Lead Category Manager, Finished Goods

Global Procurement – Lead Category Manager for Finished Goods   JOB DESCRIPTION The Lead Category Manager (LCM) role within Global Procurement is focused on the effective and efficient procurement of finished goods products, with a primary focus on Hand Tools (sub-categories with Consumer Fastening and Handtools) , in support of Stanley Black & Decker's vision. This role is responsible for defining, leading, and monitoring holistic supplier and category strategies, driving sourcing productivity, and delivering year-over-year productivity and working capital goals. The role manages direct material spend of up to approximately $50M and interacts with suppliers and colleagues across geographies and work cultures.

1. Strategic Supplier Management Establish, maintain, and develop strong relationships with key global suppliers to ensure quality, cost, delivery, and productivity targets are met. Serve as an escalation point to resolve supplier performance issues. Establish regular communication cadence with strategic suppliers. Initiate and implement Supplier Days (supplier workshops / Kaizen events). Support, organize, and participate in supplier conferences and summits. Implement strategic supplier management, supplier risk management, supplier diversity, and CSR programs (leveraging Global Procurement's Center of Excellence). Develop and foster global supplier relationships that deliver cost reduction, supply assurance, quality improvement, and innovation. 2. Category & Material Field Strategy Define, lead, and monitor global supplier and category strategies, with a focus on categories within Consumer Fastening & Layout . Independently develop future-oriented strategies and purchasing concepts aligned with the company's global orientation, with the aim of cross-plant application. Consider unique/specific SBU needs during category strategy implementation; provide SBU expertise to category and regional leadership. Understand and link category/sourcing strategy with Global Procurement priorities and SBU goals. Implement category strategies in support of the business vision and margin resiliency initiatives. Maintain and control correct supplier classification in product groups and subgroups (SIEVO). Drive reduction in the number of suppliers and bundling of purchasing volumes. Institutionalize best-practice processes, policies, and knowledge sharing between Global Procurement and SBU to ensure continuous improvement. 3. Negotiations & Contract Management Negotiate, implement, and manage supplier contracts and service level agreements. Ensure contract compliance (internal approval process), signature regulations, and registration in the group-wide database. Monitor markets and trends to proactively renegotiate prices with suppliers. Analyze and negotiate price adjustments by suppliers. 4. Tenders, Benchmarks & Sourcing Execution Lead the supplier selection process through management of formal RFP, RFQ, and RFI processes. Carry out price comparisons to optimize the procurement situation; initiate price and value analyses, substitution of parts/materials as needed. Accompany new part projects in cooperation with development from the product development phase to achieve cost reductions. Utilize modern purchasing tools (eRFQ, eAuctions, Should Costing). Create TCO value through a combination of productivity, working capital, synergies, reduced risk, and improved supplier lead times. 5. Program & Project Management Lead and drive program management for core initiatives in Productivity, Working Capital, and Supplier Performance. Plan and implement programs/projects including complex large-scale initiatives; define content, goals, and individual milestones. Coordinate and monitor milestones, interfaces, dates, and services (internal and external); initiate corrective measures as needed. Ensure New Ways of Sourcing are utilized and state-of-the-art reports are developed and implemented (e.g., Power BI, Smartsheet).