Associate Caetgory Specialist, Category Management

About us

National Grid lies at the heart of a transforming energy system, spanning the US and the UK. Our businesses supply gas and electricity, safely, reliably, and efficiently to millions of customers and communities. But we also drive change through engineering innovation and by incubating new ideas with the power to revolutionize our industry.

 
As the world changes to embrace cleaner energy and businesses shift to operate in a more responsible way, we are leading that charge. We are focused on finding ways to decarbonize the energy system; from investing in renewable energy generation in the US, to building interconnectors to allow the UK to share clean energy with our neighbors in Europe.

 
At National Grid, we don’t just ask our people to deliver to the highest standards. We also support them to be the best they can be. We welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds. National Grid’s ambition is to drive, develop and operate our business in a way that results in a more inclusive culture. We are committed to building a workforce which represents the communities we serve and a working environment in which each individual feels respected, fairly treated, valued and able to reach their full potential.

 
National Grid is about to begin an ambitious capital projects and construction program designed to build the infrastructure to enable our renewable electric future. Projects include upgrades to transmission lines, substations and distribution network infrastructure that will support renewable energy and reliability initiatives and other programs.

Within National Grid’s US Procurement team, we are looking to expand our capacity and enhance our capabilities to contract for the materials and services required by this $30B program.

We are currently looking for highly motivated individuals with critical thinking skills who want to join a dynamic and fast paced organization going through a major transformation. If you are someone who’s looking to bring innovation, contribute ideas and play a part in renewing the global procurement organization we want to hear from you!

We are looking for people with skills & experience in the following areas:
•    Engineering & construction program management
•    Analytics & forecasting
•    Communication and change management
•    Strategic category management
•    Process optimization
•    Complex contract drafting and negotiation

We are looking for leaders and persuaders, for people comfortable with ambiguity, for people with the ability to analyze data and extract insights. STEM backgrounds & utility experience are a plus.

We will be hiring across a broad range of experience levels. National Grid has a hybrid working model. 

Job Purpose

Associate Category Specialists at National Grid work with suppliers, stakeholders, and Procurement colleagues to run bids, negotiate agreements, and create purchase orders.

They are key members of our management teams, and deliver innovative thinking supported by detailed analytics, data science, market research, and subject matter expertise, to help our category teams and stakeholders make effective sourcing decisions.
 

US Procurement at National Grid is structured into five category teams: Electric, Gas, Corporate Indirects, Construction & Transformation. US Procurement is currently staffing for Associate Category Specialist Roles within the Electric, Gas, Construction, and Transformation teams.
 

Key Accountabilities

The following competencies are core to the Associate Category Specialist role:

Procurement

•    Sourcing Events - Work with stakeholders and senior staff to create and run sourcing activities for moderate complexity materials and services
•    Stakeholder Coordination - Interacts with assigned operating business units, legal experts, and procurement personnel
•    Bid Analysis - Analyzes responses to simple bid requests, including distilling commercial differences and making recommendations for supplier selection for contract awards
•    Savings Tracking - Support the delivery of savings targets
  

Strategic Sourcing Process

•    Build KPI - Builds appropriate supplier performance measurements (KPIs) into contractual frameworks 

Commercial Negotiation

•    Create Contracts - Basic understanding of contractual terms & conditions and able to craft structured agreements with legal and stakeholder input 
•    Negotiation Plans - Establishes structured negotiation plans (with support of Senior staff) with clarity of desired outcomes, leveraging stakeholder input and support where appropriate 

Supplier Relationship Management

•    Drive Value - Basic understanding of supplier’s position, desired outcomes, and leverage points 

System & Analytics

•    ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning Ability to adapt to different ERP systems such as SAP, Power BI, Ariba, Spend Analytics 
 

Qualifications

•    Bachelor’s degree (B.A or B.S) required; in supply chain, finance or business management, or STEM preferred
•    Experience in strategic sourcing, contract negotiations and vendor management a plus, as is a strong working knowledge of ERP systems.
•    Successful completion of professional negotiation coursework preferred
•    The candidate must have strong interpersonal skills, specifically in communications across a multi-national and matrixed organization. Additionally, the candidate should be proficient in planning, project management, stakeholder engagement, and business analysis.
•    An equivalent combination of education and extensive subject matter expertise along with procurement process experience may be accepted as a satisfactory substitute for the specific education requirements listed above
 

More Information

#LI-NK1 #LI-HYBRID