Sr. Category Leader, IT

Sr. Category Leader, IT

Work Mode: Onsite

Location: Onsite in Kohler, WI 

Opportunity:

This role will be responsible for supporting the financial and operational performance within specific areas of IT Categories including a share of the $175M IT spend. Responsible for negotiating XaaS, telecom, infrastructure, security, AI, and IT service agreements globally, for all business units. Accountable for supporting the IT team with supplier selection, value analysis, and go/no go decisions. Serves as the liaison between legal, privacy, risk, IT and business stakeholders and supplier partners. Analyzes supplier quotations, SOWs and other contracts to determine the best solution based upon metrics such as value delivered and total cost of ownership. Familiar with a variety of purchasing concepts, practices, and procedures.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead the development of Category Strategies

• Learn and understand the current state of the category in the market and at Kohler
• Identify gaps issues and challenges affecting assurance of supply, quality, service, cost, lack of innovation and relationships
• Proactively identify future areas of opportunity to address cost, building a pipeline of value to be executed through a variety of sourcing and other approaches

Project Support and Management

• Support the execution of IT and business projects and initiatives focused on driving and delivering value to the organization
• Develop sourcing strategies for cross-functional RFx, evaluation, supplier selection, proposal analysis, and contract negotiation
• Manage and defend against cost increases at contract renewal
• Implement various negotiation tactics to minimize unfavorable risk and impact to Kohler
• Evaluate and support the addition of new providers and technology, and improved processes

Administration and Continuous Improvement

• Support the management of existing vendor relationships and performance
• Interact with senior leaders and report on cost savings and avoidance, risk mitigation, and keep stakeholders informed of project development
• Become an expert in understanding the procurement purpose and process
• Develop key relationships with stakeholders and provide training and support
• Identify areas of improvement in the procurement team and process, and propose changes to make improvements happen
  

Required Competencies

Business/Technology

• Contract Proficiency
• Understand the importance of contract quality
• Proficient understanding of business and legal Interpretations of contract T&Cs
• Proven ability to manage various commercial and legal aspects of IT agreements
• Proficient in managing/leading the contract and sourcing process

Collaboration

• Able to build and maintain key internal / external relationships critical to success, including those with senior leaders including directors, VPs and C-level officers
• Comfortable collaborating with stakeholders on requirement gathering and execution
• General understanding of IT solutions, concepts and terms
• Able to prioritize workloads due to actual level of urgency, and proactively keep stakeholders up to date

Negotiation

• Experienced in negotiating the gamut of hardware, software licensing and services agreements
• Ability to negotiate with varying degrees of negotiation power and leverage
• Skilled in cost analysis, with a focus on total cost of ownership and value delivered
• Develop and execute negotiation strategies for large opportunities

Interpersonal

Approach

• Delight customers/stakeholders
• Strong drive for results
• Ability to learn quickly
• Strong degree of independence in work
• Comfortable asking questions when unclear
• Solutions-oriented problem solving

Collaboration

• Develop and maintain relationships
• Accept responsibility and be accountable for commitments
• Communicate proactively, timely and effectively

Skills/Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain, Operations, IT, Business or another related field (Advanced degree a plus)
• Minimum 10 years of IT and/or strategic purchasing experience (specific IT purchasing experience a plus)
• Experience independently managing contracts and projects with $1-10M in annual spend
• Experience utilizing supplier and contract management platforms (Jaggaer a plus)

CUSTOM.PAY.TRANSPARENCY

Why Choose Kohler?
We empower each associate to #BecomeMoreAtKohler with a competitive total rewards package to support your health and wellbeing, access to career growth and development opportunities, a diverse and inclusive workplace, and a strong culture of innovation. With more than 30,000 bold leaders across the globe, we’re driving meaningful change in our mission to help people live gracious, healthy, and sustainable lives.

About Us
It is Kohler’s policy to recruit, hire, and promote qualified applicants without regard to race, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. If, as an individual with a disability, you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact kohlerjobs@kohler.com.  Kohler Co. is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. 

Client-provided location(s): Sheboygan, WI

Job ID: 50956343

Employment Type: FULL_TIME

Posted: 2025-09-01T00:10:22