WHAT DOES A CATEGORY BUYER DO?

The Category Buyer manages sales and gross profit margins across multiple categories, developing and implementing strategies to enhance product assortments and drive profitability. This role supports global strategic plans, ensuring alignment of sourcing projects with corporate objectives and promoting adherence to company policies and ethical standards. Additionally, the Category Buyer provides commercial leadership in cross-functional projects, facilitating decision-making processes to maximize financial benefits from savings opportunities.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Category Buyer

1. Category Buyer MRO/Projects Duties

  • Strategy Management: Develop, implement, and manage the performance of a sourcing strategy to meet business goals and objectives.
  • Supplier Management: Manage supplier relationships, perform root cause analysis and resolutions, and develop and monitor supplier improvement plans.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Perform tasks within the framework of rules and regulations.
  • Safety Promotion: Promote a safe work environment.
  • Procurement Strategy: Ensure the procurement of goods and services according to TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
  • Negotiation Skills: Negotiate prices independently and provide technical support to the organization.
  • Communication Excellence: Use excellent communication skills in working with key stakeholders.
  • Supply Chain Management: Ensure the continuous supply of goods and services.
  • Problem Communication: Communicate any supply problems that may impact business operations.

2. Regional Category Buyer Details

  • Process Integration: Integrate into quality and regional process initiatives.
  • Contract Negotiation: Negotiate raw material regional contracts, tolled production contracts, and manage globally negotiated contracts.
  • Supply Security: Ensure ongoing supply security and achieve competitive terms & conditions.
  • Spot Buying Coordination: Negotiate and coordinate spot buys for monomers, feedstocks, and raw materials.
  • Supplier Management: Evaluate and manage suppliers and supply portfolio (in the sense of a “key account manager”).
  • Value Creation: Create value-add and bottom-line impact for INEOS Styrolution such as cost savings/cost avoidance, risk reduction, higher delivery flexibility, increased competitiveness, more efficient processes, supplier innovation, etc.
  • Team Coordination: Coordinate with a team of 6-8 site planners.
  • Leadership Role: Participate in or lead a Cross-regional Category Buyers Team.
  • Regional Representation: Represent the Americas region in the Global Category Buyers Council.
  • Issue Resolution: Take up and solve raw material supply issues and toll manufacturing issues, which cannot be solved at the Site Planner level.

3. Regional Category Buyer Responsibilities

  • Collaborative Sourcing: Work with Regional Development Center, Regulatory, Business, Logistics, and site Production personnel to reduce single and sole-sourced raw materials.
  • Logistics Strategy Design: Design an optimal logistics strategy to ensure supply security for assigned categories.
  • Issue Resolution: Resolve all Raw Material supply issues by working with suppliers, site personnel, Technology, and Business group.
  • Reporting: Update and report Savings on a quarterly basis in SharePoint.
  • Project Leadership: Lead and participate in cross-functional strategic projects.
  • Audit Representation: Represent in all annual audits and quality systems certification (ISOs, customer, environmental audits).
  • Document Generation: Generate Contract Review and Approval Forms (CRAFs) and SAP Outline Agreements (OLAs) to receive approvals for the supply of raw materials.
  • Document Maintenance: Ongoing Maintenance of CRAFs and OLAs as required throughout the year.
  • Purchase Order Management: Generate Purchase Orders for securing Raw Material by each site.
  • Procurement Compliance: Ensure all procurement policies and procedures, including the Delegation of Authority, are followed throughout the procurement process.

4. Regional Category Buyer Job Summary

  • Market Analysis: Maintain a good understanding of market trends and supplier developments in the Chemical and associated building blocks industries.
  • Trade Compliance Support: Support Trade Compliance in obtaining relevant documents (USMCA/TMEC certs).
  • Product Stewardship: Resolve regional product stewardship requirements in the region.
  • Procedure Improvement: Contribute to and continuously improve ISO and IATF procedures regionally across all plants.
  • Sustainability Projects: Support Eco/Sustainable product brand projects and developments.
  • Supplier Auditing: Conduct in-person supplier audits at their production facilities.
  • Process Management: Manage, review, and control the regional non-conformance/SCAR process.
  • Costing Coordination: Coordinate with finance and other functions to resolve costing issues.
  • Logistics Coordination: Coordinate with Customer Service for intercompany raw material transfers.
  • Warehouse Coordination: Coordinate with warehouse teams to review receipts and/or invoice issues.

5. Packaging Category Buyer Accountabilities

  • Order Management: Place orders and schedule agreements with suppliers in line with agreed economic ordering parameters.
  • Supply Coordination: Work with the Planning Department to ensure effective call-off of materials and provide an effective remedy for any supply issues.
  • Budget Compliance: Ensure that orders are processed in line with the packaging budget and purchasing procedure, within agreed financial authorities.
  • Delivery Assurance: Ensure delivery meets or exceeds customer expectations.
  • Inventory Systems Management: Manage stock and inventory, price, and systems maintenance, including Garuda and SAP systems for Procurement.
  • Performance Reporting: Monthly report on supplier performance and stock value held with suppliers.
  • Development Reporting: Report for the supplier development program.
  • Risk Management: Work with Procurement Colleagues to identify and minimize business risk within the supply chain.
  • Product Coordination: Liaise with the PER team and suppliers to facilitate the introduction of new products or product changes.

