What are the responsibilities and job description for the Category Manager position at Working at Signature Aviation?
Signature Aviation is seeking a strategic, hands-on Category Manager to strengthen and scale our sourcing and procurement function. This role will lead category strategies that reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), improve supplier performance, and unlock enterprise value across a wide range of indirect spend categories, including: facilities and maintenance, IT, travel, uniforms, HR and professional services, contract labor, marketing, MRO/capital equipment, environmental services, construction chemicals, and aviation fuels.
This role is ideal for someone who can move fluidly between hands-on analytics, strategic sourcing, and stakeholder engagement. The successful candidate will be a strong communicator, skilled negotiator, and effective relationship builder—comfortable influencing cross-functional leaders while driving measurable procurement results.
Qualifications:
Minimum Education and/or Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year institution; Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, or related field preferred.
- Minimum of five (5) years of progressive corporate procurement experience, with strong expertise in indirect sourcing.
- At least three years in a supervisory, category leadership, or strategic sourcing role.
- Ability to influence stakeholders
Additional knowledge and skills:
- Experience building or contributing to a developing procurement function is strongly preferred.
- Strong capability in spend analytics, cost modeling, and commercial analysis.
- Ability to quickly calculate pricing models, discounts, percentages, and other financial components in real time.
- High proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word); advanced Excel skills preferred (pivot tables, lookups, modeling).
- Previous experience with construction under regulated environments or fuel farm is a plus.
- Strong negotiation skills and ability to influence at all levels.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate procurement insights into actionable recommendations for stakeholders.
Responsibilities:
- Implement and sustain sourcing and procurement processes that align with company policies, guidelines, and best practices to drive measurable value and cost savings.
- Conduct supplier reviews both pre-purchase and post-purchase, assessing performance, compliance, and alignment with business needs.
- Benchmark industry pricing, service levels, performance standards, and emerging trends to inform category strategies.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for strategic sourcing activities—including managing RFx processes, supplier evaluations, and commercial negotiations.
- Partner with Legal to refine contract templates, support negotiations, and ensure ongoing supplier due diligence and compliance.
- Collaborate with FP&A to improve forecast accuracy, provide spend visibility, and integrate sourcing initiatives into budget planning.
- Build and maintain strategic relationships with key internal stakeholders across all levels of the organization.
- Lead supplier selection using a variety of sourcing methodologies, such as RFx, reverse auctions, supplier consolidation, and demand-management initiatives.
- Evaluate new and existing suppliers for cost competitiveness, quality, capacity, technical capability, and operational performance.
- Track and report supplier performance using scorecards, KPIs, and analytics to drive continuous improvement and strengthen the supply base.