Senior Category Specialist

About us

THIS POSITION IS OPEN TO CANDIDATES WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE OF WALTHAM, MA; SYRACUSE, NY; ALBANY, NY; BROOKLYN, NY; HICKSVILLE, NY

At National Grid we are committed to delivering safe and reliable energy to the customers and communities we serve. We are one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world. We are proud of the contributions our work and our people make to the prosperity and wellbeing of our customers, communities and investors.
 

We are currently looking for highly motivated individuals with critical thinking skills who want to join a dynamic and fast paced organization going through a major transformation. If you are someone who’s looking to bring innovation, contribute ideas and play a part in renewing the global procurement organization we want to hear from you! 
 

Job Purpose

The Senior Category Specialist is a key role within the Strategic Sourcing Organization on the US Procurement Team. The Senior Analyst will support Sourcing and Vendor Management efforts with data and analytics relative to Category Strategies & Management, Team metrics and Sourcing Events. Forward looking in nature, this role interacts with all levels of the organization to support strategic initiatives, enable team capabilities and identify and promote data-driven innovations to deliver long term value.
 

Key Accountabilities

Work with sourcing team to establish clear business needs, applying forward thinking skills to set long term strategies.  Strong conceptual, strategy skills with the demonstrated ability to execute and deliver result ; Monitor risks, issues, and performance of departments with respect to annual priorities.; Experience creating executive level presentations. The right candidate will have strong analytical and problem-solving skills and the ability to balance and prioritize multiple assignments. Experience should include exposure to analytics, category management, procurement process management, financial analysis and continuous improvement methodologies.   
 

Category Management & Strategy Support
•    Perform in-depth internal and external research, analysis and summarization of regional, national, and global market and commodity short and long-term trends.  
•    Develop expertise of market drivers; build robust predictive models.; Benchmark with other energy providers to assess best industry practices
•    Leverage market research tools in assessing supplier competitive environment and market risks and opportunities (SWOT analysis) and to inform negotiations and Category Strategies.   
•    Research and identify potential new suppliers for sourcing initiatives
 

Procurement Process and Project Management
•    Manage key performance metrics; report results, troubleshoot KPI’s with off- track performance
•    Leverage Process Excellence principals to ensure continuous improvement opportunities are identified.  Lead project teams to drive improvement initiatives, preparing detailed plans, tracking project performance, mitigating risks and assuring timely completion of deliverables      
•    Lead development and continuous improvement of business resiliency programs (strategic supplier risk, compliance assessment and mitigation); master associated technology
•    Support assurance and compliance programs
 

Systems and Analytics
•    Analyze large data sets and extract information for strategic decision making
•    Extract data from multiple data sources and apply statistical methods to understand, measure and provide insights about spending trends, supply base performance and value opportunities
•    Develop and monitor performance metrics; Evaluate and summarize data into quantifiable measurements/KPIs with corresponding trending, reporting and deep dive root cause analysis where appropriate
•    Build robust quantitative models that incorporate sensitivity / scenario analysis 
 
 

Qualifications

•    Highly-analytical; Able to draw conclusions and identify opportunities from disparate sources of data. Demonstrated ability to “boil down” intricate data and put into lay terms 
•    Ability to identify complex problems and challenges, analyze the root cause and identify, test and implement innovative solutions 
•    Strong research, problem-solving and data interpretation skills
•    Demonstrated effective communications, engagement and change management skills
•    Results orientated with a proven track record of effectively meeting deadlines
•    Ability to lead a cross-functional project team to deliver tangible business benefits 
•    Influencer within the organization with ability to push for continuous improvement
•    Bachelor’s degree (B.A or B.S.) in supply chain, finance, business, data science or technical discipline or equivalent experience required.
•    Minimum 5 years experience in analytics and business intelligence modelling, category management or procurement process improvement. 
•    Expertise in Ariba Sourcing and Spend, SAP and SAP BI, database tools, advanced Excel and Power Point required.  
•    Microsoft Project or similar project planning software experience preferred.  
•    Working knowledge of Lean Sigma or other Performance Excellence tools preferred. 
•    Equivalent combination of education and extensive subject matter expertise along with procurement process experience may be accepted as a satisfactory substitute for the education requirements listed
 
Additional valued experience
•    MS, MBA, or Advanced degree 
•    Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills
•    Strong collaboration skills
•    Ability to embrace and drive change

More Information

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