Indirect Procurement Manager, North America

Are you a professional looking to expand your career with an industry front runner? Deciding on your next employer is not a decision to be made lightly. But if you want to work on the front lines of development, shaping the field as you go, keep reading to see what we have to offer! Valmet is seeking an experienced Indirect Procurement Manager to lead indirect procurement operations, development, strategy deployment, and supply base management for the North America area.

This role owns the regional execution of global category strategies and is directly accountable for delivering measurable reductions in total cost of ownership (TCO), process improvement, and supplier base consolidation across the indirect portfolio. The successful candidate will bring a demonstrated, quantifiable track record of managing in a minimum of two categories to include: MRO, Facilities Services, Travel, HR/Personnel, Marketing & Communications, and Professional Services categories — not general procurement exposure, but hands-on ownership of strategy, sourcing, negotiation, and supplier performance within these specific categories.

This experience is a mandatory requirement for the role. Key Responsibilities - Category Strategy Development and Deployment Develop North America category strategies for MRO, Facilities Services, Travel, HR/Personnel, Marketing & Communications, and Professional Services, fully aligned to global category strategies and business requirements. Lead cross-functional category teams and steering groups, bringing together the right mix of commercial, technical, HSE, HR, and site expertise.

Conduct supply market analysis and supplier segmentation; identify and qualify new and cost-competitive sources to challenge incumbents. Review and refresh category strategies at least annually; report strategy coverage, progress, and results to the Global Category Managers, Area Manager, and Indirect Procurement leadership. Total Cost of Ownership Reduction and Cost Savings Delivery Own an annual cost reduction and cost avoidance target for the North America indirect portfolio, with results reported through the approved savings methodology.

Drive TCO reduction beyond unit price, including: Specification and demand management — right-sizing specifications, replacement rates, consumption controls, and policy tightening. Total delivered cost — freight, packaging, minimum order quantities, inventory carrying cost, and vendor-managed inventory. Commercial terms — payment terms extension, rebate and volume-tier structures, index-based pricing, and price-hold provisions.

Lead competitive bidding (RFI/RFP/RFQ), e-auctions, should-cost analysis, and total-cost modeling for regional and country sourcing events. Build and validate savings business cases with Finance to ensure savings are traceable to budget and P&L impact. Supply Base Reduction and Supplier Management Own the North America supplier reduction target for indirect categories; deliver a measurable year-over-year decrease in active suppliers.

Manage the full contract lifecycle — create, negotiate, maintain, renew, and close agreements — and ensure contract metadata is accurate and complete. Run supplier performance management: define KPIs and SLAs, conduct business reviews, drive corrective actions, and escalate chronic underperformance. Develop supplier quality, HSE, sustainability, and Supplier Code of Conduct coverage; capture and commercialize supplier innovation and continuous-improvement ideas.

Process Improvement, Compliance, and Digitalization Identify process improvement opportunities across source-to-contract and purchase-to-pay; define measurable goals and lead implementation with the relevant teams and Global Category Managers. Increase PO coverage, catalog and punch-out adoption, free-text PO discipline, spend plans, and guided-buying channel usage. Deliver end-user training and change management when new sites, companies, or tools are brought into the process.

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