Global Category Manager

Overview

Global Category Manager role focused on building and developing Vanderlande's supplier ecosystem in India, driving strategic sourcing initiatives and new business opportunities on a global scale.

What you'll do

• Develop and execute innovative sourcing strategies contributing to the overall ecosystem strategy.
• Identify, assess, and develop new suppliers capable of supporting both local and global business.
• Build a sustainable pipeline of qualified suppliers across strategic commodity areas.
• Support the expansion of local-for-local and local-for-global sourcing initiatives.
• Conduct supplier scouting activities and market assessments to identify new sourcing opportunities.
• Continuously monitor the Indian supplier market for new capabilities, technologies, capacity developments, and investment opportunities.
• Translate market insights into actionable sourcing recommendations.
• Identify innovative suppliers, technologies, and manufacturing capabilities that can strengthen Vanderlande's competitive position.
• Facilitate collaboration between suppliers and internal stakeholders to accelerate innovation adoption.
• Drive supplier involvement in early-stage development and value engineering activities.
• Coordinate supplier qualification and onboarding activities with Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Category Management.
• Lead sourcing projects where new supplier development is required.
• Ensure suppliers meet Vanderlande standards regarding quality, compliance, sustainability, and operational excellence.
• Lead and/or support strategic and complex sourcing events, including creation of sourcing projects within the S2P Suite, creation of RfX documents, evaluation of proposals against pre-defined criteria, and support for negotiations.
• Plan and execute supplier innovation days, market visits, supplier conferences, and technology workshops.
• Work closely with Category Managers, Supplier Quality Engineers, Technology, Engineering, Solutions Operations, and Supply Chain teams.
• Act as the primary procurement contact for new business development opportunities in India.
• Support strategic procurement projects aimed at expanding supply chain capabilities and resilience.
• Serve as Supplier Relationship Manager for a designated portfolio of strategic suppliers.
• Ensure full compliance with Vanderlande procurement principles, ESG policies, safety regulations, and quality system requirements.
• Uphold ethical procurement standards in all supplier interactions and selection activities.

What you'll need

• University degree in a technical or economics field with business background.
• Fluent in English, spoken and written (mandatory).
• Minimum 10-12 years of experience in procurement category management, supplier development, business development, or sourcing with a strong focus on identifying, qualifying, and developing new suppliers.
• Strong knowledge of the Indian manufacturing and supplier landscape, ideally in logistics automation or similar.
• Strong commercial mindset combined with technical curiosity and market awareness.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across multiple organizational levels in an international environment.
• Experience organizing supplier events, workshops, innovation programs, or business networking activities.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills in an international business environment.

Nice to have

• Experience within manufacturing, industrial automation, logistics automation, electronics, or complex supply chain environments.
• Experience with Source-to-Pay systems and supplier management tools.

Details

• Location: Pune, India.
• Ability to travel internationally up to 30% of the time.