Category Manager

Be part of a global organization supporting the move to a more sustainable future

Are you a procurement professional with experience creating and managing strategic sourcing categories in an international industrial setting? Are you ready to take global responsibility for direct materials in a company on a growth path, where supply continuity, competitiveness and sustainability are critical to business?

Then we may have the right opportunity for you.

We are looking for a Category Manager to join our Direct Materials team in Group Procurement. The team consists of highly engaged category management professionals working across a broad portfolio of materials and components used in NKT’s cable solutions. These include metals, polymers, supporting cable materials, fiber optics, trading goods, insulators and components such as plastic parts.

You will become part of an open and collaborative working environment where knowledge sharing, continuous development and a genuine interest in creating value-adding sourcing solutions are central to how we work.

Manage direct-materials category worldwide

As Category Manager, you will have end-to-end commercial responsibility for one or more assigned categories within Direct Materials. The precise category scope will depend on business needs and your experience and may, for example, include plastic parts or other materials and components used in our cable solutions.

You will be the supply-market expert and strategic procurement partner to the business. Working closely with Operations, Technology, Quality, Sustainability, Finance and other key stakeholders, you will translate business requirements and market developments into category strategies and concrete sourcing initiatives.

Your primary responsibilities will be to:

• Define, develop and execute global strategies for your assigned categories
• Build and maintain category plans, objectives and a pipeline of value-creating initiatives
• Develop a thorough understanding of the relevant supply markets, cost drivers, technologies, risks and sustainability developments
• Manage supplier negotiations and establish competitive supply and framework agreements
• Develop the supplier portfolio to secure capacity, resilience, quality and long-term competitiveness
• Identify and mitigate commercial, operational and supply-chain risks
• Coordinate and lead supplier relationship management with selected key suppliers
• Strengthen supplier performance and build roadmaps for suppliers that focus on cost, quality, delivery, innovation, risk, and sustainability
• Lead cross-functional category teams and ensure alignment with key stakeholder functions
• Support the reduction of carbon footprint and increased circularity within the relevant categories
• Ensure that strategies and initiatives are implemented and delivering the expected value

The role provides broad exposure across NKT and gives you the opportunity to shape decisions that affect business continuity, profitability and sustainability. The position carries individual category responsibility and does not include formal people management responsibility.

A category-management professional who brings commercial acumen and a collaborative approach

In this role, you combine strategic procurement know-how with curiosity, commercial insight, and the ability to convert analysis into action.

You are comfortable working on your own while understanding that effective category management relies on collaboration across functions. You can engage credibly with suppliers and stakeholders at different levels and navigate effectively across business lines, countries and cultures.

You approach challenges with a constructive mindset and are persistent in moving important initiatives forward. You are able to balance cost, quality, sustainability, risk and security of supply rather than focusing on individual parameters in isolation.

We expect that you have:

• A university degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Business Administration or similar
• At least five years of relevant experience in strategic procurement or category management
• Experience with direct materials, components or technically specified products, preferably from an international manufacturing environment
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing category or sourcing strategies
• Solid commercial background in supplier negotiation and contract administration
• The ability to analyze supply markets and translate market intelligence into procurement actions
• Experience working with cross-functional and international stakeholders
• Professional proficiency in written and spoken English

Have we sparked your curiosity?

Can you see yourself taking responsibility for an important direct-materials category and contributing to the continued development of strategic procurement at NKT? Then we look forward to receiving your application.

We review applications on an ongoing basis and may close the recruitment process when we have found the right candidate. Personality and cognitive assessments may form part of the recruitment process.

The position can be based in Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania. Some travel, primarily within Europe, should be expected.

If you have any questions regarding the position, you are very welcome to contact VP, Category Management, Martin Helbo Texel, [email protected]. In case you have any inquiries about the recruitment process please reach out to HR Business Partner Angelina Nilsson. Please note that due to the GDPR regulations we cannot accept any applications via e-mail.

We are looking forward receiving your application!

About NKT

NKT connects a greener world with high-quality power cable technology and takes centre stage as the world moves towards green energy. NKT designs, manufactures and installs low-, medium- and high-voltage power cable solutions enabling sustainable energy transmission. Since 1891, NKT has innovated the power cable technology building the infrastructure for the first light bulbs to the megawatts created by renewable energy today. NKT is headquartered in Denmark and employs 6,500 people. NKT is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen and realised a revenue of EUR 3.6 billion in 2025.We connect a greener world. www.nkt.com