Category Manager

Tenneco is one of the world’s leading designer, manufacturers and marketers of automotive products for original equipment and aftermarket customers, with approximately 78,000 team members working at more than 300 sites worldwide. Through our four business groups, Motor parts, Ride Performance, Clean Air and Powertrain, Tenneco is driving advancements in global mobility by delivering technology solutions for diversified global markets, including light vehicle, commercial truck, off‑highway, industrial, motor sport and the aftermarket.

This position is responsible for leading value generation, sourcing, and profitability improvement initiatives to optimize indirect and corporate spend. It executes effective procurement strategies from initial identification of procurement needs for goods and services to sustaining results. Close interaction and coordination with internal partners and external suppliers is required. Success will be measured on spend addressed, savings achieved, and working‑capital impact.

The central challenge of the position is to capture value from indirect spend categories while meeting key business objectives such as service quality, timing, and security of supply. The role may be based in any EMEA location, part of Tenneco Clean Air, Powertrain or Ignition Business Groups, and reports directly to the Director of Indirect Materials & Services EMEA.

• Help drive corporate indirect procurement and profit improvement, delivering the following to the business:
  • Category Planning:
    Work with corporate team, business units, and regional stakeholders to prioritize a portfolio of high‑value process improvement and sourcing initiatives; serve as a full partner to the business in evaluating and challenging the status quo to surface value opportunities; lead aggregation, normalization, and analysis of spend data to identify potential value opportunities; ensure proper sequencing and business support for value capture initiatives;
    
    research and provide information on industry category trends and best practices.
  • Sourcing and Contracting:
    Drive sourcing projects emerging from category planning; define goals, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders; incorporate business requirements into sourcing plans and RFP strategies; manage planning and launch of RFx events, leveraging eSourcing tools as appropriate; enhance competition by leveraging spend and qualified new suppliers; deep‑dive current spend information/data to identify sourcing projects for individual sub‑categories, and develop an overall cost‑reduction plan, scorecards and continuous‑improvement plans;
    
    coordinate and lead negotiations; develop global/regional contracts that are commercially sound; quantify and report both identified and implemented sourcing project results; execute strategic sourcing best practices and initiatives that support improvements in supplier quality, total cost effectiveness, enhanced service levels, improved coordination, delivery, pricing, lead times, payment, risk compliance and other areas.
  • Process Improvement:
    Identify and capture profit improvement opportunities beyond leveraged sourcing, e.g., demand management opportunities, insource versus outsource decisions, efficiencies in the company’s comprehensive supply chain, and/or other strategic and operational process improvements; ensure appropriate cross‑functional partnering; track and work with corporate finance to report results and replicate successful projects across functions.
  • Supplier Relationship Management:
    Foster performance‑based supplier relationships; lead global business reviews with strategic suppliers to ensure performance against contracted obligations; anticipate and minimize performance issues via KPIs; identify root causes and drive efficient resolution; lead vendor risk assessments; negotiate and develop contract terms, conditions, SLA and pricing.

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in business, engineering, or related field. MBA or other advanced degree preferred.

Experience: Minimum of 5 years of experience in Supply Chain Management, Procurement, or similar roles.

• Excellent…