Summary

-To plan and lead Category initiatives for a clearly defined sub-category globally OR one category regionally OR all categories in one country OR multiple cross-divisional categories in one country; to develop the sub-category strategy as part of the wider Category Strategy; to lead proactive sourcing projects, specification definition and demand management, as well as manage sub-category-specific supplier performance and innovation activities.

About the Role

Position Title : Regional Category Manager General

Location - Hyd-India #LI Hybrid

About the role :

The Regional Category Manager - General plans and leads all strategic aspects within the category of Indirect, across divisions, on a regional level and develops proposals for strategic business decisions. The role provides high value procurement solutions to the business and category strategies; support third party vendor selection, vendor development, technology management and performance measurement activities. The Regional Category Manager-Indirect ensures outstanding delivery of external services and products in the agreed Indirect categories to support projects and to realize year-on-year efficiency improvements, cost savings, and process improvements in close collaboration with the partners in the business.

• Implement category strategic goals from overall Procurement strategy / Ecosystem management and planning, coordinating and managing projects taking into account priorities, resources, budgets, issues and constraints to achieve desired results; defining clear project scope and objectives; applying software and tools to plan, track and report status.
• Mapping the value chain, analyzing it and deriving potential scenarios. Includes the understanding and application of total cost of ownership and should cost modelling.
• Participating in and / or leading financial discussions. Applying financial knowledge to participate actively, e.g. in budgeting process, including tax aspects in sourcing strategies and structuring sophisticated deals with ecosystem partners.
• Demand management - Responsible to ensure the right balance between business needs and Novartis' strategy. Accountable to work with partners to identify the most efficient ways to deliver business objectives.
• Managing data analysis and reporting, e.g. analyzing spend, demand, supply markets and competitors. Extracting, cleansing and consolidating information to fact-based insights for further usage e.g. in category strategies.
• Maintaining and updating Procurement applications accordingly to the Procurement content (e.g. e-catalogs, user portal). Continuous improvement of procurement content and automation.
• Support definition and implementation of Procurement tools and processes. Hands on to Sourcing and supplier relationships management Driving the Source-to-Contract process including respective strategies, approaches and methods:
• Preparing and conducting fact-based negotiations. Adapting tactics from a broad portfolio of negotiation strategies to achieve results that support business and Procurement objectives.

• Strategy / Category management / Supplier management / Project management Understanding Procurement vision based on insights into procurement leading practices. Linking Procurement strategy to Novartis' overall strategy and conveying it clearly to the organization.
• Expertise in Indirect Services procurement categories (External Workforce, Professional Services, HR Services, IT services). Understanding the respective category market levers, trends and main players as well as internal processes
• Compliance & risk management: understanding the critical metrics, processes and supporting reports to determine appropriate compliance level. Supervising end-to-end compliance (budget, payment, vendor PO, contract invoice, buying channel, etc.
• Advanced experience in building long-term, sustainable and effective relationships, understanding the partner landscape and demonstrating political astuteness across business structures and networks.
• Communicating clearly in writing and verbally. Conveying messages to partners at different level, engaging and convincing partners.
• Embracing and shaping change as well as knowledge how to overcome challenges. Applying systematic change management methods to facilitate change
• Successful project execution by providing all external solutions in time / at the required quality / within budget as verified by the business. Strong preference for CIPS or CCW similar professional qualification

• University/Advanced degree in Business Administration/Economics/Engineering is required and master's degree/other advanced degree in the supply chain management, business administration or similar is preferred.
• Preferably > 10 years of experience in Procurement or other related experience within the pharmaceutical industry, preferably in category management, supplier management, or related area, with a focus in the Indirect categories (Fleet, External Workforce, Professional Services, HR services, IT services) domain.