Lead Category Manager - Metal, Asia

Lead Category Manager - Metal,  Asia Make A Difference For Those Who Make The World™ Come make the world and accelerate your success. It takes great people to achieve greatness. People with a sense of purpose and integrity. People with a relentless pursuit of excellence. People who care about making things better For Those Who Make The World™. Sound like you? Join our top-notch team of more than 50,000 diverse and high-performing professionals globally who are making their mark on some of the world’s most beloved brands, including DEWALT®, BLACK+DECKER®, CRAFTSMAN®, STANLEY®, CUB CADET®, and HUSTLER®.

Summary: The Asia Metals Lead Category Manager is a key member of the Global Strategic Sourcing organization, responsible for developing and driving the global category strategy for direct materials metals, with primary leadership responsibility for Asia execution. This role leads strategic supplier management, commercial negotiations, contracting, and supplier development to deliver year-over-year productivity, working capital improvements, and supply continuity. The role partners closely with Engineering, Operations, Finance, Legal, Logistics, and other functions to drive sourcing excellence and measurable value creation across regions.

Develop, maintain, and communicate the global category strategy for direct materials metals, including segmentation, preferred supplier strategy, risk management, and multi-year value roadmap. Establish global sourcing governance, including standard processes, KPI framework, and performance routines to ensure consistent execution and results across regions. Lead global market intelligence for metals (indices, capacity, cost drivers, supply risk) and translate insights into sourcing actions and stakeholder guidance. Serve as the regional lead for Asia, owning supplier relationships and execution of sourcing initiatives in-region while ensuring alignment to global strategy and standards. Lead and manage Asia supplier negotiations, including pricing, terms, capacity commitments, lead times, and risk mitigation plans. Identify, qualify, and onboard new/alternate suppliers in Asia through structured assessments, trade fairs, and cross-functional evaluations. Plan and execute RFx/tenders, benchmarking, and price/value analyses to optimize total cost of ownership and procurement outcomes. Negotiate, implement, and manage supplier contracts and service level agreements in partnership with Legal and internal stakeholders. Ensure controls and KPIs are in place to measure progress; drive corrective action plans when performance gaps exist. Drive supplier development initiatives and continuous improvement programs to improve quality, delivery, cost, and responsiveness. Partner cross-functionally (Engineering, Operations, Finance, Legal, Logistics, IT, Marketing as applicable) to align specifications, manage change, and implement sourcing decisions. Deliver year-over-year productivity and working capital goals through a balanced set of commercial, technical, and operational levers. The Person:  You love to learn and grow and be acknowledged for your valuable contributions. You’re not intimidated by innovation. Wouldn’t it be great if you could do your job and do a world of good?  In fact, you embrace it . You also have Bachelor’s degree required. 5–10 years of experience in Global Procurement / Strategic Sourcing, including supplier selection, supplier management, and contract negotiations. 5+ years of category strategy experience, preferably in steel/metals procurement or a closely related direct materials category. Demonstrated success delivering productivity/cost reduction projects with measurable results. Strong knowledge of strategic sourcing tools and methods (e.g., RFx, should-cost/benchmarking, total cost analysis, supplier performance management). Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word). Strong