Global Category Manager

Job description

Welcome If you're someone who inspires others, owns their impact and wants to elevate what they do, you'll fit right in. Until July 1, our business was part of BASF. As part of the current transition, all job listings and the application process are still hosted on the BASF platform and therefore fully presented in BASF branding. Please do not be confused by this: All roles are positions at Surventis, and your application will be submitted to us. At Surventis, we go beyond the surface - in everything we do. We put customers at the center, think one step ahead, and develop solutions that create real value and lasting partnerships. We inspire each other to think further, take ownership of our work, and constantly push to elevate what's possible. If you bring your full self, challenge the obvious answer, and want to grow with a team that means it - this is your place. About the Role The Global Category Manager for Merchandise Goods owns the global category strategy and value-delivery agenda while being based in Asia. The role defines category direction, leads strategic supplier relationships, governs complex negotiations, establishes portfolio and sourcing standards, and ensures a competitive, resilient, and sustainable supplier base across regions. The GCM is accountable for translating business priorities into a multi-year category roadmap and for aligning execution through Global Category Buyers, General Buyers, Procurement Technical Managers, Procurement Operations, Product Management, Supply Chain, Commercial teams, Finance, and other business stakeholders. Role boundary . This is a Global Category Manager role, not a General Buyer or operational purchasing role. The GCM owns category strategy, global supplier governance, negotiation direction, and value delivery. Regional and local execution is assigned through the integrated category team and relevant procurement operations. How You Will Do It Global Category Strategy Ownership Develop, maintain, and periodically refresh the global Merchandise Goods category strategy and multi-year roadmap. Define category objectives, sourcing models, supplier architecture, regional execution priorities, value levers, risks, and implementation milestones. Integrate business requirements, market intelligence, supplier capabilities, demand patterns, product economics, and regional insights into category decisions. Provide clear direction, priorities, targets, and decision principles to Global Category Buyers and other execution teams. Spend, Demand, and Portfolio Governance Establish a reliable global fact base by supplier, product family, SKU, country, region, channel, and business. Lead demand and portfolio governance, including assortment rationalization, specification simplification, SKU reduction, approved product lists, and prevention of uncontrolled product proliferation. Define governance for delegated spend, local sourcing, supplier onboarding, material creation, catalogs, approvals, and exceptions. Partner with Product Management, Sales, Finance, and Supply Chain to balance customer requirements, commercial value, complexity, and sourcing feasibility. Strategic Supplier and Market Management Define supplier segmentation and the target supplier panel for the category. Build and manage executive relationships with strategic suppliers, distributors, and private-label partners. Establish supplier power maps, development plans, performance routines, and clearly defined improvement milestones. Monitor supplier competitiveness, financial health, innovation capability, capacity, service, quality, sustainability, and supply risk. Develop global and regional market intelligence covering cost drivers, industry trends, alternative suppliers, emerging technologies, and channel developments. Negotiation Governance and Leadership Define the annual negotiation agenda, targets, governance, team composition, and escalation approach for strategic and complex negotiations. Lead or personally participate in major global negotiations and support GCBs in regional negotiations. Ensure negotiation strategies use robust fact bases, demand bundling, cost models, competitive alternatives, and appropriate commercial tactics. Govern sourcing recommendations and supplier awards within delegated authority, ensuring consistency with the category strategy. Promote negotiation excellence through preparation standards, Negotiation Board governance, coaching, lessons learned, and best-practice sharing. Private-Label, White-Label, and Alternative Sourcing Define the global strategy for private-label and white-label products, including portfolio priorities and supplier-selection criteria. Identify best-cost-country and alternative-sourcing opportunities while considering quality, lead time, supply-chain reliability, regulatory requirements, and implementation feasibility. Coordinate with Product Management and technical stakeholders on product specifications, qualification pathways, branding, packaging, and commercialization requirements. Drive scalable sourcing models that reduce fragmentation and improve margins, competitiveness, and supply resilience. Value Creation and Financial Performance Own the category value-creation pipeline and deliver validated savings, cost avoidance, cash, working-capital, margin, and process-efficiency contributions. Prioritize initiatives across supplier consolidation, demand bundling, assortment optimization, specification harmonization, best-cost sourcing, private-label expansion, and commercial-term improvement. Validate financial benefits with Finance or Controlling and maintain transparent implementation and benefit tracking. Communicate category developments, forecasts, opportunities, risks, and business implications to procurement and business leadership. Risk Management, Continuity, Sustainability, and Compliance Maintain a global risk view covering supplier concentration, capacity, geography, logistics, quality, continuity, compliance, and market exposure. Define mitigation plans, alternative sources, contingency arrangements, and escalation protocols for critical products and suppliers. Ensure category strategies and supplier decisions comply with procurement policies, approval requirements, contractual standards, legal obligations, sustainability expectations, and applicable product requirements. Drive supplier and product opportunities supporting responsible sourcing, reduced waste, improved packaging, lower environmental impact, and circular solutions where commercially and technically viable. Functional Leadership and Cross-Regional Execution Provide functional direction to GCBs and other assigned category resources without creating an additional disciplinary reporting line. Translate the global strategy into clear regional mandates, objectives, negotiation targets, work packages, and implementation priorities. Coach category-team members in strategy, supplier management, negotiation, analytics, stakeholder engagement, and value delivery. Establish a regular category operating rhythm covering strategy reviews, supplier reviews, initiative tracking, risk management, and decisions. Resolve cross-regional conflicts, facilitate decisions, and ensure continuity during handovers or organizational changes. Stakeholder and Business Partnership Act as the global procurement counterpart for business and functional leaders on Merchandise Goods. Partner with Product Management, Commercial teams, Supply Chain, Procurement Operations, Finance, Quality, Legal, Sustainability, and technical stakeholders. Align category decisions with business strategy, customer needs, margin objectives, product portfolio priorities, and operational requirements. Present fact-based recommendations to leadership and secure timely decisions, resources, and sponsorship for implementation. What We Look For Degree in Procurement, Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Chemistry, Materials, or a related discipline; an advanced qualification is advantageous. Substantial experience in procurement, category management, strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, and complex commercial negotiations. Demonstrated experience developing category strategies and leading execution in a global or multi-regional matrix environment. Experience with merchandise goods, consumables, equipment, distribution, private-label products, or similarly fragmented portfolios is advantageous. Strong analytical capability and demonstrated ability to translate spend, market, margin, and supplier data into strategic decisions and implemented results. Working knowledge of procurement governance, contracting, supplier risk, sustainability, SAP processes, Excel, PowerPoint, and relevant analytics or reporting tools. Excellent written and spoken English; additional Asian or regional languages are an advantage. Strategic thinking and the ability to convert business priorities into category direction and executable plans. Commercial judgment, negotiation leadership, and executive supplier engagement. Functional leadership, coaching, influence without authority, and cross-cultural collaboration. Analytical problem-solving, decision quality, and disciplined prioritization. Change leadership, resilience, conflict resolution, and effective escalation. Integrity, transparency, accountability, and consistent role-model behavior. What We Offer A global category leadership role based in Asia, with direct exposure to business leadership, strategic suppliers, regional procurement teams, and transformation initiatives. The opportunity to shape an evolving merchandise category and establish scalable global governance, sourcing, supplier, and portfolio-management practices. A collaborative international environment focused on strategy, negotiation excellence, professional growth, and measurable business value. Continuous development through global procurement communities, market analytics, supplier innovation, category strategy, and digitalization.