Lead Specialist, Category Management (Operations)

At Cheniere, we provide the world with safe, reliable energy in the form of LNG.  But more than that, we provide opportunities for our employees to make an impact on their local communities every day. Our diversity is key to our continued success and forges a path where our culture supports greater equity and inclusion for our employees, customers and beyond. 

Cheniere Supply Chain Management (SCM) is shaping our future with a focused transformation program.  We are mobilizing to establish an agile and resilient supply chain that is fit to support our company’s growth.  The Cheniere SCM team are accountable to support our business partners to create value, mitigate risk and assure security of supply.   We are building a team of SCM professionals that not only deliver value today but create a more agile and resilient supply chain for the future.   

POSITION OVERVIEW

This is a critical position that supports the Cheniere Operations, Pipeline and Engineering & Construction businesses with the development and deployment of Category Strategies.  In doing so, the Specialist will work closely with business partners to source, select, contract, and manage supplier relationships.  Additionally, this position will be responsible for integrating new business processes, sourcing, and contracting principles and systems being developed through our SCM transformation.  

Our team are looking for a team member with 3-8 years of experience engaging business partners and suppliers in the processes associated with sourcing, contracting, contract management and supplier management. The Specialist is responsible for:

• Integrating and working lock-in-step with business partners in the Operations, Pipeline and Engineering & Construction businesses.
• Delivering the selection of suppliers for material and equipment used in the construction and maintenance of the LNG and Pipeline facilities. 
• Engaging with Category Management, Purchasing, Materials Management and business partners to deliver strategies to meet business needs and supply market capability.
• Implementing contracts for use by the business and purchasing teams. 
• Maintaining supplier performance and commercial contract documentation. 

KNOWLEDGE

• General understanding of LNG or Oil & Gas plant or pipeline experience
• Basic knowledge of category management strategies, inventory management and purchasing. 
• Hands-on experience with sourcing, negotiation of general material and service contract provisions, commercial terms, and contract management. 
• Hands-on experience with source-to-contract and purchase to pay systems i.e. Oracle, SAP, GEP, Coupa, JDE, etc.

Lead Specialist (Operations) shall have experience with the following spend categories or another relevant category experience:

• Any of the following equipment, material, and/or associated service spend categories utilized in LNG, Refining or Chemical Plants: MRO, Valves, Instrument and Electrical, Compressors, Rotating Equipment, Water Treatment, Chemicals, Marine (vessel, on-water, and on-shore) Services, General Maintenance, Turnaround Services, HVAC, etc. 

RESPONSIBILITIES AND ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Stakeholder Management

• Maintains ownership of business relationships across the businesses. 
• Assumes responsibility for a category-based contract portfolio discussion with various business partners. 
• Develops business-based cost models that align supplier costs to business partner budgets.
• Collaborates with business partners to assure their way-of-working is compliant with company compliance, ethics, and delegated authorities. 
• Leverages Cheniere’s scale to coordinate business needs with suppliers. 
• Acts as the single point of accountability for all spend against their delegated categories. 
• Collaborates with other SCM team members to assure work is delivered with quality and on time.
• Supports the Contract Owners in the gathering of performance feedback for effective contractor management

Category Strategy and Implementation

• Provides current business requirements and incumbent supplier contract input to the development of comprehensive Category Strategies.
• Leverages Category Strategies to develop and implement Sourcing and Contracting which enable the strategy. 
• Implements Category Strategies for delegated categories.
• Maintains supplier relationship performance based on Category Strategy expectations.

Sourcing, Contracting, and Contract Management

• Performs pre-qualification and qualification of new suppliers.  
• Ensures all Sourcing and Contracting is compliant, timely and delivered with quality.   
• Builds and designs requests for proposal to consider total cost models to understand value, operating costs, and supplier price impacts on existing budgets.
• Performs negotiations to establish contracts with qualified suppliers to secure quality services, materials, and equipment on time at optimum cost.   
• Prepares bid evaluation and supplier award documentation for business partner approvals. 
• Drafts, evaluates, negotiates, and executes various contract commercial structures.  
• Ensures timely delivery of quality contracts in support of safe, reliable, and competitive operations.  
• Maintains post contract award awareness of supplier activity to ensure supply of materials, equipment, and services to meet current and future needs.  
• Ensures contractual records and documentation and contract correspondence maintained and logged into the appropriate systems.
• Supports the Delivery Purchasing team in the creation of Contract Purchase Agreements (CPA’s) and Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA’s) as appropriate. 
• Supports the Delivery Purchasing team to establish transactional purchases against established contracts. 

QUALIFICATIONS (EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS)

Education and Certifications:  A bachelor's degree in supply chain management or related business  

Experience:

• A minimum of ten years’ hands on experience with sourcing, competitive bidding, RFP development, bid evaluation, selection, contracting and purchasing.  

DIRECT REPORTS

• None

WORK CONDITIONS

• Physical Area: Our Houston office is in the heart of downtown, and we offer free parking or a metro ticket. With all corporate teams at the same location, there’s always a buzz around the office. You will have dedicated desk space and plenty of human interaction.  
• Facilities and hardware: Our offices are modern, bright, and designed to foster collaboration. You will have access to great IT (Information Technology) equipment and support and can readily access the downtown tunnels, restaurants, and gyms. You may occasionally need to travel to our sites at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christy and those sites are governed by FTZ (Foreign Trade Zone) regulations which do include drug and alcohol testing.   
• Working conditions: Cheniere is committed to improving the well-being of our employees and while you may need to work outside the usual working hours, we aspire to provide a good work life balance for all.  
• Company culture: So, what is the culture like at Cheniere? It is our values — teamwork, respect, accountability, integrity, nimbleness, and safety — at work. We are happy when we hear employees say we have a great culture. But we are not satisfied with building a great culture, we are endeavoring to build the best culture.  

ADA JOB REQUIREMENTS

Reasonable accommodation will be made to ensure that the essential functions of the job can be performed and not hinder the employee's performance due to physical, mental, or emotional disability.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Cheniere Energy is an equal opportunity workplace. All employment decisions are made without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other legally protected categories. This includes providing reasonable accommodation if requested for disabilities or religious beliefs and practices.