Regional Category Manager

Location: Ottawa, Canada

In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow’s possible.

Position Summary

Ottawa, Ontario (Hybrid)

Thales is looking for a Regional Category Manager who will lead the procurement of Engineering & Customer Support Services segment across various market sectors within the region covering the needs/suppliers in the North and Latin Americas region.

In this role, the Category Manager, in full alignment with the Country Team Lead, will ensure that the execution of bids and projects in addition to enterprise requirements are in line with the business and corporate objectives, and that timeframes and deliverables are aligned in order to deliver the best overall outcome for Thales in terms of cost, service and quality of products/services from suppliers/subcontractors.

The role covers all the market sectors within Thales, and as such requires an excellent view of the organization as well as a strong ability to interact with senior stakeholders.

The selected candidate will be knowledgeable of the Engineering and Customer Support Services and possess the necessary leadership behaviors to develop and drive category strategies. 

• Defining Long Term Procurement Strategy for Engineering and Customer Support Services:

  • Developing category strategies that meet the regional and global business objectives;

  • Monitoring category markets on an on-going basis to identify and understand key players, newcomers, economic evolutions, market or regulation constraints, innovations and technology in order to support the development of the most up to date category strategies for the businesses;

  • Based on the above providing insights as to how products / projects could be more competitive via the adoption of different suppliers / methodologies / technology etc.;

  • Collating and optimizing the demand;

  • Setting up contractual agreements;

  • Analyzing and reporting on Spend Management;

  • With the support of the Global Category Manager, keeping abreast of industry/ category best practices.

• Supporting the Supply Chain process by:

  • Managing the supplier’s performance (quality, cost and timely delivery), including risks and opportunities;

  • Leading the supplier performance review program;

  • Managing key Project stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in related field of study with 8+ years of relevant work experience in procurement or Master’s degree in related field of study with 6+ years of relevant work experience in procurement

• Solid Procurement experience of Engineering Services (including hardware engineering, system engineering, and software development) and Customer Support Services (including maintenance and repair services) gained within a large blue chip organization within the North & Latin American countries

• Understanding of Make/Buy, Should Cost Analysis approaches and inputs as well as supplier risk assessment and mitigation planning

• Ability to create and deploy category strategy to secure short and long term vision of a commodity/ies applying procurement expertise to aid in meeting the same

• Ability to make commitments and deliver on what was promised

• Ability to train, engage and influence in line with the regional and global procurement objectives

• Ability to be an effective, strategic decision maker and not only see, but grasp the implications of the bigger picture

• Ability to manage and setup contracts

• Ability to guide and provide leadership to cross functional teams      

• Must have proven negotiation skills

• Experience working within a large organization and dealing with all levels of management

If you’re excited about working with Thales, but not meeting the requirements for this position, we encourage you to join our Talent Community!

Travel: Travel is sometimes required, and is anticipated to be approximately 10-15% travel annually, both domestically and internationally.

What We Offer

Thales provides an extensive benefits program for all full-time employees working 24 or more hours per week and their eligible dependents, including the following: 

•Company paid Extended Health, Dental, HSA, Life, AD&D, Short-term Disability, Cancer Care Program, travel insurance, Employee Assistance Plan and Well-Being program.

• Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP, DCPP, TFSA) with a company contribution and a match to a DCPP, with no vesting period.

•Company paid holidays, vacation days, and paid sick leave. 

•Voluntary Life, AD&D, Critical Illness, Long-Term Disability.

•Employee Discounts on home, auto, and gym membership.

Why Join Us?

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Thales is an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. Thales is committed to providing accommodations in all parts of the interview process. Applicants selected for an interview who require accommodation are asked to advise accordingly upon the invitation for an interview. We will work with you to meet your needs. All accommodation information provided will be treated as confidential and used only for the purpose of providing an accessible candidate experience.

This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software or technical information controlled under the Canadian Export Control List and/or the US Export Administration Regulations (EAR). All applicants must be eligible or able to obtain authorization for such access.