Senior Category Manager - Air Freight

The Senior Category Manager - Air Freight, reporting to the VP of Indirect Procurement Global Category Management, develops category strategies for the procurement of Air Freight, including sourcing strategy definition, deployment, value engineering and stakeholder management. The Senior Category Manager supports the implementation of Category Strategies across World Courier, a Cencora company, to maximize total cost of ownership savings and procurement value contribution. An expert for strategic procurement in the Air Freight category, sharing and facilitating best practices, working closely with the local businesses and the Global Indirect Category procurement team. This is a fully remote position within the United States.

Responsibilities

• Develop category strategies for Air Freight, including sourcing strategy, value engineering, and stakeholder management.

• Act as the resident expert in strategic procurement for the Air Freight category. In line with overall 3PL category strategies.

• Identify and develop innovative sourcing solutions and contractual arrangements to drive long-term category value.

• Align category strategy with World Courier's business and financial plans, collaborating with local businesses and the Global Indirect Category procurement team.

• Analyze and set category spend baselines, profiles, and risk assessments.

• Maintain records and report value delivery from sourcing projects.

• Conduct internal and external analyses (e.g., industry and supplier) in collaboration with in-country supply chain managers.

• Align global, regional, and local category sourcing activities.

• Support supplier selection and provide recommendations for final decisions.

• Lead fact-based negotiations with suppliers and secure stakeholder and leadership approvals (e.g., SCP, Delegation of Authority).

• Ensure compliance with governance processes, category-specific policies, and the Code of Conduct.

• Collaborate with internal customers to identify opportunities for TCO reduction and value engineering.

• Establish measures and controls to track successful strategy implementation in alignment with KPIs.

• Align negotiation timing and contract durations across locations to enhance best practice sharing and supplier leverage.

• Engage in local key initiatives, including demand aggregation, bid package construction, and value engineering projects.

• Collaborate with in-country supply chain managers to ensure local acceptance of new contracts and improve customer satisfaction.

• Coordinate contract implementation tasks and monitor internal customer compliance.

• Define and implement corrective actions to address non-compliance issues.

• Document and store project deliverables, tools, and templates in knowledge repositories for future reference.

• Support supplier classification and categorization, including the definition of supplier evaluation and audit policies.

• Track supplier performance and drive supplier development activities to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

• Organize cross-functional review meetings with suppliers to identify value delivery projects.

• Conduct supplier audits and pursue contract improvement opportunities under the guidance of the Procurement Director.

• Manage sourcing for major unplanned ad hoc demands using category expertise to maintain control over high spend.

• This role will require regular travel across markets as well as supplier visits