Liaise with multiple departments such as Sales, Product Development, Scheduling, and Warehouse personnel to ensure alignment of activities and objectives; Responsible for managing purchasing categories; Plan, organize, manage, and evaluate specific categories; Direct the development of formal and informal bids for categories managed; Responsible for managing Category Manager(s) and maintaining oversight of each manager's categories; Ensures all applicable legal and contractual provisions are met; directs and participates in the solicitation, evaluation, and award of bids; performs or assists others in the performance of price/cost analysis; Strong understanding of MRP, Inventory Control, and Work Order Management in a manufacturing environment; Inventory Management; stays within company goals for all inventory metrics; Provides monthly reporting to Director of Purchasing for measuring goal attainment as directed from company and department KPIs; Maintains rapport and good working relationships with suppliers; Works in collaboration with Sales and Product Development to understand business needs, global market insights, risks, and opportunities with external and internal customers; Continues to develop supplier performance metrics by measuring Supplier Scorecards; Espouses a positive and productive work environment; Demonstrates professionalism in all interactions with others; Stays abreast of trends and advances applicable to commodity responsibilities; Follows cGMP guidelines and processes as established in department SOPs; Will complete other duties as assigned. Required Skills/Abilities: Strong communication skills, internal and external; Customer service and relationship management oriented; Analytical and good math skills; Take charge attitude and initiative; Effective negotiating skills; Experience that demonstrates attainment of goals and effectiveness in problem-solving; Basic understanding of terms and conditions; Familiarity with current industry good manufacturing practice requirements; Intermediate use of MS Office; Attention to detail; Able to aggregate information into a summary presentation for management review; Experience with ERP systems such as JDE.