Head of Global Category - Plant & Operational Supplies / NPM Purchasing ContiTech

Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. In 2022, Continental generated sales of €39.4 billion and currently employs around 200,000 people in 57 countries and markets. The ContiTech group sector develops and manufactures, for example, cross-material, environmentally friendly and intelligent products and systems for the automotive industry, railway engineering, mining, agriculture and other key industries. Guided by the vision of “smart and sustainable solutions beyond rubber,” the group sector draws on its long-standing knowledge of the industry and materials to open up new business opportunities by combining various materials with electronic components and individual services. The Global Role Category Lead Plant Supplies is responsible for the worldwide strategic purchasing of plant and operational supplies, consumables and services essential for plant operations and its subcategories for all Contitech BAs. Reporting directly and functionally to the Head of Global Cluster Operational Supplies, this role also entails leading functionally a team of Global Category Managers and/or Category Buyers, and steers the implementation of the respective Category Strategy. By adopting a global approach, the role delivers added value across all Business Areas through: Sustainable total cost reduction, Support for internal quality initiatives, Optimization of payment terms, warranties, and liabilities, Ensuring global availability of materials and services, Enhancing data transparency and process efficiency, Strengthening relationships with strategic internal and external business partners (internally and externally). Tasks: MANAGEMENT (full) Functional leading of employees within the organization in accordance with Continental's "Leadership principles". Measure, report and control of objectives and target setting HR management of employees in the area of responsibility to ensure team success with motivated staff in alignment with Continentals core behaviours Actively supporting employees in complex and difficult cases to ensure the success of employees. STAKEHOLDER PARTNERSHIP (full) Act as interface and represent the interests of Continental and the Purchasing Community towards all internal and external stakeholders (e.g. Engineering, Plants, Suppliers) Understands the business and purchasing strategy to derive actions for own managed category Guide, support and train local and central stakeholders to execute with the right tools, methods and processes CATEGORY MANAGEMENT (full) Develop and sustain (supplier) strategy for respective integrated category in alignment with all relevant stakeholders and supervisors (e.g. Engineering, Regions, Plants) and in compliance with all relevant purchasing processes, guidelines and procedures Understand multiple data management systems and manage data analytics for the respective integrated category (identify spend profile and concentration, estimate / predict demand etc) Turns strategy into concrete actions and tangible goals as well as defining, monitoring and reporting relevant KPIs to track progress where applicable Ensures stakeholder satisfaction through transparent and early communication / involvement Drive the adoption of digital tools and procurement technologies (e.g., e-sourcing platforms, AI-driven analytics) to enhance efficiency, transparency, and decision-making. SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (shared) Analysis of the global supplier market and conduction of benchmark analysis to derive actions for the global supplier portfolio Maintains sustainable supplier relationship and conducts Strategic Supplier Meetings to deploy the global integrated category strategy Supports the steering the annual supplier evaluation and derives development programs where needed Performs annual and regular negotiations to constantly improve the cost situation for respective category, actively drives improvement or Total Cost of Ownership programs with suppliers Monitor if supplier acts in line with Continentals Business Partner Code of Conduct (BPCoC), responsible value chain (RVC) rules and processes and takes actions accordingly Supports the New Supplier Introduction Process SOURCE TO CONTRACT (full) Autonomous preparation, conduction and finalization of international negotiations for own integrated category including supplier decisions compliant with the relevant internal policies (incl. audit-compliant documentation) with the target to achieve the defined goals and a special focus on highest value creation (e.g. with support of Terms & Conditions (TCO) analysis) Drives make or buy scenarios, optimizes bundling effects and initiates Value-Engineering projects Conduct complaint and claim negotiations with special strategic interest which can’t be performed independently by the local units Effective management of contract lifecycle for both existing and new contract agreements - compliant with the relevant internal policies (incl. audit-compliant documentation) - in order to ensure performance, financial and operational success Ensure Compliance with Business Partner Code of Conduct, Continental Ethics and Values and all Corporate Guidelines PROJECT MANAGEMENT (full) Lead or participate in projects with relevance for owned category or within the purchasing organization SUSTAINABILITY (full) Integrate sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria into sourcing decisions, supplier selection, and performance evaluation Interfaces / Contacts: a) Internally* worldwide Purchasing Departments Central, BU- and Plant business area representatives (e. g. Maintenance, Engineering, FM, IT, Quality, SCM, Accounting, etc.) Special Dept's i.e. CEOS, Controlling, Legal, Audit, HR, etc. *incl. Management functions b) externally Suppliers: General Managers, Global Key Account Managers, Sales Representatives Business Partners, Associations, Lawyers, Insurances Requirements: Academic degree in economics, engineering or equivalent qualification Proper experience of the MS Office 365 programs as well as other relevant tools Fluent skills in English language, written and oral, further languages skills are beneficial (i.e. German, Spanish etc) Several years of relevant professional experience in Purchasing (or similar functions) in an international environment Advanced experience in project management and working in projects with an international scope Good experience in conducting negotiations with a global responsibilities Knowledge on purchasing processes (and/or relevant to the field) description and optimization Working experience in negotiating and operating with different cultures and international teams (e.g. on purchasing issues)