Manager, Category Management (Shared Services)

Our vision is to provide clean, secure, and affordable energy to the world.  This vision underpins our commitment to respond to the world's shared energy challenges - expanding the global supply of energy, improving our quality of life, and supporting the transition to a lower-carbon future.  The energy we make is Liquid Natural Gas (LNG).  We began operations in 2016, and we are already the largest producer of LNG in the United States and the second largest LNG operator in the world.

At Cheniere, we provide the world with safe, reliable energy in the form of LNG.  But more than that, we provide opportunities for our employees to make an impact on their local communities every day. Our diversity is key to our continued success and forges a path where our culture supports greater equity and inclusion for our employees, customers and beyond. 

Cheniere Supply Chain Management (SCM) is shaping our future with a focused transformation program.  We are mobilizing to establish an agile and resilient supply chain that is fit to support our company's growth.  The Cheniere SCM team are accountable to support our business partners to create value, mitigate risk and assure security of supply.   We are building a team of SCM professionals that not only deliver value today but create a more agile and resilient supply chain for the future.   

POSITION OVERVIEW

This is a critical position that primarily supports the Cheniere Shared Services organization however, for select categories it will also interfaces with Operations, Pipeline and Engineering & Construction businesses with the development and deployment of Category Strategies.  In doing so, the manager will work closely with business partners to source, select, contract, and manage supplier relationships.  Additionally, this position will be responsible for integrating new business processes, sourcing, and contracting principles and systems being developed through our SCM transformation.  

This is a non-DOT position.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND ESSENTIAL DUTIES

The Category Management Manager is responsible for: 

• Managing a team of Supply Chain professionals. 
• Integrating and working lock-in-step with business partners in the Shared Services, Operations, Pipeline and Engineering & Construction businesses. 
• Delivering the selection of suppliers for material and equipment used in the construction and maintenance of the LNG and Pipeline facilities.  
• Engaging with Category Management, Purchasing, and business partners to deliver strategies to meet business needs and supply market capability. 
• Implementing contracts for use by the business and purchasing teams. 
• Maintaining supplier performance and commercial contract documentation. 
• Driving compliance, continuous improvement, and value delivery.   

Leadership

• Provides leadership in the management of the team's category portfolio, value delivery, data integrity and communication.
• Leads, coaches, and performance manages team's quality of work, and career development.
• Communicates with business stakeholders to align the strategic intent of supplier relationships, category or sourcing strategies and the business needs.
• Proactively influences senior leaders to gain alignment and access to appropriate resources.
• Coordinates business specific interests while leveraging Cheniere's scope and scale.
• Supports innovation and introduction of changes considering internal and external market challenges.
• Ensures the timeliness and quality of sourcing and contracting.
• Provides assurance for team performance, quality of work, data management and capability development related to their Sourcing, Competitive bidding, Contracting and category implementation.

Stakeholder Management

• Acts as the primary interface for all 3rd party spend in the category for the Business and SCM.
• Owns business relationships and collaborates with their teams to provide thought leadership and way-of-working that drive category and contract management best practices.
• Supports cross-team workload balancing to assure SCM services are delivered with quality and timely response.
• Develops supplier management plans for category-specific suppliers, to manage internal and external relationships focused on enhancing collaboration and value.
• Manages targeted supplier relationships for the Category. 
• Champions supplier innovation with business stakeholders and leadership to contribute to Cheniere's future success.
• Supports Contract Owners to gather performance feedback for effective contractor and supplier management (per Cheniere's Operating Management Systems element 9.1).

Category Strategy and Implementation

• Provides input to the development of comprehensive Category Strategies.
• Integrates and connects demand planning, materials management, inventory strategy, contract call-off, buying and invoice requirements to deliver the Category.
• Ensures the category activities are compliant with local laws/regulations, policies and SCM functional policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Implements end-to-end category strategies - from the development of the strategy, through the implementation and benefits realization of that strategy.
• Provides expertise within their category portfolio, with an intimate knowledge of the supply market dynamics, the latest thinking on new technologies, disruption, and innovative commercial contracting.
• Ensures spend coverage, timeliness and quality of all contracts required for safe, reliable, and competitive business operations

Sourcing, Contracting, and Contract Management 

• Ensures all category specific sourcing & contracting is delivered in a compliant, timely, and accurate manner.
• Performs negotiations to establish contracts with qualified suppliers, to secure equipment, materials, and services on time at optimum cost for the Company.
• Drafts, evaluates, negotiates, and executes contracts (several types, including lump sum [firm, fixed price], time based, and multi-year contracts).
• Maintains an awareness of supplier activity to ensure supply of materials, equipment, and services required for current and future needs.
• Ensures contractual records and documentation for all suppliers are maintained in the appropriate systems.
• Supports the Delivery Purchasing team in the establishment of Contract Purchase Agreements (CPA's) and Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA's) as appropriate for the business and supplier contracts.
• Supports the Delivery Purchasing team to establish transactional purchases against established contracts.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Understanding of LNG or Oil & Gas plant or pipeline experience.
• Understanding of capital project stage gate processes.
• Experience managing teams of direct and indirect reports. 
• Advanced knowledge of Category Management strategies, sourcing, contracting, and purchasing. 
• Hands-on experience with sourcing, negotiation of service contract provisions, commercial terms, and contract management. 
• Hands-on experience with source-to-contract and purchase to pay systems i.e. Oracle, SAP, GEP, Coupa, JDE, etc.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Education and Certifications:  

• A bachelor's degree in supply chain management or related business. MBA is preferred.   

Experience: 

• A minimum of ten (10) years hands on experience in Category Management, strategic sourcing, managing teams, engaging business partners and suppliers in the processes associated with, contracting, contract management and supplier management, developing Request for Quotations and bid evaluations.

CM Manager (Shared Services) shall have experience with the following spend categories or another relevant category experience:

• The following teams and categories are included in the Shared Services team: Information Technology, Human Resources, Business Consulting, Security (digital/physical), Facilities Management, Health & Safety, Emergency Response, Environmental, Industrial Cleaning, Public and Government Affairs, Marketing, and other misc. corporate services. 

DIRECT REPORTS

• Yes, team of SCM professionals.

WORK CONDITIONS

• Physical Area: Our Houston office is located in the heart of downtown and we offer free parking or a metro ticket to get here. With all corporate teams at the same location, there's always a buzz around the office. You'll have dedicated desk space and plenty of human interaction.
• Facilities and hardware: Our offices are modern, bright, and designed to foster collaboration. You'll have access to great IT equipment and support and can readily access the downtown tunnels, restaurants, and gyms. You may occasionally need to travel to our sites at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christy and those sites are governed by FTZ regulations which does include drug and alcohol testing. 
• Working conditions: Cheniere is committed to improving the wellbeing of our employees and while you may on occasion need to work outside usual working hours, we aspire to provide a good work life balance for all.
• Company culture: So, what's the culture like at Cheniere? It's our values-teamwork, respect, accountability, integrity, nimbleness, and safety-at work. We're happy when we hear employees say we have a great culture. But we're not satisfied with building a great culture, we're endeavoring to build the best culture.

ADA JOB REQUIREMENTS

Reasonable accommodation will be made to ensure that the essential functions of the job can be performed and not hinder the employee's performance due to physical, mental, or emotional disability.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Cheniere Energy is an equal opportunity workplace. All employment decisions are made without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other legally protected categories. This includes providing reasonable accommodation if requested for disabilities or religious beliefs and practices.