Strategic Sourcing, Sr. Manager

Our goal in Corporate Supply Chain Management is to be the best in what we do – delivering innovative, end-to-end solutions that reflect the knowledge and expertise of a world class supply chain.

At Cox, we focus on delivering on our commitments and being accountable for our results, while providing an excellent work environment with work/life balance.

We are looking for a proven leader to join our team who has the skills, abilities and attitude to help us be the best sourcing organization in our industry.

The Strategic Sourcing Sr. Manager, Marketing and Sales is a management position that reports to the Senior Manager of Category Management, Strategic Sourcing and Procurement, Marketing and Sales.

The right candidate must enjoy working in a fast-paced competitive and changing environment, while effectively collaborating and communicating in alignment with the Cox culture. Purpose

(Overall Accountability) The Strategic Sourcing Sr. Manager, Marketing, will lead and manage sourcing activities primarily for Marketing as well as support other internal customers and business units as needed.

The Sr. Strategic Sourcing Manager will ensure the acquisition of high-quality goods and services at fair market price points of negotiation and managing of contracts and scope of works for selected suppliers.

The Sr. Strategic Sourcing Manager will also ensure increased efficiency in the procurement process and identify opportunities for operational improvements. The Supply Chain Strategic Sourcing Sr. Manager will provide comprehensive strategies that ensure the ''best value'' result is achieved within the Marketing category. This includes identifying, evaluating, and selecting vendors to meet internal business needs, managing sourcing processes and completing necessary documentation (including RFQs, RFIs, and RFPs), and conducting vendor capability and suitability assessments.

This role will assist in negotiating product/service pricing and contractual terms and conditions.

Will assist in establishing standardized and comprehensive contract management packages that comply with the Contract Department processes and procedures requirements and that also minimize any potential financial or contractual risks.

The Senior Sourcing Manager will also be responsible for the evaluation of vendor performance and compliance when considering contract renewals.

In addition, this position is expected to have a deep understanding of our internal customers businesses and their objectives to develop strategies that meet their current and future procurement needs as well as develop broad vendor, product, and industry knowledge to provide expertise to internal clients. This individual will oversee all source-to-contract activity related to the Marketing and Sales categories across Cox Automotive, Cox Communications, and Cox Enterprises, including overseeing a Category Management and Sourcing team responsible for leading the creation and execution of category and sourcing strategies. The individual in this role is responsible for the development of strategic relationships with internal business stakeholders to support adoption of standard Supply Chain processes and policies across the entire enterprise, helps build project pipeline, and manages category performance. As part of this role, this individual will be responsible for driving win-win supplier relationships and helping to drive compliance across the categories. Primary Responsibilities and Essential Functions: •Engage with internal customers to understand their business context, define sourcing needs and build the portfolio of sourcing projects to be delivered by order of priority. •Strive for value creation and total cost of ownership sourcing approaches across Cox Communications Marketing and to ensure the team consolidate supply bases and leverage enterprise-wide volumes to realize savings. •Develop a Marketing procurement strategy by leveraging the supplier markets and delivering added value throughout the organization. •Have a goal of business partnering, with the Marketing and operational levels ensuring a deep collaborative and innovative relationship with internal customers and suppliers. •Collaborates with the Marketing VPs and Directors as well as their colleagues to develop innovative and ambitious agendas whilst continuously improving the value we derive from our indirect Marketing spend. •Provide expert knowledge in the strategic sourcing process and establish a pattern through portfolio partners of settling and gaining agreement to sourcing strategies and implementation plans for all assigned sub-portfolios. •Prepare sourcing projects and define objectives, resources, timelines, specifications, supplier selection criteria, etc …. •Assist in achieving excellence and rigor in the process of managing key suppliers for continuous improvement through rigorous cost and value analysis, and receptiveness to change. •Carry out supplier relationship management in respective area of responsibility; analyze risks, set-up risk mitigation and continuous improvement programs with suppliers where relevant. •Develop Key Performance Indicators and manage contract life cycle in coordination with Marketing Team. •Liaise with Marketing Operations Director and Managers to ensure we provide an end to end service to our Marketing Stakeholder community. •Oversee the application of ethical compliance, ensuring sourcing arrangements are fully compliant, and that requirements such as authority to commit are fully implemented. Required: Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline and 8 years’ experience in Business Management, Supply Chain and Operations Management, Finance, or similar;

MBA or Masters degree preferred

Total of 5+ years of experience in Supply Chain, including 3+ years within the pertinent category

Previous Advertising Agency or Marketing (traditional and digital) experience required

Understanding of end-to-end business functions and how source-to-contract fits within and supports the critical functions that partner with Supply Chain

Strong business and financial acumen

Supply Chain experience with the proven ability to establish category management strategies, sourcing capabilities including business processes improvement, use of eSourcing tools to drive savings

Highly collaborative individual, who has proven ability to work cross functionally and build strategic and mutually beneficial relationships at all levels of the organization

Ability to influence key stakeholders and deliver insightful recommendations in a persuasive and thoughtful manner

Ability to change the thinking of, or gain acceptance from others in sensitive situations, without damage to the relationship

Ability to take initiatives, explore new opportunities and innovative ideas to improve business model

Champion organizational changes, assume significant leadership role to implement new strategies

Ability to solve problems that are difficult and vague, requiring consideration of other job areas and a greater diversity of issues addressed

The ability to communicate and collaborate with other functions, regions and departments within the Cox family of companies in alignment with Cox values and culture

The ability to convince / influence others with shared interests to adopt policies, practices, and procedures

Strong negotiation and communication skills

Exceptional planning and organizational skills

Strong aptitude for customer service and stakeholder management

Preferred: Project Management certification (PMP), Lean or Six Sigma training.

Knowledge of managed service / outcome-based agreements

Prior Advertising Agency or Marketing experience

#J-18808-Ljbffr