Global Category Manager – MRO

This is where your work makes a difference.

At Baxter, we believe every person-regardless of who they are or where they are from-deserves a chance to live a healthy life. It was our founding belief in 1931 and continues to be our guiding principle. We are redefining healthcare delivery to make a greater impact today, tomorrow, and beyond.

Our Baxter colleagues are united by our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives. Together, our community is driven by a culture of courage, trust, and collaboration. Every individual is empowered to take ownership and make a meaningful impact. We strive for efficient and effective operations, and we hold each other accountable for delivering exceptional results.

Here, you will find more than just a job-you will find purpose and pride.

Role Purpose

In support of Baxter’s mission to Save and Sustain Lives, this role leads and supports Global Category Management for MRO. The role develops and executes sourcing strategies, partnership with Stakeholders, evaluates technical and commercial options, and builds fact-based business cases that improve cost, efficiency, service, quality, and business continuity.

What You Will Be Doing

· Develop and deploy global, regional, and multi-site category strategies for MRO.

· Partner closely with Engineering, Plant Facilities, Manufacturing Operations, Finance, Legal, Quality, and other internal stakeholders to define priorities, align project needs, and support execution.

· Lead or support supplier selection, bid events, technical evaluations, commercial evaluations, contract negotiations, and award recommendations for key projects.

· Create fact-based business cases for project approval, including cost analysis, cost projections, savings opportunities, efficiency impacts, supplier risk, and implementation considerations.

· Collaborate on multi-year savings plans and track benefits related to value, total cost, service levels, project delivery, quality, and continuity of supply.

· Monitor category and supplier spend patterns, market dynamics, supplier capacity, supplier financial stability, and total cost of ownership opportunities.

· Maintain strong supplier relationship management practices for strategic and critical suppliers, including performance reviews, issue resolution, and continuous improvement plans.

· Develop market intelligence, benchmarks, and internal performance metrics to support sourcing strategies and executive-level recommendations.

· Provide regular progress updates to senior management and key stakeholders on category performance, project status, risks, savings, and next steps.

· Support innovation by leveraging supplier capabilities, reviewing market developments, and engaging the right internal network to identify better technical and commercial solutions.

· Align initiatives with Global Category Management priorities, including supplier rationalization, payment terms, contract standardization, quality expectations, and value optimization.

· Promote ethical supplier relationships and ensure work is consistent with Baxter values, business practice standards, quality requirements, safety expectations, and applicable policies.

What You Will Bring

Education

· Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Engineering, Finance or Business Administration

· Professional procurement or project management certifications preferred, where applicable.

Experience

· Minimum 5 years of progressive business, procurement, sourcing, engineering, capital projects, or category management experience; 5 to 7 years preferred for a manager-level global role.

· Experience with MRO optimization projects, in a multinational organization.

· Experience leading or supporting strategic sourcing, negotiations, contracting, technical evaluations, supplier selection, and supplier management activities.

· Experience building cost models, efficiency analysis, project cost projections, business cases, and executive-level recommendations.

· Experience working with Engineering and Plant Maintenance/Production teams in regulated manufacturing, medical devices, life sciences, pharmaceutical, or similar environments preferred.

· Experience managing cross-functional work in a matrix environment and working effectively with virtual teams across countries and time zones.

Skills and Competencies

· Strong negotiation, contracting, supplier management, and relationship-building skills.

· Ability to evaluate technical and commercial tradeoffs and translate complex inputs into clear decisions and action plans.

· Financial understanding, including total cost of ownership, cost reduction, cost avoidance, budget impact, and savings tracking.

· Strategic thinking with practical execution skills and the ability to work through ambiguity.

· Strong communication skills, including the ability to influence senior leaders, suppliers, and cross-functional teams.

· High ethical standards and ability to protect business continuity, quality, safety, and compliance expectations.

· Knowledge of MRO markets and market intelligence.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Baxter is an equal opportunity employer. Baxter evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, disability/handicap status or any other legally protected characteristic.

Reasonable Accommodations

Baxter is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities globally. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or interview process, please click on the link here and let us know the nature of your request along with your contact information.

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