Lead Category Manager

In short

Would you like to shape what category management looks like within an international organisation while staying closely involved in the most important commercial challenges? At Chane, you have the opportunity to do both.

As Lead Category Manager, you provide professional direction to the Category Management team while remaining actively involved in strategic categories, suppliers and contracts. You help Chane take the next step from tactical procurement towards professional and proactive category management.

This means you will not be joining an environment where everything has already been fully defined. Category management at Chane is continuing to develop, and you will play an important role in shaping it. Drawing on your experience, you will work together with the Procurement Manager and Category Managers to develop an approach that suits our international organisation and creates visible value for our terminals.

Where will you be working

Chane Terminals is active in the storage and handling of liquid bulk products at terminals located in various European ports. As an organisation, we are increasingly developing into one international company where we make better use of our knowledge, scale and collective strength.

Procurement plays an important role in this development. By combining demand across terminals, taking a more strategic approach to suppliers and making better use of market intelligence, we can capture commercial opportunities, manage risks and further strengthen our services.

As Lead Category Manager, you report to the Procurement Manager. You work closely with Category Managers and maintain strong relationships with colleagues across our terminals and various central functions. You ensure that Procurement is involved early in future needs and increasingly operates as a commercial business partner.

Representative activities

In this role, you combine professional leadership with direct responsibility for your own categories. You coordinate the team, set priorities together with the Procurement Manager and remain actively involved in strategic sourcing, negotiations, contracts and supplier management.

You provide direction to the Category Management team.

You help Category Managers develop from tactical buyers into proactive commercial partners for the organisation. By;

Coordinating priorities and activities within the Category Management teamAllocating categories and activities in consultation with the Procurement ManagerCoaching and developing Category Managers based on your professional expertiseSupporting complex commercial matters and acting as the first point of contact for escalationsEncouraging a way of working in which Procurement is involved early in the needs of the terminals

You build strong category strategies

For your own categories, you are responsible for developing and executing commercial procurement strategies that support Chane's business strategy. You bring together internal needs, spend, market developments and supplier risks and translate these into clear decisions. This includes:

Developing and implementing category strategies and procurement plansAnalysing spend and requirements across ChaneMonitoring market developments, regulations and risks within the supply chainUsing benchmarking and market intelligence to identify commercial opportunitiesTranslating your analyses into concrete sourcing decisions and proposals for the terminalsMonitoring category performance and reporting on results

You create commercial value

You are personally involved in key sourcing processes and negotiations. You look beyond price alone and balance cost, risk, quality, performance and continuity.

Lead tenders and other strategic sourcing processesConduct complex commercial and contractual negotiationsCombine demand from different terminals to make better use of Chane's scaleDevelop framework agreements that can be used across multiple locationsProactively approach terminals with proposals based on your category analysesFocus on total cost of ownership and sustainable commercial value

You build strong supplier relationships

Within your categories, you are responsible for key suppliers and strategic contracts. This means you:

Develop and maintain strategic supplier relationshipsTake responsibility for contract management throughout the full contract lifecycleMonitor and discuss supplier performanceOrganise and lead supplier reviewsResolve complex supplier issues and escalationsEnsure reliable and usable contract information is maintained in Navision

You connect Procurement with the organisation

A strong category strategy only works when it reflects what the organisation needs. That is why you work closely with stakeholders across the terminals and central functions.

You understand their operational needs, involve them in commercial decisions and build support for new agreements, contracts and suppliers.

You know how to bring different interests together and clearly demonstrate which commercial choices create the greatest value for Chane as a whole.

What do you bring to the table

We are looking for an experienced procurement professional with strong knowledge of category management and experience working in a complex, multi location organisation.

Around 10 to 15 years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing or category managementExperience developing and executing commercial category strategiesExperience providing professional guidance and coordinating professionals, including teams working across different locationsA strong track record in commercial negotiations, contract management and spend analysisKnowledge of modern category management principles and the process from business need to contractExperience with stakeholder management in a matrix organisation and with operational stakeholdersStrong analytical skills that enable you to translate internal needs, spend and external market intelligence into commercial decisionsA master's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering or a comparable fieldExcellent command of English and at least one of the local languages used at our terminals, such as Dutch, French, Spanish or Portuguese

A professional procurement qualification or certification, for example through CIPS, NEVI or the Inkoopacademie, is a strong advantage. Experience with Lean Six Sigma or additional training in analytics is also welcome.

What do we offer

You will take on a role with significant influence on the further development of Procurement within Chane.

A key role in the further professionalisation of category managementThe opportunity to help shape a new way of working within ChaneA combination of professional leadership and your own commercial responsibilityAn international working environment where you collaborate with different terminals and disciplinesPlenty of room for initiative, ownership and personal developmentAn excellent employment packageDevelopment opportunities within Chane and through our own Chane Academy

We sparked your interest?

Would you like to use your experience to take category management at Chane to the next level while staying close to commercial practice? We would be pleased to meet you.