Indirect Procurement Manager, North America

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Valmet is seeking an experienced Indirect Procurement Manager to lead indirect procurement operations, development, strategy deployment, and supply base management for the North America area. This role owns the regional execution of global category strategies and is directly accountable for delivering measurable reductions in total cost of ownership (TCO), process improvement, and supplier base consolidation across the indirect portfolio.

The successful candidate will bring a demonstrated, quantifiable track record of managing in a minimum of two categories to include: MRO, Facilities Services, Travel, HR/Personnel, Marketing & Communications, and Professional Services categories - not general procurement exposure, but hands-on ownership of strategy, sourcing, negotiation, and supplier performance within these specific categories. This experience is a mandatory requirement for the role.

Key Responsibilities -

Category Strategy Development and Deployment

• Develop North America category strategies for MRO, Facilities Services, Travel, HR/Personnel, Marketing & Communications, and Professional Services, fully aligned to global category strategies and business requirements.
• Lead cross-functional category teams and steering groups, bringing together the right mix of commercial, technical, HSE, HR, and site expertise.
• Conduct supply market analysis and supplier segmentation; identify and qualify new and cost-competitive sources to challenge incumbents.
• Review and refresh category strategies at least annually; report strategy coverage, progress, and results to the Global Category Managers, Area Manager, and Indirect Procurement leadership.

Total Cost of Ownership Reduction and Cost Savings Delivery

• Own an annual cost reduction and cost avoidance target for the North America indirect portfolio, with results reported through the approved savings methodology.
• Drive TCO reduction beyond unit price, including:
  • Specification and demand management - right-sizing specifications, replacement rates, consumption controls, and policy tightening.
  • Total delivered cost - freight, packaging, minimum order quantities, inventory carrying cost, and vendor-managed inventory.
  • Commercial terms - payment terms extension, rebate and volume-tier structures, index-based pricing, and price-hold provisions.
• Lead competitive bidding (RFI/RFP/RFQ), e-auctions, should-cost analysis, and total-cost modeling for regional and country sourcing events.
• Build and validate savings business cases with Finance to ensure savings are traceable to budget and P&L impact.

Supply Base Reduction and Supplier Management

• Own the North America supplier reduction target for indirect categories; deliver a measurable year-over-year decrease in active suppliers.
• Manage the full contract lifecycle - create, negotiate, maintain, renew, and close agreements - and ensure contract metadata is accurate and complete.
• Run supplier performance management: define KPIs and SLAs, conduct business reviews, drive corrective actions, and escalate chronic underperformance.
• Develop supplier quality, HSE, sustainability, and Supplier Code of Conduct coverage; capture and commercialize supplier innovation and continuous-improvement ideas.

Process Improvement, Compliance, and Digitalization

• Identify process improvement opportunities across source-to-contract and purchase-to-pay; define measurable goals and lead implementation with the relevant teams and Global Category Managers.
• Increase PO coverage, catalog and punch-out adoption, free-text PO discipline, spend plans, and guided-buying channel usage.
• Deliver end-user training and change management when new sites, companies, or tools are brought into the process.
• Improve supplier and item master data quality to enable accurate reporting, analytics, and category KPI tracking.
• Promote the use of analytics and AI-enabled tools to accelerate spend visibility, benchmarking, and sourcing execution.

Procurement Operations and Systems

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, suppliers, and Global Category Managers to define requirements and specifications ahead of sourcing.
• Administer regional procurement systems and support end users in day-to-day purchasing processes.
• Monitor deliveries and supplier order execution; ensure adherence to procurement policies, approval controls, and internal control requirements.

Stakeholder Management and Leadership

• Build trusted relationships with NA site leadership, HR, Finance, HSE, Legal, IT, and Marketing to understand demand and secure early procurement engagement.
• Represent North America in global category teams and the Indirect Procurement Council; ensure regional requirements are reflected in global strategies.
• Communicate results, insights, market intelligence, and recommendations clearly to peers, Global Category Managers, Area Managers, and senior leadership.

Performance Measures

• Cost reduction and cost avoidance delivered against annual target (€/$ and % of addressable spend).
• Reduction in active supplier count within scope categories (target: double-digit % year-over-year).
• Spend under control, PO coverage, and policy compliance rates.
• Payment terms improvement (average days).
• Supplier performance: OTD, quality, service level, and Supplier Code of Conduct signature coverage.

Qualifications -

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related field.
• Minimum 7 years of progressive strategic and tactical sourcing experience, with at least 5 years in indirect procurement.
• Demonstrated, quantifiable track record managing MRO, Facilities Services, Travel, HR/Personnel, Marketing & Communications, and Professional Services categories, including strategy ownership and supplier consolidation in each.
• Multi-category breadth combined with category management maturity - able to operate as both a strategic category owner and a hands-on tactical procurement generalist.
• Proven delivery of TCO reduction and validated cost savings in a multi-site North American environment.
• Demonstrated success by reducing supplier count and managing tail spend without service disruption.
• Strong negotiation and contract management capability across services and goods, including MSAs, SOWs, SLAs, and rate cards.
• Working knowledge of P2P/S2C systems (e.g., Basware, SAP, Coupa, Ariba or equivalent) and spend analytics tools.
• Advanced analytical skills, including Excel-based cost modeling and spend analysis.
• Project management experience leading multi-workstream sourcing programs.
• Demonstrated ability to lead supplier relationships and manage internal stakeholders by challenging demand.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States; able to travel domestically as required (approximately 20-30%).

Preferred

• Experience in a manufacturing, industrial, or engineered-products environment.
• Experience operating within a global matrix organization with regional execution accountability.
• Contingent workforce program experience (MSP/VMS implementation or governance).
• Familiarity with facilities energy and utility procurement in deregulated U.S. markets.
• Professional certification such as CPSM, CPSD, or C.P.M.
• Advanced degree (MBA or MS in Supply Chain).

Working Conditions -

Hybrid role based in the United States with travel (less than 10%) to North American manufacturing and office sites, supplier facilities, and periodic international travel for global category and leadership meetings. Fully remote candidates based in the US eastern time zone will also be considered.

We Offer -

We offer a challenging work environment that values innovation and suits development-minded people who enjoy working in a fast-paced and dynamic setting. Includes a generous wage and benefits package that includes a 401k with company match as well as company-funded pension.

Please note that any offer of employment is contingent upon a background check and pre-employment physical and drug screen.

This position is not available for international relocation. Applicant must be living and authorized to work in the US.

Where everything works together -

Valmet is where the best talent from a wide variety of backgrounds comes together. With over 20,000 professionals around the world, we are the leading global developer and supplier of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Our commitment to moving our customer's performance forward requires creativity, technological innovations, service know-how - and above all, teamwork. Join the team! www.valmet.com/careersna

Valmet is an equal opportunity employer. All employees and applicants for employment will not be discriminated on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), political affiliation, military service, or other non-merit-based factors.

Please note that Valmet will never ask for personal financial information during the interview process. If you feel you have been a victim of an online job posting scam, please notify the Federal Trade Commission