Opportunity:
This role will be responsible for supporting the financial and operational performance within specific areas of IT Categories including a share of the $175M IT spend. Responsible for negotiating XaaS, telecom, infrastructure, security, AI, and IT service agreements globally, for all business units. Accountable for supporting the IT team with supplier selection, value analysis, and go/no go decisions. Serves as the liaison between legal, privacy, risk, IT and business stakeholders and supplier partners. Analyzes supplier quotations, SOWs and other contracts to determine the best solution based upon metrics such as value delivered and total cost of ownership. Familiar with a variety of purchasing concepts, practices, and procedures.
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES
Lead the development of Category Strategies
Learn and understand the current state of the category in the market and at KohlerIdentify gaps issues and challenges affecting assurance of supply, quality, service, cost, lack of innovation and relationshipsProactively identify future areas of opportunity to address cost, building a pipeline of value to be executed through a variety of sourcing and other approaches
Project Support and ManagementSupport the execution of IT and business projects and initiatives focused on driving and delivering value to the organizationDevelop sourcing strategies for cross-functional RFx, evaluation, supplier selection, proposal analysis, and contract negotiationManage and defend against cost increases at contract renewalImplement various negotiation tactics to minimize unfavorable risk and impact to KohlerEvaluate and support the addition of new providers and technology, and improved processes
Administration and Continuous ImprovementSupport the management of existing vendor relationships and performanceInteract with senior leaders and report on cost savings and avoidance, risk mitigation, and keep stakeholders informed of project developmentBecome an expert in understanding the procurement purpose and processDevelop key relationships with stakeholders and provide training and supportIdentify areas of improvement in the procurement team and process, and propose changes to make improvements happen
Required Competencies
Business/Technology
Contract ProficiencyUnderstand the importance of contract qualityProficient understanding of business and legal Interpretations of contract T&CsProven ability to manage various commercial and legal aspects of IT agreementsProficient in managing/leading the contract and sourcing process
Collaboration
Able to build and maintain key internal / external relationships critical to success, including those with senior leaders including directors, VPs and C-level officersComfortable collaborating with stakeholders on requirement gathering and executionGeneral understanding of IT solutions, concepts and termsAble to prioritize workloads due to actual level of urgency, and proactively keep stakeholders up to date
Negotiation
Experienced in negotiating the gamut of hardware, software licensing and services agreementsAbility to negotiate with varying degrees of negotiation power and leverageSkilled in cost analysis, with a focus on total cost of ownership and value deliveredDevelop and execute negotiation strategies for large opportunities
Interpersonal
Approach
Delight customers/stakeholdersStrong drive for resultsAbility to learn quicklyStrong degree of independence in workComfortable asking questions when unclearSolutions-oriented problem solving
Collaboration
Develop and maintain relationshipsAccept responsibility and be accountable for commitmentsCommunicate proactively, timely and effectively