Category Manager : Sugar & Juice

Job title: Category Manager: Sugar & Juice

Job Location: Gauteng, Johannesburg

Deadline: April 17, 2025

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement sustainable category strategies and objectives over the medium to long term.
• Formulate a 3-year value creation strategy and action plans for competitive advantage projects, ensuring alignment and implementation by internal and external stakeholders.
• Undertake situational analysis to incorporate country and commodity-specific requirements into category strategies.
• Develop CCBA Go-To-Market and negotiation strategies for specific categories, ensuring proper documentation.
• Lead negotiations with internal and external stakeholders, assuming accountability for sourcing decisions.
• Utilise procurement power through consolidation and standardisation across countries.
• Lead end-to-end Supplier Relationship Management programs, ensuring adherence to contractual obligations and key performance indicators.
• Ensure suppliers meet The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) requirements and comply with audits and protocols.
• Drive corrective action for suppliers failing to meet quality and performance standards.
• Track and manage agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for categories, developing correction strategies.
• Drive standardisation, volume aggregation, and process controls for value creation.
• Develop benchmarks and scorecards for categories, comparing them to global benchmarks for continuous improvement.
• Track global pricing and capacity trends, monitor currency impact and inflation, and proactively engage with Country Procurement and Finance Managers.
• Ensure a sound understanding of cost drivers in categories.
• Collaborate with Finance teams to expedite receiving and AP processes, serving as an escalation point for problem resolution in the Purchase-to-Pay process.

Skills:

• Negotiation and Influence: Skilled in leading negotiations and influencing internal and external stakeholders, ensuring alignment with objectives, and making informed sourcing decisions.
• Supplier Relationship Management (SRM): Expertise in managing and nurturing supplier relationships, ensuring compliance with contracts, and driving performance improvements through effective engagement and communication.
• Analytical Skills: The capacity to analyse cost drivers, track KPIs, monitor pricing trends, and assess supplier performance to inform decisions and identify areas for continuous improvement.
• Project Management: Ability to manage end-to-end processes, from developing action plans to ensuring implementation, coordinating resources, and tracking progress to achieve strategic goals.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Skilled in working collaboratively with teams such as Finance, Procurement, and internal business units, facilitating smooth operations, resolving issues, and ensuring alignment across functions.

Skills, Experience & Education:

Qualifications:

• Degree in Supply Chain / Engineering / Finance. Added advantage: Master’s degree.

Experience:

• 8+ years of business experience, of which a minimum of 5 years is required in Strategic and operational Procurement within an FMCG environment.
• Minimum of 3 years Sugar and Juice purchasing experience.