6. Category Buyer Functions

  • KPI Improvement: Deliver savings and improvements in KPIs across key Procurement imperatives of cost, risk, quality, service, growth, innovation, and governance.
  • Savings Delivery: Deliver saving targets using procurement best practice across assigned spend categories.
  • Portfolio Development: Develop and deliver a portfolio of savings and value.
  • Cost Reduction: Add projects that will reduce the total acquisition cost of spend.
  • Local Initiatives: Drive local procurement initiatives through the implementation of Global Sourcing Strategies and local RFQs.
  • Initiative Development: Identify, develop, and deliver initiatives by working with internal customers as Lead Business Partner.
  • Partner Collaboration: Act as a procurement business partner with relevant departments working on or leading key site initiatives.
  • Leadership Engagement: Lead business partner reviews and attend regular functional management meetings.
  • Policy Compliance: Ensure compliance with Procurement Policy and SOPs.
  • Data Management: Manage master data, change controls, DRs, and CAPAs as appropriate to support Direct and Indirect categories.

7. Category Buyer Overview

  • Compliance Management: Ensure all procurement orders and contracts as actioned are raised compliantly.
  • Supply Assurance: Assure supply from all nominated suppliers while managing quality and compliance aspects.
  • Change Leadership: Champion change in procurement to ensure a compliant change approach.
  • Supply Security: Ensure the security of supply for kitchens, price competitiveness, and transparency.
  • Quality Assurance: Ensure that product quality & specifications are in line with user expectations & Taster's quality policy.
  • Supplier Rationalization: Drive synergies on product & supplier rationalization across markets.
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Align cross-functionally with different departments.
  • Supplier Development: Drive continuous improvement of supplier performance and cultivate supplier relationships.
  • Budget Monitoring: Follow up and monitor budgets & Cost of Goods.
  • Product Optimization: Conduct product specification value analysis and optimization of top best sellers.
  • Business Reviews: Prepare and participate in respective business reviews with Taster’s Supply-Chain, Marketing & Finance departments.

8. Category Buyer Tasks

  • Category Management: Owns sales and gross profit margin of categories.
  • Strategic Development: Develops and implements strategic direction for multiple categories.
  • Sales Optimization: Drives sales and gross profit through the optimization of the product assortment in multiple categories.
  • Policy Promotion: Promotes and supports company policies, procedures, mission, values, and standards of ethics and integrity.
  • Global Strategy Support: Supports cross-channel and company initiatives to achieve global strategic multi-channel plans.
  • Procurement Support: Supports daily procurement process and procedures in the absence of operational buyers.
  • Sourcing Alignment: Ensures alignment of sourcing projects, policies, and processes with key strategies and objectives.
  • Global Collaboration: Works functionally globally with peers as well as matrix at the Site level
  • Commercial Leadership: Provides commercial leadership of cross-functional projects that have a high financial impact in terms of savings generation.
  • Decision Facilitation: Facilitates and influences decision-making in business partnering meetings.
  • Savings Implementation: Ensures savings opportunities are delivered from initiation to implementation.

9. Category Buyer - Raw Materials Roles

  • Value Delivery: Accountable for delivering step change value including cost, product performance, innovation, supplier performance, risk management, and ethical trade amongst day-to-day duties.
  • Relationship Building: Build good working relationships and the ability to influence senior leaders as well as being a strong team player.
  • Material Procurement: Purchase direct materials including food chemicals, commodities, and ingredients.
  • Strategy Development: Develop and implement successful buying strategies to deliver business requirements and specific objectives and targets within timelines as agreed.
  • Cross-functional Leadership: Lead and/or represent the procurement department on specific cross-functional projects.
  • Strategic Support: Support the Procurement team on strategic activity outside of own portfolio of spend categories.
  • Community Representation: Represent the procurement department on specific cross-business activity with other businesses within the ABF Procurement community.
  • Sourcing Management: Conduct sourcing activity for categories, using the approved processes and e-sourcing platform.
  • Budget Management: Take responsibility for current and future budgets for own category areas.
  • Performance Reporting: Provide updates on category performance against these budgets.
  • Supplier Relations: Ensure great supplier performance and relationship development through commercial relationships.

10. Category Buyer Role Purpose

  • Strategy Definition: Define new strategies for mapping and tracking specific categories, including MRO.
  • Agreement Negotiation: Negotiate Lear Supplier Agreements with suppliers to improve cost and prices.
  • Implementation Support: Support plants with the implementation of new prices/suppliers.
  • Quotation Management: Manage the quotation process together with the responsible people from the plant.
  • RFQ Coordination: Make sure suppliers receive RFQs in line with Lear requirements.
  • Decision Support: Present supplier comparisons and summaries to Management for final sourcing decisions.
  • Process Improvement: Provide ongoing recommendations for improvement of procedures and processes.
  • Performance Management: Ensure relevant performance targets are met and that the strategic relationship is leveraged to maximize efficiencies and value.
  • Risk Management: Ensure sourcing strategy considers the risks relevant to the category and reduce business exposure.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Ensure regulatory and legislative requirements are met for individual categories.
  • Administrative Management: Ensure necessary administrative tasks are completed for the relevant departmental and business requirements.