Senior 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 capital equipment used in Intuitive’s production lines (including mechanical, robotic, and test equipment) to help business continuity and optimization, including sourcing, leading creation and adoption of category strategy roadmaps, including establishing preferred suppliers for the category, developing and negotiating contracts, reviewing spend, gathering commodity intelligence, and managing supplier performance.
• Partners with cross-functional peers to build a capital equipment category team and develop roadmap for what is needed to sustain optimal performance in this category
• Identifies and drives implementation of key Global Supply Chain initiatives
• Thought pioneer within Global Supply Chain: 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 internal production line capital equipment category. Responsible for leading assessment of existing, and development of new, sourcing practices needed for success in this category. Manages cross-functional category team meetings and develops long-term roadmap for the category, including cost reduction targets, resource requirements, scope of the category, and process milestones.
  • Manages creation of long-term supplier strategies and roadmaps, including establishing an approved capital equipment supplier list, stabilizing supplier workload, and managing their performance.
  • Able to navigate complex trade-offs in supplier strategies. Effectively influences broader organization through professional requirements gathering and leading adoption of developed strategies.
  • Co-leads supplier selection process with partnership from Engineering. Expertly and autonomously deploys 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.
  • Assists new suppliers in navigating the onboarding process including establishing required legal agreements and setting performance requirements.
  • Manages alignment of production supplier requirements and sourcing strategies with those of new product development (NPI) for designated suppliers/categories to ensure uninterrupted equipment availability, alignment of risk, and cost goals with long term vision for the category / business
  • Prioritizes category team projects and ensures defined category team goals and priorities are achieved
  • Monitors commodity trends and leverages this knowledge and experience to propose and implement strategies
  • Works closely with the Advanced Process and Automation group to align with and help Intuitive’s manufacturing technology roadmap.
  • Develops and manages category strategy review for capital equipment category
• Supplier Performance Management
  • Manages supplier score carding and supplier business reviews for assigned suppliers
  • Proactively partners with supply base, engineering team, and procurement to communicate long-term demand. Able to expertly translate business shifts to suppliers and effectively comprehend root cause of demand changes internally.
  • Manages continuous improvement efforts needed with suppliers and rally cross-functional resources needed to drive needed systemic improvements
  • Effectively escalates for issue resolution with supplier executive leadership. Possesses executive presence and awareness and able to drive problem resolution onsite at suppliers.
• Risk and Capacity Management
  • Develops high complexity mitigation plans and programs for assigned suppliers and critical sub-tier suppliers; implements plans when applicable
  • Manages capacity assessments for assigned suppliers and critical sub-tier suppliers; operating on three-to-five-year horizon for capacity strategies for global category and able to marshal help for 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
  • Professional contract and cost negotiator; autonomously establishes contractual agreements with suppliers and amendments to existing agreements. Develops new contract language and templates as required.
  • Negotiates long-term commercial agreements with executive leadership of suppliers. Installs risk mitigation and capacity agreements with key suppliers to help Intuitive’s volume growth.
  • Manages identification and implementation of cost reduction ideas to achieve year-over-year cost goals
  • Manage supplier change negotiations with help from Engineering,
• Operational Management
  • Helps plant operations by developing equipment performance requirements in supplier agreements.
  • Grasps continuous improvement techniques to drive toward attainment of key metrics
  • May manage change management/change order implementation for complex projects
  • Helps with data integrity for suppliers and parts
  • Acts as key thought manager within the Global Supply Chain organization through monitoring of industry and professional trends, establishing, influencing, and implementing needed process improvements, and mentoring colleagues throughout the supply chain organization.

Required Skills and Experience

• Significant experience utilizing strategic sourcing values, including six step sourcing process, category strategy development and adoption, and collective supplier management
• Exceptional negotiation skills, proven track record of savings, and history of successful contract negotiations
• Significant computer experience including MS Office products and ERP systems. Proven Excel skills.
• Proven track record of effective project management in a fast-paced manufacturing company. Ability to handle multiple tasks and projects successfully and adjust to changing priorities.
• Thorough knowledge of and experience working with kanban systems and other lean methods
• Exceptional financial acumen; excellent working knowledge of corporate/production finance; experience building financial models and using financial knowledge to comprehend supplier operations
• Working knowledge of buying, material planning, master scheduling, and forecasting
• Demonstrates concern for precision and thoroughness
• Proven ability to consistently achieve stretch goals and priorities
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; experience presenting to senior leadership

Required Education and Training

• BS degree or equivalent and 15+ years of supply chain experience, including at least 8 years of sourcing 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 capital equipment spend/suppliers and/or technical expertise in this category preferred (e.g. welding, electromechanical, robotics, PLCs).
• 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.

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

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 salary ranges are listed.

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 salary ranges are listed.