Category Specialist

Develop and implement category sourcing strategies through the execution of standardized strategic sourcing processes, ensuring seamless transition into the role and making meaningful contributions. Manage suppliers and contracts related to the assigned categories such as risk mitigation, corporate office renovations, design services, facilities management and construction projects by Identify ing opportunities, evaluate potential sources, ensuring compliance with applicable legislation, industry standards and best practices, negotiate contracts and continually managing supplier relationships to achieve corporate goals.

**Major Responsibilities**:
Lead and manage the strategic sourcing activities for assigned category(s) by:

- Researching, assessing, and generating options in order to provide recommendations for course of action that will result in best value to the organization
- Managing the planning, development, implementation and delivery of complex and strategic procurement services
- Participating in RFxs and reviewing responses in concert with Sourcing Process Facilitators; analyzing the RFx responses and drive to the supplier selection decision; using agreed standard framework for RFx documents evaluation and for short listed suppliers, and tailoring as appropriate in association with the legal services team
- Making decisions and taking action contributing towards increased or de-creased cost, continuous supply of required goods/service, research and maintenance of long-term ethical supplier relations.
- Developing strategic sourcing projects for new clients before/until they fully transition to ongoing Supplier Management.
- Developing project/action plans, including resource allocation, time frames and deadlines based on scope of project; develop work plans to allocate work to project team members; set, monitor and adjust objectives and time frames and adjusting schedules to accommodate changes and to balance various demands
- Building negotiation plans, leading supplier negotiations and executing supplier agreement processes, managing negotiations or auction processes as appropriate; ensuring broad and active competitive processes appropriate to category strategy; preparing for fact based negotiations, planning least and most desired outcomes, arguments and responses.

Manage supplier relationships for assigned category(s) by:

- Creating, implementing and maintaining supplier segmentation and governance models while adhering to the supplier relationship framework.
- Managing supplier relationship and performance management for assigned categories and agreements to ensure that service levels and price competitiveness are maintained or enhanced.
- Resolving contractual and/or performance issues associated with the supplier agreements for which they are responsible
- Ensuring that market intelligence, benchmarking activities, and the supplier performance measurement process all deliver value-adding information.
- Maintaining a supplier profile list of critical and potentially critical suppliers to WSIB based on an annual standardized risk rating methodology including factors such as operational, financial, reputational, legal, privacy/confidentiality risks, the impacts and contingency plans for the assigned categories

Manage the contract process for assigned category(s) by:

- Managing the contract process used in assigned categories through standard contract templates and/or term sheet with preferred and minimum terms and conditions.
- Liasing with legal services to complete client agreements and any national/local affiliate contracts or exceptions.
- Developing service level agreements (SLA) with key suppliers including non-performance penalties and other performance based incentives.
- Reducing variability in demand by negotiation, consolidation of requirements across lines of business for similar materials and services, to maximize value for money over lifetime cost of products or services
- Ensuring that agreements are developed and managed in alignment with WSIB frameworks and goals as well as following required procurement processes

Provide line of business sourcing support by:

- Documenting spend, usage and recording the range of products and/or services for different subcategories and documenting the category procedure to provide clarifty to all demand owners.
- Leading, managing, coordinating and carrying out a wide range of projects and assignments individually or as a project team member working under project leader(s), including independent review and analysis of special initiatives, understanding and management of sensitive and high profile issues.
- Understanding business drivers for WSIB alignment of project work across all client groups and regional offices in scope to plan category review timing, drawing up timelines and project plans
- Undertaking business analysis capturing demand and capturing differing requirements for each client, category and producing opportunity ass