Strategic Sourcing Systems and Continuous Improvement Manager

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.

Strategic Sourcing Systems and Continuous Improvement Manager

Location - Latrobe, PA

Job Summary

The Strategic Sourcing Systems and Continuous Improvement Manager is responsible for the deployment, management, and continuous improvement of source-to-procure systems and tools across North America, while contributing to global standardization initiatives. This role develops and leads a team of procurement system professionals and project managers, ensuring compliance with policies and regulations while driving efficiency, process optimization, and risk management. The manager will configure, implement, maintain, and customize sourcing systems that store and process procurement data in support of sourcing strategies and objectives. By collaborating with internal teams, regional peers, and stakeholders, this position identifies business needs, defines goals, and delivers solutions that enhance value attainment and sustainment within the North American sourcing organization while aligning with global sourcing practices.

Key Job Responsibilities

• System Ownership & Administration – Oversee the administration of Global Sourcing tools, including SAP ERP and requisition platforms, ensuring consistent usage, data integrity, and process alignment across North America. Serve as
• Purchasing Key User and Role Owner for SAP, managing user security, daily role approval requests, and periodic SOX security reviews.
• Process Governance & Compliance – Manage and update sourcing policies, procedures, and approval workflows (release strategy) for North America while contributing to global standardization initiatives and ensuring compliance with corporate, SOX, and regulatory standards. Act as the Purchasing point of contact for internal control audits and disaster recovery testing.
• Cross-Functional Liaison – Serve as the primary business interface with IT (Solutions & Architecture) and Accounts Payable teams to address system enhancements, invoice reconciliation, and blocking management. Collaborate with stakeholders across sourcing, finance, and supply chain to ensure aligned and efficient end-to-end processes.
• Supplier & Data Management – Act as process owner for supplier onboarding, ensuring data quality, record maintenance, and adherence to sourcing policies. Lead data stewardship efforts to cleanse, maintain, and manage SAP master and transactional data for sourcing accuracy and reporting reliability.
• Catalog & Program Management – Administer sourcing catalogs (e.g., Amazon, Grainger, McMaster-Carr, Uline) and manage P-Card and payment term deviation processes to ensure controlled, compliant, and efficient purchasing channels.
• Performance, Reporting & Improvement – Identify, track, and implement improvement opportunities within sourcing tools, processes, and policies to support both regional needs and global best practices. Drive continuous improvement initiatives in automation, process simplification, and reporting enhancements.
• Supplier Evaluation & Reporting – Partner with Global Sourcing and regional peers to standardize supplier evaluation and scorecard processes, align on reporting frameworks, and contribute insights to performance reviews.
• Training, Change Management & Capability Building – Lead and facilitate training programs for sourcing stakeholders on tools, processes, and compliance requirements. Drive effective change management practices, integrate training into succession planning, and support adoption of systems and continuous improvement initiatives regionally and globally.
• Risk & Control Management – Monitor sourcing processes, manage risks related to systems, suppliers, and compliance, and ensure mitigation plans are developed and executed.
  
  

Requirements

• 5-8 Years of Relevant Work Experience
• Bachelor and/or master within a relevant field of study (Business, Supply Chain, Engineering).
• Extensive SAP or other ERP system usage experience. Power BI experience preferred.
• Skilled in analytics and data management, with the ability to leverage raw data (e.g., PowerBI) to inform decision-making and drive process improvements.
• Strong leadership skills with experience managing or mentoring teams, leading cross-functional initiatives, and delivering training.
• Goal-oriented with strong critical thinking skills and proactive with decisive action. Strong communication skills.
• Business Acumen – Driven by entrepreneurship. Able to set strategic direction, establish priorities, and influence stakeholders to achieve objectives.
• Business Performance Measurement – Strong understanding of internal processes and external markets, with the ability to translate data into actionable strategies 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.
• Change Management – Ability to lead and support adoption of new processes, tools, and sourcing practices across regional and global teams.
• Self-motivated, can-do attitude, with the ability to work effectively in a diverse, cross-functional team environment
  
  

Equal Opportunity Employer