Category Manager - electronic materials and components

The Opportunity

As our Global Category Manager for Semiconductors in the US, you will take ultimate accountability for developing strategies and leading strategic initiatives for this volatile, high-stakes spend category. In this role, you will manage silicon foundries, chip designers, and global distributors, mitigate geopolitical supply risks, and translate category goals into long-term value and supply continuity.

Reporting Line: Directly reports to the Senior Global Category Lead Electronics & Systems within the Category organization.

Wider Team and Stakeholders: Engages directly with cross-functional teams composed of representatives from Category, Delivery, Procurement Center of Excellence, and global business partners. Serves as a key business partner contact point for senior functional and business stakeholders.

Role Type: An Individual Contributor role with global category leadership position focused on strategic vision, category development, pipeline building, and relationship ecosystem management.

Impact

You deliver commercial impact by anchoring cost and developing a resilience pipeline of projects, in addition to securing our sustainability priorities. Specifically, you are accountable for:

• Strategy & Annual Pipeline: Collating market intelligence, supplier data, and business requirements to formulate a formalized, global Category Strategy and initiative pipeline, to be aligned with leaders across the organization.
• Commercial Negotiations: Leading high-value commercial and contractual negotiations for strategic suppliers within the category.
• Supplier Ecosystems: Managing key global suppliers, establishing development and innovation programs, monitoring value targets, and managing supplier risks.
• Guidance & Content: Developing and maintaining category guidance documents to translate strategy into clear, executable content for procurement colleagues and business users.
• Business Partnering: Building deep relationships with senior stakeholders, challenging demand/specifications to maximize value, and managing risk/CSR reviews.
• Team & Budget Oversight: Coaching procurement colleagues, providing professional development, managing a shared Associate Category Manager within the team, and tracking budget spend.

Who you are

We look for strategic procurement champions with extensive knowledge of global electronics supply markets and the matrix leadership skills needed to drive complex organizational change.

• Education: Bachelor's degree required (Business or Life Sciences focus preferred); a post-graduate business-related qualification is preferred.
• Experience: 8+ years of in-depth strategic and operational procurement experience with extensive knowledge of category management and advanced strategic sourcing.
• Regulated Industry: 8+ years of overall business experience, working within a regulated industry like Diagnostics with familiarity of relevant legal and quality risks.
• Market Expertise: Deep subject matter knowledge of the semiconductor market, including foundry vs. fabless manufacturing dynamics, silicon wafer supply chains, microcontrollers, global allocation strategies, and semiconductor-specific risk-mitigation frameworks.
• Systems & Analytics: Expert proficiency in navigating enterprise systems, P2P tools, and procurement systems for sourcing events and contract negotiations (e.g., eSourcing, eAuction).
• AI & Digitalization: Advanced knowledge in AI application and a strong affinity to explore AI-driven solutions broadly, particularly regarding the digital transformation of operations (Digital 2.0 / Industry 4.0).
• Financial Acumen: Proven financial and business acumen, with grounding in total cost of ownership (TCO) and cost modeling.
• Leadership & Change: Strong communication, project management, and change management skills with a demonstrated ability to lead global cross-functional teams in a fluid environment.
• Languages: Business-level fluency in English is required.
• Travel: High flexibility and willingness to travel both domestically and internationally up to 30%.