Sr Procurement Specialist

Requisition ID: 108824

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People are the heart of our business. As an American Water employee, you will be offered a competitive salary and health benefits package, along with opportunities to develop, grow, and evolve your career. Our benefits packages focus on key areas such as health & wellness, emotional & well-being, and savings for current & future goals.

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About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people across 14 regulated jurisdictions and 18 military installations. American Water’s 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

As one of the fastest growing utilities in the U.S., American Water expects to invest $40 to $42 billion in infrastructure repairs and replacement, system resiliency and regulated acquisitions over the next 10 years. The company has a long-standing history of executing its core operations, aligned with sustainable best practices, through its commitments to safety, affordability, customer service, protecting the environment, an inclusive workforce and strengthening communities.

American Water has been recognized on the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the fifth consecutive year, ranked 18th on Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies 2023 List, earned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act designation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense® Excellence Award, among additional state, local and national recognitions.

For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Primary Role

The Senior Procurement Specialist manages the sourcing of goods, services, and projects while continuously identifying and implementing opportunities to lower total cost of ownership. This position performs services on high level capital and expense categories or may manage a category of goods and services spend between $100 and $175M per year. This position is expected to make a contribution to meeting company total cost of ownership reduction goals.

Key Accountabilities

- Prepare bid packages, statement of work documents, and requests (RFP/RFI) according to specifications and business requirements while supporting business with all commercial needs including dispute resolution and contract interpretation .

- Build, lead, and maintain development of sourcing strategies from project identification through close-out including alternative sourcing options.

- Negotiate complex commercial agreements within assigned categories in partnership with internal stakeholders, including legal and risk departments.

- Build and maintain Supplier/Contractor relationships with the objective of reducing total costs, increasing productivity, and eliminating inefficiencies in the supply chain.

- Lead cross functional teams to develop and implement category and supplier initiatives resulting in process efficiencies, total cost of ownership (TCO) savings in line with business goals

- Drive use of spend analytics and market research in order to develop profiles for assigned category(s).

- Drive development of KPI’s for both supplier and category performance while using subject matter expertise and supplier industry knowledge to establish "should cost" models, identify opportunities, and drive supplier negotiations.

- Drive collaborative relationships with business, state leadership and business operations management in order to gather feedback, understand issues, recognize opportunities, and influence category strategies.

Knowledge/Skills

- Analytical problem-solving skills to produce best product/service at lowest total cost of ownership within required time frames.

- Business acumen to analyze commercial business, procurement issues and risk management issues with continuous improvement mindset.

- Experience negotiating commercial terms and conditions.

- Knowledge of sourcing strategies, and methodologies related to goods and services procurement.

- Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in written presentation form.

- Ability to work in a collaborative team environment within Supply Chain and with other internal stakeholders.

- Knowledge of SAP (Preferred)

- Extensive knowledge and experience in Microsoft Office Products

- Understanding of Lean / Six Sigma concepts and tools

- Ability to work on multiple assignments effectively.

- Knowledge of relevant supply markets and understanding of sources of supply market intelligence.

- Experience analyzing industry trends and conditions to inform sourcing strategies.

- Knowledge and ability to utilize e-procurement tools effectively.

Experience/Education

- Minimum 6 years’ total work experience.

- Minimum 4 years’ of procurement or category management experience Utility procurement experience a plus.

- Experience working in matrixed organizations.

- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Engineering or related disciplines or equivalent combination of education and experience.

- CPM or CPSM preferred - Other supply chain certifications a plus.

Travel Requirements

Travel Required 10-20%

Other

If hired for position with oversight for capital projects, 3 years experience in capital project procurement (preferably within water/wastewater industry) required.

Work Environment

Indoor Office Environment

Competencies

Champions safety

Customer obsessed

Cultivates innovation

Nimble learning

Drives Results

Collaborates

Join American Water...We Keep Life Flowing™

American Water is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and prohibits employment discrimination for employees and applicants based on his or her age, race, color, pregnancy, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, citizenship, or because they are an individual with a disability, protected veteran or other status protected by federal, state, and local laws.