Category Specialist

Category Specialist

Do you enjoy being involved in procurement for manufacturing and new product development? Hypertherm Associates is looking for a Category Specialist with experience supporting procurement of industrial materials and equipment including electronics, tooling, and capital equipment to join our OMAX team in Kent, Washington. In this role, your supply chain experience will be utilized to assess and mitigate risk, support new product introduction (NPI) activities, cultivate and execute cost savings initiatives, and execute projects.

Join our unique business where you'll find plenty of opportunities to showcase your strengths, learn new skills, and drive process and procurement improvements. If you're ready to make a real impact, we want you on our team!

Hypertherm Associates is the world leader in industrial cutting solutions. We are a 100% Associate-owned company with a no-layoff philosophy for over 55 years!

As a Category Specialist , you will:

• Ensure materials are delivered on time, at the best price, and meet quality requirements

• Work with suppliers to manage pricing, deliveries, and inventory changes due to product updates

• Provide feedback on supplier performance and contribute to sourcing strategies

• Maintain and implement cost-saving opportunities for current manufacturing and future projects

• Develop additional savings beyond the planned targets for the current year

• Create and manage purchase agreements and purchase orders

• Manage spend according to contracts, track compliance with agreements, and fix invoicing issues

• Support Engineering Change Orders by phasing out deprecated components, limiting fiscal liability

• Cultivate and execute cost reduction projects with a 1-3-year focus

• Facilitate cross-functional project meetings with suppliers for cost savings and NPI needs

Who you are and the experience you will bring:

• A Bachelor’s Degree in a related discipline with 5-7 years supply chain experience

• Proven analytical skills (cost/benefit analysis, make/buy decision-modeling, etc.)

• Strong written and verbal presentation and communication skills

• Proven experience in contract development and negotiation skills

• Strong attention to detail

Preferred experience to differentiate you:

• ISM and/or APICS certification

• Green/Black Belt Certified

• Knowledge of Lean/JIT Methodology

• Knowledge of Purchasing modules in Oracle or similar ERP system

Location: Kent, Washington

Travel: 10% domestic

Why join Hypertherm Associates?

• Global, 100% employee-owned company for over 55 years

• Profit-Sharing

• Employee Stock Ownership

• Five days/year Community Service Time

• Strong commitment to Environmental Stewardship

• Stable, growing organization with a no-layoff philosophy

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At Hypertherm Associates, we are committed to building an inclusive diverse, flexible, and collaborative environment . If our mission resonates with you, but you don’t meet all posted requirements, we encourage you to still apply. We will evaluate your application materials and may suggest alternative roles that better leverage your strengths and talents. For positions with multiple levels, we will evaluate your prior experience to determine the level within our organization you are best aligned based upon the job applying.

CURRENT ASSOCIATES OR TEMPORARY ASSOCIATES: Please apply via your internal Workday career account.

This is the base pay range that an applicant can expect to make upon hire.

Pay within this range will vary based upon relevant experience, skills, and education among other factors.