Director of Global Data Center Category Management

Are you a Global Sourcing Executive interested in playing a major role in driving the success of centralizing global sourcing and contracting in a way that is unprecedented in the history of the business world? Are you interested in joining the leadership of a newly created entity within a multi-billion-dollar telecom, mobile services provider, and IT services company that is doing just that? If so, you need to read on.

Our client is looking for a Director of Global Data Center Category Management for their corporate headquarters in the U.S. You can reside anywhere in the U.S. You will be leading the strategic sourcing and management of suppliers/vendors, setting up the real estate and facilities as well as project management services across all global construction and fit outs of offices and data centers. You will be accountable for managing and deriving the best value from a multi-billion-dollar spend category while minimizing risk across NTT on a global scale. You will build strong, trusted relationships with internal stakeholders to help deliver on both the tactical and strategic initiatives of the business. You will be responsible for stakeholder management, category management, sourcing, supplier relationship management, negotiating 3rd party agreements, and establishing guided buying channels that enable users to select preferred suppliers quickly and efficiently. Your broad experience of indirect, CAPEX-focused sourcing will be utilized to deliver measurable savings against agreed-upon targets. The data center infrastructure business relies heavily on knowledge and experience with vendor ecosystems and supply chain efficiency. You will navigate these complexities on a global scale with the speed of execution and a flare for savings while also owning relationships with a complex variety of stakeholders.

Our client has begun the integration and reorganization of their 950 global operating companies into a unified brand with the mission of constructing a worldwide support structure that promotes global operations and provides all customers with access to more services and greater efficiencies, as well as strengthening the brand globally. Our client is tasked with aggregating the spend and demand across all global operating companies. No one of comparable size is doing this and our client is considered a top-tier global player in this space.

Fast forward a year. What will you be doing?

You are a respected voice with expertise in Data Center Category Management. Your credibility has demanded visibility from the global operating executives and the leadership of data center infrastructure vendors. You have developed close ties and are working daily within their operating companies and regional teams on purchases and projects. You have strong relationships with internal suppliers who are reporting to you on lead times and supply chains with your internal stakeholders. You are making sure our client’s projects are front and center and getting top priority. You have continued to expand and deliver on the global data center infrastructure procurement program you created. You have created global contracts including terms and conditions and realized substantial savings through volume purchasing and global buying discount schedules. You are a data center infrastructure procurement expert who can identify escalating costs of goods and services and solve for substantial savings. This includes being an excellent negotiator. As a self-assured, competitive, and independent decision-maker, you are producing high quality, organized and repeatable results in a fast-paced environment requiring rapid shifts in priorities. You are fully integrated within the team, the company, and the culture of our client. You are viewed as a respected Data Center Category Director. You are successful. You are happy.

How will you get there?

30 days:

Meet the team
Learn the business, operating model, and spend
Start to interface with internal stakeholders
Start to interface with the key suppliers

90 days:

Start to develop your sourcing strategy
Continue work on global data center infrastructure procurement program
Continue work to achieve set metrics/KPI’s
Work with Regional Teams forecasting future spend
Develop reporting structure to track Regional spend

6 months:

Implementation of strategy/projects/programs
Development of Spend Database
Analysis of Regional spending and trends
Monthly Spend reporting to Regional Executives

What you will need:

10+ years of experience in global supply chain management, strategic sourcing, and/or category management in the data center real estate, construction, and maintenance/repair business. Multi-national experience preferred.

Demonstrated success in building trusted relationships with a complex variety of stakeholders across cultures, countries, and professional disciplines.

In-depth experience working with corporate real estate heads and key global suppliers (e.g., Honeywell, Eaton, Schneider, Vertiv, Caterpillar, Cummins, Mitsubishi, ABB, Kohler, etc.).

Ability to structure innovative deals; strategic vs. transactional; transformational; savings focused.

Ability to solve complex problems.

Results-oriented; confident; highly organized; strong communication and presentation skills.

Ability to travel ~25% globally.

Our client is a Japanese publicly traded company specializing in global sourcing. This division will bring together the procurement volume of each Group company and engage in centralized price negotiations and the execution of comprehensive agreements with global vendors for data center infrastructure, network, hardware, software, and services purchased in common by each Group company.

Our client is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Kim FrostFrost Connections