Category Manager, Procurement - Soft Goods

This is where you save and sustain lives
At Baxter, we are deeply connected by our mission. No matter your role at Baxter, your work makes a positive impact on people around the world. You'll feel a sense of purpose throughout the organization, as we know our work improves outcomes for millions of patients.
Baxter's products and therapies are found in almost every hospital worldwide, in clinics and in the home. For over 85 years, we have pioneered significant medical innovations that transform healthcare.
Together, we create a place where we are happy, successful and inspire each other. This is where you can do your best work.
Join us at the intersection of saving and sustaining lives- where your purpose accelerates our mission.
Your role at Baxter
The Category Manager, Soft Goods is responsible for developing sourcing strategies for this commodity and is a part of the Global Procurement Team. This role is responsible for the overall direction and management of the sourcing and strategic procurement for Soft Goods material spend and will develop supplier partnerships in accordance with the Soft Goods procurement strategies, establishing contracts to optimize value and minimize risk.
What you'll be doing

• Develop, lead, and maintain an in-depth global market knowledge of assigned commodities/ supplier technologies, manufacturing processes, and related industries: including cost drivers, global execution, to leverage across multiple manufacturing locations, and to understand specific supply issues.
• Act as a resource to operations teams, and others, using procurement knowledge.
• Define global subcategory segmentation and recommend the best consolidation strategy to demonstrate business volumes.
• Responsible for definition and implementation of assigned commodity strategy based on knowledge of regional markets, suppliers, and plants.
• Analyze and calculate most competitive manufacturing costs based on market trends and suggest strategies to decrease expenditure, including transfer office.
• Build and drive cost saving opportunities through competitive bidding, supplier development, continuous improvements, transfer office, etc. to meet established VIP goals.
• Act as a change agent to improve and monitor suppliers' performance through continuous improvements activities.
• Review supplier performance to ensure conformance to supplier management goals (cost, quality, service, delivery) Ensure timely resolution of all disputes.
• Negotiate purchase price, contract terms and conditions to deliver on spend cover by contracts.
• Support SWAT team in supplier recovery plan and disaster periods.
• Negotiate/Recoup all costs associated with rejects/defects, expedites, or shortages.
• Work with critical suppliers to improve current performance and develop new opportunities.
• Participate/lead cross functional teams to optimally drive sophisticated sourcing projects.
• Effectively manage long-term relationships with suppliers and internal partners.
• Support of business objectives for cycle/response time, quality assurance, technology/new product development, risk mitigation, and total cost.

What you'll bring

• Bachelor's Degree; MBA desirable. CPM preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant procurement experience preferably in foam, fabric, and contract manufacturing sourcing.
• Experience in a regulated and highly technical environment preferred, such as experience in the Automotive, Aerospace, OEM, and/or Medical Device industries.
• High level technical proficiency. Engineering or Technical training.
• Ability to think strategically and globally.
• Ability to manage diverse partner interests and expectations.
• In-depth category knowledge of Soft Goods, Soft Goods' processing, fabrics, foam, and contract manufacturing along with complex pricing highly desired.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as interpersonal, analytical and presentation skills.
• Risk management abilities required to drive innovative solutions and problem-solving resolution.
• Strong negotiator with background knowledge of costing tools such as material breakdown, benchmarking, cost modeling concepts, value engineering, sophisticated RFQ's and innovative purchasing tools.
• Strong project management skills to drive projects to closure.
• Knowledge of root cause analysis, continuous improvement, corrective and preventative actions, and supplier performance development and evaluation.
• Strong ability to influence and present strategy intra-company.
• Travel of 15-30% including international travel.

We understand compensation is an important factor as you consider the next step in your career. At Baxter, we are committed to equitable pay for all employees, and we strive to be more transparent with our pay practices. The estimated base salary for this position is $96,000 - $132,000 annually. The estimated range is meant to reflect an anticipated salary range for the position. We may pay more or less than of the anticipated range based upon market data and other factors, all of which are subject to change. Individual pay is based on upon location, skills and expertise, experience, and other relevant factors. This position may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses. For questions about this, our pay philosophy, and available benefits, please speak to the recruiter if you decide to apply and are selected for an interview.
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The successful candidate for this job may be required to verify that he or she has been vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to reasonable accommodations for individuals with medical conditions or religious beliefs that prevent vaccination, and in accordance with applicable law.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Baxter is an equal opportunity employer. Baxter evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, disability/handicap status or any other legally protected characteristic.
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