Knowledge of standard procurement business practices and professionalism
• Excel at delivering change management to ensure the change is sustainable and the benefits are realized
• Demonstrate critical thinking by actively and skillfully listening, analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information from multiple sources and perspectives to reach an effective solution
• Ability to interact with all levels of employees to address difficult issues
• Ability to manage high workloads and conflicting priorities
• Ability to operate effectively and proactively with an employee centric mindset
• Detailed-oriented and high work standards in support of seamless execution
• Strong analytical and…