Job Title: Procurement Category Manager – Warehousing & Freight

Function: Corporate Procurement

Reports to: Head of Global Procurement

Location: Dublin, Ireland

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WHY THIS ROLE IS VALUABLE:

The Procurement Category Manager will lead Ornua’s Warehousing & Freight category, embedding a global category‑led procurement strategy that strengthens supply chain resilience, delivers value, and enables growth.

Integral to the role is developing practices which deliver a low-cost supply base to continue offering a competitive product in a highly competitive market by leveraging the global scale of Ornua’s operations.

The candidate will be an experienced category manager, able to provide key contribution to our Procurement transformation, will have a proven track record of success in leading a significant spend portfolio within an EMEA / Global procurement organisation, and will be able to implement best practices in areas such as cost management, supplier relationship management, and category strategy development and execution.

Key Accountabilities:

Responsible for the development of a forward looking, Global Procurement Category Strategy for Warehousing and Freight aligned with overall procurement targets and our new Transformation for Growth strategy.
Develop and manage strategic partnerships with key third party providers ensuring optimal value creation for Ornua.
Lead global procurement initiatives through the Centre of Excellence for Warehousing and Freight
Understand the product portfolio and spend under management for the Warehousing and Freight category to guide strategic planning.
Deliver global and regional COVI initiatives (Cost Out Value In) through effective category management.
Serve as the escalation point for strategic supplier issues, ensuring consistent resolution, performance recovery, and business continuity
Ensure effective supplier relationship management through periodic KPI and business review processes.
Responsible for the development of a Warehouse Capacity Plan in conjunction with Supply Chain Operations that is aligned to the warehouse policy.
Drive alignment and consensus across global procurement, regional stakeholders, and the supplier base, balancing local operational needs with global scale and leverage.
Grow spend under global procurement management for assigned categories.
Manage risk by analysing current and future market conditions and defining contingency plans to ensure critical supply needs are met.
Responsible for the contracting process and proactively managing contract expiry consistent with legal, regulatory and procurement policies.
Act as the primary procurement interface to business units for Warehousing and Freight, ensuring supplier relationships align with global category strategy and business needs.
Managing transactional approvals and process/policy compliance.
Provide global commercial leadership and market intelligence to inform business decision making and future category strategies.
Understanding key cost drivers and monitoring global/regional risk and opportunity.
Able to travel on occasion both domestic and International.

Essential experience for the role:

Proven procurement Category Management Skills with deep knowledge in Warehousing and Freight.
You have developed and managed Warehousing & Freight Category strategies within FMCG, Dairy or Pharma sectors (currently managing a spend in excess of €100m).
Key relationship owner of external suppliers – lead all commercial discussions and escalations.
A successful track record leading negotiations & tendering processes
Proven negotiation and conflict management skills with the ability to resolve issues at all levels of management.

Previous experience leveraging e-procurement tools planning and leading RFI and RFP’s, e-Auctions.
CIPS or APICS or other Certification advantageous.

Competencies essential to the role:

Proficient stakeholder management across all levels of the organisation.
Strong supplier relationship manager.
Commercially astute.
Strong decision-making ability and team management skills.
Ability to define action plans to resolve programme/project issues and implement corrective actions where required.
Willingness to take on new spend categories.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATION: Thursday 23rd April

Procurement Category Manager

Job Description