Strategic Sourcing Manager

JOB SUMMARY: We are seeking an experienced and Strategic Sourcing Manager for North America to lead our NA strategic sourcing activities. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in supply chain management, excellent negotiation skills, and the ability to develop and maintain supplier relationships across multiple regions.

Job Responsibilities

• Strategic Sourcing & Cost Savings: Develop and execute comprehensive sourcing strategies for chemical raw materials, packaging, and indirect categories to achieve aggressive Year-over-Year (YoY) cost savings targets.
• Vendor Negotiation & Management: Aggressively negotiate pricing, terms, and contracts with domestic and international suppliers. Build and maintain strategic relationships while holding suppliers accountable to strict KPIs.
• Data-Driven Analysis: Utilize advanced data analytics to evaluate spend data, total cost of ownership (TCO), market trends, and commodity pricing. Translate complex data into actionable sourcing strategies.
• Market Intelligence: Continuously monitor the chemical market, geopolitical factors, and supply chain disruptions to mitigate risks and identify new sourcing opportunities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with R&D, Manufacturing, Quality, and Finance teams to align sourcing strategies with business objectives and product specifications.
• Process Improvement: Identify bottlenecks in the sourcing process and implement streamlined, efficient, and scalable sourcing methodologies.

Required Education And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Business, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field. (Master’s degree or MBA is a plus).
• 8 to 10 years of progressive experience in strategic sourcing, or category management, specifically within the chemical, agrochemical, petrochemical, or related manufacturing sectors.
• Proven experience in delivering significant, quantifiable cost savings and value generation in previous role
• Advanced proficiency in Data Analysis (Excel, Power BI, Tableau, or similar tools).
• Experience with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle) and e-sourcing platforms.
• Excellent negotiation and communication abilities

Soft Skills Recquired

• Aggressive & Proactive Mindset: A true "go-getter" who takes ownership, anticipates challenges, and relentlessly pursues cost-optimization opportunities.
• Exceptional Negotiation Skills: Ability to close complex deals favorably and confidently manage difficult supplier conversations.
• Analytical Thinker: Highly proficient at breaking down complex spend data to uncover hidden savings opportunities.
• Agility & Resilience: Thrives in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment and adapts quickly to changing market conditions.

UPL COMPETENCIES

• Adaptability & Resilience: Recognizes and is open to changing circumstances and alters behavior and scales up as necessary; increases personal awareness and appreciation of individual and cultural differences to create an open, inclusive, and accepting workplace.
• Entrepreneurial Mindset: Has a creative mindset and ability to think holistically, takes calculated risks and maximizes opportunities.
• Results Orientations: Takes action, pursues goals with persistence and achieves results; communicates goals and vision to the team to drive enthusiasm and ambition.
• Execution Excellence: Enhances the speed of execution and builds efficiency in processes, systems and people; has sharp focus on quality-orientation.
• Strategic Orientation: Demonstrates knowledge of the social, economic, and environmental factors and how they impact the business. Identifies key issues that could impact the business and develops strategy through an analytical lens / design thinking.
• Building Teams and Talent: Empowers colleagues through knowledge sharing and delegation, quickly establishing rapport; provides recognition for achievements and accomplishments.
• Customer Centricity: Understands the customer needs and pain points, fulfills the needs and expectations by focusing on creating value for customers.