Category Lead

Reeves Construction Company, the Colas USA subsidiary that operates throughout the states North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Missouri, and Arkansas, has been a key partner in the infrastructure growth of the Southeast and Midwest since the companys founding in 1923. Reeves is a complete heavy civil highway and site development construction company dedicated to meeting the specific needs of the roadway, airport, bridge, and military market. Reeves prides itself on its high company standards of safety, ethics, and performance. To learn more about Reeves, visit www.reevescc.com.

Throughout Colas USA, we provide competitive pay, outstanding benefits, career advancement opportunities, professional education, and extensive training for every employee. We pride ourselves on upholding the highest standards of safety, environmental conservation, and ethical conduct as we strive to grow our infrastructure products and services through empowering and developing our people, fostering innovation, utilizing new technology, and maximizing vertical integration at all levels of the companys value chain. To learn more about the Colas USA Family of Companies, please visit www.colasusa.com.

Job Summary

The Category Lead will be responsible for managing categories of goods or services purchased by Colas USA. They will serve as an expert on these categories, understanding the entire supply chain and articulate the strategy to the rest of the Procurement team and business leaders throughout Colas USA and its subsidiaries. The Category Lead will analyze industry drivers, develop strategies, and oversee pricing and the sourcing process to improve profitability through cost reduction while maintaining supply for the business.

Responsibilities

• Develops a deep and comprehensive understanding of their category of products through data analysis and leverages this knowledge to better position the business.
• Manages and develops supplier performance, relationships, and agreements for their categories, while collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to create a competitive advantage for Colas.
• Manages cross-functional teams using analysis of historical spend data, market research, and cost modeling to identify and leverage high-value opportunities that deliver innovative and sustainable value, operational efficiencies, and risk mitigation to the business.
• Interacts with internal business partners to achieve involvement in procurement and proposal activities.
• Supports low carbon initiatives and works with stakeholders to identify and implement good solutions.
• Develops strategic long-term plans to manage and optimize their product categories.
• Coordinates sourcing activities with Corporate Procurement.
• Develops negotiation strategies for contracts, works with inside counsel to identify and incorporate appropriate levels of commercial protection, and conducts negotiations to achieve the best possible outcome for the business.
• Provides market and opportunity analysis to stakeholders.

Main Responsibilities (Continued)

• Prepares and negotiates contract terms and conditions for agreements.
• Analyzes contract documents to determine contractual obligations, and prepares recommendations regarding acceptance or modifications.
• Identifies, vets, and selects new vendors and services.
• Establishes and maintains professional relationships with suppliers based on the highest ethical business practices.
• Acts as the primary liaison to suppliers within your marketplace and uses market research and spend analysis tools to analyze supplier performance.
• Identifies and anticipates business needs; develops recommendations and solutions.
• Develops, manages, and influences implementation of policies related to supplier commitments.

Skills/Competencies

• Minimum 2-4 years of strategic sourcing experience in a large manufacturing environment with exposure to engineering, plant operations, and/or maintenance required.
• Sourcing experience in the indirect, fleet, construction equipment, manufacturing equipment, materials, and/or services is a plus.
• Balance of strong negotiation and relationship-building skills is a must.
• Experience with spend analysis to develop a sourcing strategy.
• Ability to demonstrate leadership in category management and the Strategic Sourcing Process.
• Execution-oriented, with a strong sense of urgency around tangible results.
• Networking and influencing skills.
• Project Management Skills - Ability to organize and execute tasks; manage multiple projects.
• Effective decision making.
• Well-developed communication and negotiation skills.
• Category strategy development and execution.
• Strong time management, organizational, and presentation skills.
• Ability to work under pressure with deadlines.
• Ability to transfer knowledge to others.
• Experience working with e-procurement tools.
• Ability to Travel 25-50% of the time to subsidiaries and supplier sites.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office specifically Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Education

• Bachelor's Degree Required, Master's Degree or M.B.A. preferred.

Colas Inc. and its subsidiaries are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

For details on the specifics of this commitment, please click here to view the EEO document.

If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to meet the requirements of the role in which you are applying, complete any part of the application process, access or use the online application process, and need an alternative method for applying, please contact Colas Inc. at or send an email to ColasRecruiter@colasinc.com.