Category Sourcing Manager - SPT - Military Veterans
at Medline Industries LP.
Job Summary
This position is responsible for managing purchases of approximately $100 million annually, focusing on best-cost negotiations, consistent and stable supply of goods while reducing risk to Medline. Provide insights on geo-political risks impacting costs and work on solutions globally to reduce risks while finding the next low-cost options. The role involves close collaboration with product management teams for new product launches and the development of sourcing strategies to optimize costs. Responsibilities include negotiating favorable terms with suppliers, managing product categories, resolving quality issues, and evaluating sourcing strategies for both domestic and international suppliers. Manage a mix of both finished goods, manufacturing inputs, and raw materials to drive value and enhance GM for target commodities.
Job Description
Responsibilities
- Manage direct spend categories to drive to best-cost, supply continuity and reducing risk. Negotiate favorable terms, volume discounts and long-term contracts with suppliers and vendor partners. Leader and owner of category management driving key vendor conversations.
- Manage $75-100M in spend across key medical and raw material categories.
- Provide strategic insights on Global and geopolitical changes impacting tariffs, raw materials and regulatory requirements. (Tariff rates, new laws, and natural resources). Define strategies to overcome obstacles driving higher costs and supply instability.
- Provide high-level product expertise on all managed categories including raw material inputs, manufacturing techniques, key vendors. Provide guidance and recommend actions to reduce costs based continuous improvement processes within Manufacturing, raw material changes, or other cost-down initiatives. Understand how Medline product compares to the competition.
- Manage supplier relationships to secure cost reductions through effective negotiation on pricing and product development opportunities. Contribute to the creation of long-term vendor contracts, rebate plans, and growth incentives to drive cost efficiency.
- Review analysis from the Global Sourcing Operations team on vendor and supplier price increases, evaluating their net impact against rebates. Develop and implement negotiation tactics to mitigate price hikes, utilizing Medline's volume, sourcing tools, and exploring options such as dual sourcing or engaging new global vendors.
- Develop and execute a risk profile for each sourced country. Consider multiple country sourcing, dual sourcing, and geopolitical factors. Recommend vendors based on that strategic risk assessment
- Manage a broad mix of product categories and become the subject matter expert on product requirements, manufacturing processes, raw materials, and other key value drivers. Analyze and evaluate cost inputs to contribute to cost optimization efforts and drive best-cost outcomes for Medline.
- Evaluate sourcing strategies for domestic versus import suppliers, assessing factors such as cost, quality, and lead time. Conduct Make vs. Buy analysis for sourced products to identify the most cost-effective and efficient solutions.
- Assist in the creation and implementation of a global sourcing strategy to drive vendor performance. Including vendor allocation optimization, re-sourcing and cost containment/reductions for assigned categories. Provide insights based on market research and supplier performance to help optimize the strategy.
- Identify new cost-savings opportunities within the product category to drive GM growth. Support the identification and implementation of Medline-branded opportunities and assist in negotiating long-term deals with both domestic and import suppliers to secure favorable pricing and terms.
- Work collaboratively with Medline Shanghai, Supply Chain, Quality and Product Management teams to maintain and develop vendors and products to reduce supply risk and ensure a healthy supply chain.
- Manage activity for Medline part and vendors numbers Establish new part numbers for supplier moves, packaging optimization and PIR's.
- Work closely with the reorder buying group to address ongoing issues with problem suppliers when initial communication efforts have failed. Help analyze the situation, gather necessary data, and facilitate discussions to find resolutions and improve supplier performance.
Minimum Job Requirements
Education
- Bachelor's degree.
Work Experience
- At least 3-5 years of sourcing experience.
Knowledge / Skills / Abilities
- Experience leading category strategies, supplier relationship management, sourcing initiatives.
- Experience negotiating with outside vendors, including negotiating contracts, prices and reconciling differences.
- Experienced in documenting procedures and internal controls.
- Experience analyzing and reporting data in order to identify issues, trends, or exceptions to drive improvement of results and find solutions.
- Experience controlling and coordinating concurrent projects, competing priorities and critical deadlines.
- Ability to work across multiple time zones and locations.
Medline Industries, LP, and its subsidiaries, offer a competitive total rewards package, continuing education & training, and tremendous potential with a growing worldwide organization.
The anticipated salary range for this position:
$85,280.00 - $123,760.00 Annual
The actual salary will vary based on applicant's location, education, experience, skills, and abilities. This role is bonus and/or incentive eligible. Medline will not pay less than the applicable minimum wage or salary threshold.
Our benefit package includes health insurance, life and disability, 401(k) contributions, paid time off, etc., for employees working 30 or more hours per week on average. For a more comprehensive list of our benefits please click here . For roles where employees work less than 30 hours per week, benefits include 401(k) contributions as well as access to the Employee Assistance Program, Employee Resource Groups and the Employee Service Corp.
Every day, we're focused on building a more diverse and inclusive company, one that recognizes, values and respects the differences we all bring to the workplace. From doing what's right to delivering business results, together, we're better. Explore our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion page here .
Medline Industries, LP is an equal opportunity employer. Medline evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, disability/handicap status or any other legally protected characteristic.
Northfield, IL
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In 2002, Medline began delivering products in the Chicagoland area with a single truck. Today, Medline’s MedTrans transportation fleet has grown to more than 1,500 vehicles, delivering nearly 80% of Medline U.S. product sales and providing consistent, exceptional end-to-end supply chain service.
Medline has the largest owned transportation fleet of any healthcare product distributor in the U.S. And MedTrans has grown along with Medline over the past two decades, doubling the size of its fleet every five years, and continuing to diversify its vehicles and strategies to meet the company’s evolving portfolio of more than 300,000 products.
The current MedTrans fleet is comprised of semi trucks, box trucks and cargo vans to accommodate large and small deliveries. MedTrans delivers supplies to major hospital and healthcare systems, as well as ambulatory surgery centers, long-term care facilities, clinics, physician offices and more recently, residential homes.
MedTrans also seeks to minimize the impact of its deliveries on the environment. This includes implementing across-the-board fuel and emissions-reduction standards and practices: utilizing Dynamic Route Planning to reduce miles and improve trailer utilization; purchasing the most efficient diesel-fueled trucks; and incentivizing all drivers to avoid hard stops, heavy acceleration, high speeds and long periods of idling. Medline also has served as an Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay® Transport partner for the past 10 years, tracking and sharing information on the company’s fuel use and freight emissions.