Category Management Specialist-Packaging & Specialty Materials

About this role

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 25 Aug 2026   Careers that change lives start here. Medtronic is a global leader in healthcare technology with a Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Our 95,000 employees work across more than 150 countries to put patients first — developing innovative medical technologies that improve the lives of 72+ million patients each year. Your unique talents will help shape the future of healthcare while building a career grounded in purpose, growth, and impact.

A Day in the Life At Medtronic, we not only get the opportunity to manage categories for the largest medical device company in the world, but we also get to experience the immense sense of purpose that comes from knowing that the money we save is reinvested into technology that helps alleviate pain, restore health and extend lives of millions of patients across the world. The work we do supports the Medtronic Mission and it matters.

This is a global role that allows you to partner with stakeholders across many functions, regions, and businesses to drive value. Strong business acumen and prior sourcing experience are a must as you will be called upon to support complex engagements with strategic partners.                    

The Category Management Specialist is a key contributor within Medtronic’s Global Materials & Contract Manufacturing organization. In this role, you will help shape and execute category strategies, manage inflationary pressures, drive cost‑savings initiatives, support contract negotiations, and enable pan‑Medtronic category management processes. Your work will directly influence cost, continuity of supply, and supplier performance across the enterprise. At Medtronic, we bring bold ideas forward with speed and decisiveness to put patients first in everything we do. In-person exchanges are invaluable to our work. We’re working a minimum of 4 days a week onsite as part of our commitment to fostering a culture of professional growth and cross-functional collaboration as we work together to engineer the extraordinary. 

Our team culture is grounded in the principle of “Lead from Every Seat.” Regardless of level or title, everyone is expected to be bold, curious, accountable, and proactive in tackling challenges and bringing forward solutions. The successful candidate will be comfortable working both independently and collaboratively, will build trust with cross‑functional and external partners, and will confidently influence decisions through strong insights, clear communication, and disciplined execution.

As a Category Management Specialist, you will:

Support Supplier Relationship Management • Strengthen supplier relationships while partnering closely with internal stakeholders

• Actively engage suppliers to support performance, alignment, and issue resolution

Unlock Category Strategy Through Execution • Execute category strategies and convert implementation plans into business results.

• Support strategy development and execution across defined sub‑categories and initiatives.

Turn Market Intelligence into Advantage • Monitor market intelligence and industry trends to anticipate risks and opportunities.

• Convert insights into proactive, actionable sourcing strategies.

Manage Inflation and Drive Savings • Negotiate supplier price changes and tariff requests using data‑driven insights and category strategies to limit inflationary impact.

• Engage suppliers and Medtronic stakeholders to unlock process, technical, and commercial savings levers

Enable High Impact Negotiations • Support negotiations by preparing RFx packages, cost models, and negotiation strategies.

• Participate in supplier discussions and ensure commercial commitments translate into year-over-year performance improvements.

Lead Continuous Improvement & Strategic Initiatives • Develop and deploy standard work, drive continuous improvement and strategic initiatives, and apply benchmarking and industry best practices to enhance category performance.

• Lead and manage cross‑functional initiatives, preparing and delivering clear updates on progress, risks, and results to stakeholders.

Support Risk, Compliance & Resiliency • Identify and mitigate supply chain risks (capacity, financial, geopolitical, regulatory)

• Ensure supplier adherence to regulatory and quality requirements

• Support ESG and sustainability objectives

Must Have: Minimum Requirements • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain plus a minimum of 2 years of sourcing experience, or an advanced degree with 0 years of experience

Nice to Have • Direct sourcing experience, preferably within complex, global supply chains

• Experience developing and analyzing detailed cost models, with strong financial acumen

• Experience reviewing, drafting, and negotiating commercial and legal agreements in partnership with Legal

• Demonstrated project management, supply chain, or engineering experience within a large, multi-plant organization

• Proven ability to influence and collaborate with stakeholders at all levels of the organization

• Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and concisely

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with a track record of translating data into actionable insights

• Experience leveraging AI-enabled and agentic tools to improve sourcing, analysis, or decision-making processes

For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required.

Physical Job Requirements

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position. 

The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of thos

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