Category Manager, MRO

Interested in a career that matters?




Are you passionate about building strong supplier partnerships, driving business value, and supporting sustainable growth? Join Novonesis as a Category Manager, MRO and play a key role in shaping how we source critical Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) products across North America.

You will become part of the North America Indirect Procurement team, a highly collaborative group consisting of four Category Managers and one Procurement Associate. Together, the team supports manufacturing sites and business functions across key indirect spend areas, driving cost optimization, sustainability initiatives, supplier innovation, and long-term business impact. By building strong supplier partnerships, the team helps Novonesis reinvest in its purpose of Better Business with Biology.

The Role & Your Impact

As Category Manager, MRO, you will lead and support strategic sourcing initiatives across MRO and Facilities Services categories. This role combines strategic thinking, stakeholder engagement, commercial leadership, and operational execution to create value throughout the organization. Working closely with regional and global procurement colleagues, you will help shape sourcing strategies, optimize supplier performance, and identify opportunities for innovation.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead medium- to high-complexity sourcing projects, including supplier identification, tender management, negotiations, and contracting.

• Support and execute category strategies aligned with regional and global procurement objectives.

• Drive supplier performance management, contract renewals, pricing reviews, and supplier relationship management activities.

• Identify and mitigate commercial, supply, sustainability, regulatory, and operational risks within assigned categories.

• Partner with stakeholders across manufacturing, finance, legal, quality, and other business functions to deliver procurement solutions that support business goals.

• Contribute market insights, category analytics, sourcing strategies, and project pipeline planning to global category teams.

• Develop supplier partnerships that enable innovation, continuous improvement, and mutual value creation.

What You’ll Need to Be Successful

To succeed in this role, you bring a strong combination of procurement expertise, commercial acumen, and stakeholder engagement skills.

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Sourcing, International Business, Economics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Engineering, or a related field.

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in procurement, sourcing, supply chain, or related disciplines.

• Strong capabilities in SAP, Excel, PowerPoint, contracting, and supplier negotiations.

• Fluent English communication skills, both written and verbal.

Key competencies:

• Stakeholder management and collaboration, with the ability to build trusted partnerships across the business.

• Strong commercial and negotiation capabilities with a focus on creating total business value.

• Analytical and data-driven decision-making skills.

• Operational curiosity and problem-solving abilities in a manufacturing environment.

• Ownership, adaptability, and accountability while managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced setting.

Additional Skills & Interests We Value

While not required, the following qualifications would be beneficial:

• Professional certifications such as CPSM, CSCP, PMP, or similar procurement, supply chain, or project management credentials.

• Additional language skills beyond English.

• Experience working within global or matrixed organizations.

• Exposure to manufacturing, industrial operations, or facilities management environments.

What We Offer

At Novonesis, you'll have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact while collaborating with talented colleagues across North America and globally. We offer a dynamic environment where innovation, sustainability, and continuous improvement are part of everyday work.

In this role, you'll gain exposure to regional and global procurement initiatives, develop strategic supplier partnerships, and contribute directly to business performance. You'll be part of a collaborative team that shares knowledge, co-owns tools and processes, and supports one another in achieving ambitious goals.

Ways of Working

• Location: Franklinton, North Carolina or Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Hybrid work model with a minimum of three days per week in the office.

• Regional role with close alignment to global category teams.

• Travel requirement of approximately 10% or less.

• Standard business hours, generally aligned to a traditional workday, with occasional early or late meetings to accommodate global stakeholders.

• Collaborative team environment with shared ownership of tools, processes, and business initiatives.

Compensation & Benefits

Expected pay range: $103,500-$126,500

Benefits:

• 401(k) with up to a 9% company contribution

• Minimum of 3 weeks vacation plus 12 holidays and 2 weeks of wellness time

• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance

• Healthcare savings account with generous employer contribution

• Employee assistance program

• Parental leave

• Tuition reimbursement

• Benefits effective from day one

Relevant Information

Application Deadline: September 18, 2026

Our purpose guides the way

In Novonesis, we know that solutions rooted in biology can help solve humanity’s biggest challenges. Since we began more than a century ago, this has been our guide. It’s how we've gotten so far. And it’s how we'll impact the future. Now, more than ever, the world needs change. And with biosolutions, the possibilities for transformation are endless. If our purpose resonates with you, we encourage you to apply.

Opportunities for everyone

We are committed to an inclusive recruitment process and equal opportunity for all applicants. Therefore we ask you to apply without a cover letter or photo and instead include a few sentences in your CV explaining your motivation for applying.

We make all employment decisions based on business needs and welcome candidates with a wide range of backgrounds, including ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status.

Explore other openings

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