Category Lead - Senior

• Contracting experience ??? 7-10 years
• Intermediate to senior level
• RFP ??? 7-10 years
• Bidding & negotiations experience
• Direct Experience, non-IT
• Construction experience, large projects
• Qualifications:
• Bachelor???s degree from an accredited college or equivalent work related experience ??? Proven track record to deliver results and achieve goals ??? Demonstrated ability to develop effective working relationships with others ??? Experience leading cross-functional teams ??? Ability to build support and consensus ??? Proven financial acumen and analytical abilities Preferred: MBA ??? Certified Procurement Manager (CPM) ??? Three years of leadership experience ??? Experience managing large supplier agreements ??? Experience working in a Shared Services organization ??? Supply Chain experience in the utility industry ??? Knowledgeable in category management and strategic sourcing practices

• Establishing, leading/facilitating and supporting cross functional category management teams to develop and maintain category plans and ongoing category performance ??? Developing deep knowledge and experience within assigned spend management responsibilities ??? Developing spend/performance and external market analyses to monitor category performance and identify performance improvement opportunities ??? Developing spend and savings/performance improvement forecasts to monitor progress and ensure goals are achieved ??? Developing plans to capture identified opportunities ??? Defining category requirements through collaborative efforts with respective stakeholder groups ??? Collaborating with stakeholder groups to develop consensus on the appropriate category plans and priorities ??? Leading performance improvement initiatives defined by the category plan including strategic sourcing and other performance improvement initiatives ??? Establishing, leading/facilitating and supporting cross functional strategic sourcing/performance improvement teams as needed/prescribed by category plans to achieve savings and performance targets (e.g

reduce cost, improve quality and result in a lower total cost of ownership, meeting supplier diversity goals) ??? Leading negotiations with suppliers as needed ??? Maintaining critical supplier agreements including renewals, negotiation of terms, issue identification, tracking and resolution Supplier Management responsibilities include: ??? Developing and maintaining supplier criticality ratings and managing resulting critical supplier relationships ??? Managing supplier relationships including conducting Quarterly Business Reviews with critical suppliers and NiSource Executive Sponsors Stakeholder Management responsibilities include: ??? Developing successful partnerships with key stakeholders / business partners to achieve desired results ??? Developing and managing cross-functional category management and strategic sourcing teams as needed ??? Collaborating with stakeholders to drive needed decisions to achieve desired results

The candidate will need to be local in Valparaiso, IN