Tactical Category Manager

About the Position

Tactical Category Manager (6 months contract)

Continental Tires (China) Co., Ltd. is seeking a Tactical Category Manager for a 6-month contract. This role involves leading procurement strategies and supplier management.

Responsibilities

Source to Contract

• Identification and implementation of high and complex difficulty tenders in coordination with Global Category Management and internal clients/specialist departments.
• Analysis of offers, creation of comparisons of offers, cost and price analysis, conducting negotiations.
• Documentation of the sourcing decision in a comparison matrix to ensure the necessary transparency of the awarded decision regarding compliance guidelines.
• Frame contract management.
• Increase the number of cost-optimized price and framework agreements in legal, logistical, commercial, and technical terms (requirements specifications, specifications, standards) in close coordination with the relevant specialties and the Global Integrated Category Management.
• Support Savings targets.
• Setting of alternative sources of procurement. Ensuring the highest possible synergies through volume bundling.
• Coordination with strategic and tactical category management to sustainably reduce purchasing prices while taking into account functional and quality requirements and utilizing the best possible bundling effects within material responsibility.
• Drive and monitor catalogue implementation and update based on Frame contract negotiation.

Category Management (Plan to Strategy)

• Co-develop regional procurement strategies (Category Strategy Paper, CSP) together with the Global Category Manager including sustainability aspects to improve market transparency at national and international level in order to ensure long-term and cost-effective supply (make or buy) for the region.
• Pushing the regional strategy in the region and ensuring the optimal balance between competition and bundling in order to achieve the best possible synergy effects for the Group.
• Communicate the regional sourcing strategy between the Operation Center, Regional Sourcing Center, Global Integrated Category, and internal customers to ensure transparency in the procurement/sourcing process.

Stakeholder Partnership

• Act as interface and represent the interests of Continental and the Purchasing Community towards all internal and external stakeholders (e.g. Engineering, Plants, Suppliers).
• Understands the business and purchasing strategy to derive actions for own managed category.
• Guide, support, and train local and central stakeholders to execute with the right tools, methods, and processes.

Supplier Management

• Implements and maintains sustainable supplier relationships and conducts Strategic Supplier Meetings to deploy the regional category strategy.
• Responsible for steering the annual supplier evaluation and derives development programs where needed.
• Performs annual and regular negotiations to constantly improve the cost situation for respective category, actively drives improvement or Total Cost of Ownership programs with suppliers, analyzing/performing supplier classification.
• Monitor if supplier acts in line with Continentals Business Partner Code of Conduct (BPCoC), responsible value chain (RVC) rules and processes and takes actions accordingly.

Project Management

• Lead or participate in projects with relevance for owned category, within the purchasing organization or cross-functional projects.

Requirements

• Degree in business administration, engineering, or comparable qualification.
• Language skills (English spoken and written) and regional languages preferred mandatory.
• Minimum 3 years of professional experience in Purchasing, respective material group preferred.
• Specific professional experience in purchasing within Automotive (Supplier) Industry, Tire Production and Manufacturing Industry, 3 years' purchasing experience.
• Experience in purchasing processes. Ability to analyze, assertiveness, teamwork, and result orientation.
• Knowledge of MS Office tools as well as in SAP R/3 and World Class Sourcing Platforms and presentation techniques.
• Strong negotiating skills, persuasion, and communication skills.
• Ability to work under pressure, driving execution.
• Creativity, reliability, integrity, teamwork, operates with a global perspective.

We Offer

• Opportunity to work with a leading tire manufacturer.
• Be part of a global team with a rich history and innovative solutions.
• Professional growth and development opportunities.

About the Company

Continental is a leading tire manufacturer and industry specialist. Founded in 1871, the company generated sales of €39.7 billion in 2024 and currently employs around 95,000 people in 54 countries and markets. Tire solutions from the Tires group sector make mobility safer, smarter, and more sustainable. Its premium portfolio encompasses car, truck, bus, two-wheel, and specialty tires as well as smart solutions and services for fleets and tire retailers. Continental has been delivering top performance for more than 150 years and is one of the world’s largest tire manufacturers. In fiscal 2024, the Tires group sector generated sales of 13.9 billion euros. Continental's tire division employs more than 57,000 people worldwide and has 20 production and 16 development sites.

Ready to drive with Continental? Take the first step and fill in the online application.