Category Manager

At Intuitive, we are united behind our mission: we believe that minimally invasive care is life-enhancing care. Through ingenuity and intelligent technology, we expand the potential of physicians to heal without constraints.
As a pioneer and market leader in robotic-assisted surgery, we strive to foster an inclusive and diverse team, committed to making a difference. For more than 25 years, we have worked with hospitals and care teams around the world to help solve some of healthcare's hardest challenges and advance what is possible.
Intuitive has been built by the efforts of great people from diverse backgrounds. We believe great ideas can come from anywhere. We strive to foster an inclusive culture built around diversity of thought and mutual respect. We lead with inclusion and empower our team members to do their best work as their most authentic selves.
Passionate people who want to make a difference drive our culture. Our team members are grounded in integrity, have a strong capacity to learn, the energy to get things done, and bring diverse, real world experiences to help us think in new ways. We actively invest in our team members to support their long-term growth so they can continue to advance our mission and achieve their highest potential.
Join a team committed to taking big leaps forward for a global community of healthcare professionals and their patients. Together, let's advance the world of minimally invasive care.

Primary Function of Position

• Manages supply chain of direct materials suppliers and parts (machined parts, castings and motion control components) to support business continuity and optimization, including sourcing, development of category strategy roadmaps, negotiating contracts, analyzing spend, creating inventory management strategies, gathering commodity intelligence, and managing supplier performance; may include limited management of purchase orders.
• Leads and executes strategies with cross-functional category team(s) to optimize supply chain across all manufacturing locations
• Identifies and implements key Global Supply Chain initiatives
• Develops and refines key business processes; champions and mentors team members in use of Sourcing processes; monitors industry and professional best practices

Essential Job Duties

• Category Management
  • Provides cross-functional team leadership within metals category; leads cross-functional category team meetings
  • Collaborates with manager and cross-functional peers to create long-term supplier strategies and roadmaps. Engages with internal stakeholders to develop and influence category strategy that aligns with long-term business objectives, including capacity management, cost reduction targets, supplier performance improvement plans, inventory health targets and supply risk optimization.
  • Co-leads direct procurement supplier selection process with collaboration from Supplier Engineering. Leverages knowledge of strategic sourcing practices to identify a core supply base able to offer lowest total cost of ownership and high-quality product while identifying value improvement opportunities.
  • Leads alignment of production supplier requirements and sourcing strategies with those of new product development (NPI) for designated suppliers/categories to ensure uninterrupted material availability, alignment of risk, and cost goals with long term vision for the category / business
  • Prioritizes category team projects in collaboration with manager and ensures team goals and objectives are achieved
  • Leverages knowledge of commodity trends to propose and execute category strategies
  • Develops and presents category strategy reviews for metals category
• Supplier Performance Management
  • Leads supplier scorecarding and supplier business reviews for assigned suppliers
  • Effectively identifies areas of improvement and sets internal and supplier targets to align with business objectives
  • Proactively collaborates with supply base and procurement team to understand and communicate demand changes and minimize excess inventory or material shortages
  • Leads continuous improvement efforts needed with suppliers and collaborates internally with cross-functional team to drive performance improvement projects
  • Effectively manages improvement projects and key milestones and presents progress to the internal and external stakeholders
  • Escalates issues with supplier executive leadership and drives resolution to achieve business objectives
• Risk and Capacity Management
  • Develops mitigation plans and programs for assigned suppliers and critical sub-tier suppliers; collaborates with manager and cross-functional peers to drive implementation
  • Leads capacity assessments for assigned suppliers and critical sub-tier suppliers; anticipates long-term risks and installs proactive mitigations
  • May serve as project manager for key supplier capacity or risk mitigation initiatives
  • Leverages problem solving skills and develops counter-measures to implement long-term solutions to identified problems
• Contract and Cost Management
  • Establishes contractual agreements with suppliers and amendments to existing agreements
  • Negotiates long-term volume pricing, risk mitigation, and capacity agreements with key suppliers to support Intuitive’s volume growth
  • Reviews, administers, and manages long-term purchase order and delivery commitments to designated suppliers as necessary to support production and/or sales requirements within the business
  • Leads identification and implementation of cost reduction ideas to achieve year-over-year cost goals within metals category
• Operational Management
  • Supports plant purchasing by leading negotiations with suppliers to adopt and implement lean sourcing principles to enable 100% material availability and optimization of on-hand inventory levels
  • Develops and Embraces continuous improvement techniques to drive toward attainment of key purchasing metrics (supplier on-time delivery, quality, risk management, inventory velocity, and cost reduction)
  • May lead change management/change order implementation for complex projects
  • Supports master data integrity for suppliers and parts
• Mentors colleagues within the supply chain organization. Identifies process and training improvement opportunities and drives closure of identified gaps.

Required Skills and Experience

• Experience utilizing strategic sourcing principles, including six step sourcing process, category strategy development, and collaborative supplier management
• Strong negotiation skills, proven track record of savings, and thorough understanding of key supplier agreement terms
• Significant understanding of cost modeling, should-cost concepts and building blocks of product cost. Ability to apply cost modeling techniques in metals category to predict impact on product cost and develop mitigation strategies to improve total cost of ownership
• Significant computer experience including MS Office products and ERP systems. Strong Excel skills.
• Proven track record of effective project management in a fast-paced manufacturing company. Ability to handle multiple tasks and projects successfully and adapt to changing priorities.
• Thorough knowledge of and experience working with kanban systems and other lean principles
• Working knowledge of buying, material planning, master scheduling, and forecasting
• Demonstrates concern for precision and thoroughness
• Proven ability to consistently achieve stretch goals and objectives
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Required Education and Training

• BS degree or equivalent and 10+ years of supply chain experience in a regulated industry manufacturing environment. Master’s degree preferred.

Working Conditions

• ~25% travel to both domestic and international suppliers

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in the medical device industry preferred.
• SAP and Agile experience preferred.
• Experience managing Metals spend suppliers and/or technical expertise in this category preferred.
• Certifications: CPSM, CPIM, and/or PMP preferred.

Due to the nature of our business and the role, please note that Intuitive and/or your customer(s) may require that you show current proof of vaccination against certain diseases including COVID-19.  Details can vary by role.

Intuitive is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees, and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type, without regard to race, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, color, age, religion, protected veteran or disability status, genetic information or any other status protected under federal, state, or local applicable laws.

Mandatory Notices

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with fair chance laws.

Preference will be given to qualified candidates who do not reside, or plan to reside, in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Tennessee.

We provide market-competitive compensation packages, inclusive of base pay, incentives, benefits, and equity. It would not be typical for someone to be hired at the top end of range for the role, as actual pay will be determined based on several factors, including experience, skills, and qualifications. The target compensation ranges are listed.