Global Category Manager, IT & Finance

About Kennametal

With over 85 years as an industrial technology leader, Kennametal Inc. delivers productivity to customers through materials science, tooling and wear-resistant solutions. Customers across aerospace and defense, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation turn to Kennametal to help them manufacture with precision and efficiency. Learn more at kennametal.com. Follow @Kennametal: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Job Title: Global Category Manager, IT & Finance

Location: Latrobe, PA (preferred) OR Pittsburg, PA

Job Summary

The Global IT & Finance Category Manager leads the development and execution of global category strategies across IT ($70M annual spend) and Finance ($40M annual spend) with responsibility for approximately $110M in managed spend. The role is accountable for driving competitive advantage through strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, risk mitigation, contract governance, and category optimization across global operations. Delivers measurable business value through savings, service improvements, supplier innovation, compliance, working capital improvements, and business resiliency initiatives.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Leads development, implementation, and governance of global IT and Finance category strategies across NAM, EMEA, APAC, and India.
• Develop annual sourcing roadmaps, project pipelines, and category strategies aligned with business objectives and cost reduction goals.
• Lead global RFx events, supplier negotiations, contract renewals, and commercial discussions.
• Work cross-functionally to define requirements, develop SOWs, and prepare sourcing and negotiation strategies.
• Manage IT categories including software, SaaS, cloud services, hardware, telecom, infrastructure, managed services, cybersecurity, and IT professional services.
• Manage Finance categories including audit, tax, banking, insurance, consulting, financial systems, and other finance-related services.
• Partner with IT, Finance, Technology, HR, Legal, EHS and regional stakeholders to execute strategic initiatives.
• Track savings, project execution, and value realization through sourcing tools and procurement systems.
• Leverage spend analytics, market intelligence, AI-enabled analytics, and sourcing technologies to identify optimization opportunities.
• Monitor and analyze market trends, emerging technologies, economic conditions, supplier landscapes, and industry developments.
• Prepare executive presentations, business cases, contract approval packages, and sourcing recommendations.
• Lead cross-functional meetings focused on service improvements, operational efficiencies, supplier performance, and cost reduction opportunities.
• Lead executive-level supplier relationship management, business reviews, performance scorecards, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Monitor supplier performance against contractual obligations and negotiate corrective actions when service, cost, or compliance issues arise.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate supplier, operational, financial, regulatory, cybersecurity, data privacy, and geopolitical risks through category risk management strategies.
• Support broader sourcing and special projects outside primary categories as business needs require.
• Utilize SAP, sourcing systems, contract repositories, PO systems, spend analytics platforms, and savings trackers to drive insights and results.
• Accountable for achievement of key performance metrics including ethics and compliance, cost savings, inflation mitigation, supplier quality and service levels, productivity improvement, working capital performance, risk reduction, and stakeholder satisfaction.
  
  

Education, Work Experience, Skills, Certificates

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree (RQ) in Supply Chain, Business, or Engineering; MBA (PF)
• Minimum of 5 years of strategic sourcing, procurement experience, including 3 years leading global sourcing initiatives and category strategies in IT/Finance.
• Experience in supply chain or relevant discipline in a manufacturing environment preferred.
• Proven track record within strategic procurement and/or category management.
• Complex contract negotiations
• SAP or other ERP system usage experience.
• Maintains the highest standards of integrity, ethics, safety, and compliance, consistently modeling Kennametal's Code of Conduct and fostering a culture of accountability with suppliers, stakeholders, and team members.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute category and sourcing strategies that align with business objectives, deliver measurable value, mitigate risk, and support long-term organizational goals.
• Motivated by leading negotiations. Goal-oriented and proactive. Strong communication skills.
• Strong technology aptitude with the ability to effectively utilize enterprise systems, procurement tools, and data analytics platforms to support sourcing, supplier management, reporting, and decision-making.
• Business Acumen – Driven by entrepreneurship. Able to set priorities and establish priorities. This role provides a unique opportunity to develop and manage two key commodity areas.
• Business Performance Measurement – Ability to understand internal business processes, external market segments, establish strategic direction and business objectives, and gain alignment with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Customer Relationship Management - Understands organization of internal customer groups, key users, and characteristics of these customers. Drives to understand customer requirements and uses this information as an input to create effective strategies and reach timely decisions to foster mutually beneficial customer relationships.
• Data Management – Skilled in analytics; able to maintain key data, leverage raw data to organize and prioritize information for decision making.
• Financial Analysis – Able to create cost savings scenario summaries and track purchase price performance to commodity markets to differentiate between cost movement due to commodity markets versus supply chain improvement. Understand financial concepts including invoicing, accounts payable and other financial business processes. Interprets financial data, analyzes cost structures, and determines financial impacts of decisions.
• Experience working with a global corporation and matrixed environment a plus.
• Experience in a sourcing role and following compliance requirements for a global company.
• Demonstrated Project & Time management skills
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong business acumen with a deep understanding of organizational strategy, business processes, customer requirements, market dynamics, and supplier capabilities. Effectively translates business needs into sourcing and category management strategies.
• Experience developing supplier strategies, managing supplier performance, negotiating complex commercial agreements, and establishing governance frameworks that drive innovation, service excellence, risk mitigation, and long-term value creation.
  
  

Kennametal Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.