Category Manager

Contract-to-Hire Opportunity San Antonio, TX

Our client is seeking an experienced Category Manager to support strategic sourcing and procurement initiatives across large-scale industrial and capital projects. This role will lead category management strategies focused on engineered equipment, bulk materials, OEMs, fabricators, and strategic supplier relationships while partnering closely with engineering, estimating, operations, and leadership teams.

The ideal candidate brings a strong background in strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, commercial negotiations, and procurement strategy within EPC, industrial construction, or engineering-driven environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate strategic sourcing events while serving as a subject matter expert for supply chain and procurement teams throughout the sourcing lifecycle
• Develop and execute category management strategies using utilization analysis, benchmarking, cost models, and enterprise spend data
• Establish category goals, KPIs, and performance metrics focused on savings, risk mitigation, supplier performance, and value delivery
• Partner with estimating, proposals, and sourcing teams to align pricing strategies, commercial models, indexing strategies, and risk mitigation approaches
• Analyze spend and utilization data while building dashboards and reporting tools to support forecasting and category performance tracking
• Monitor market trends and supplier markets to identify opportunities for cost optimization, supplier improvement, and risk reduction
• Ensure sourcing strategies align with operational objectives, compliance requirements, and enterprise priorities
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders, business leaders, and strategic suppliers
• Lead issue resolution and supplier escalations impacting category execution
• Define and implement supplier performance management standards aligned with sourcing strategies
• Develop sourcing guidelines, governance standards, and compliance guardrails for procurement activities
• Support Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) initiatives and long-term supplier engagement strategies
• Prepare and deliver presentations, reporting, and sourcing recommendations to senior and executive leadership
• Drive process improvements, training initiatives, and continuous improvement efforts across procurement functions
• Maintain proficiency with procurement and ERP systems including Oracle, PPMS, and third-party supplier platforms

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Business, or related field
• 5 7+ years of category management or strategic sourcing experience within EPC, industrial construction, manufacturing, or engineering environments
• Experience supporting large capital projects and sourcing engineered equipment, fabricated materials, OEM products, or bulk materials
• Proven experience developing and executing category strategies, spend analysis, cost modeling, and supplier performance initiatives
• Experience negotiating commercial agreements and managing supplier contracts
• Hands-on experience utilizing ERP or procurement systems for spend analysis and supplier management (Oracle preferred)
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills with engineering, estimating, operations, and executive leadership teams
• Strong analytical, negotiation, communication, and organizational skills

Preferred

• Experience supporting multiple industrial market sectors
• Experience working with external clients and engineering organizations
• Background supporting multi-year sourcing programs or large, complex capital projects
• Advanced analytical experience including commodity cost modeling, pricing analysis, and ROI evaluation