Head: Category Management

Main Purpose of the Job

The Head of Category Management is accountable for designing, embedding, and leading AECI’s global category management operating model, driving enterprise-wide value creation, supply resilience and strategic supplier partnerships. This role serves as a critical enabler of business performance, ensuring that procurement delivers measurable impact on EBIDTA, cost competitiveness, and operational continuity through world class category strategies.

Role and Responsibilities:

Strategic Focus

• Design and institutionalise a group wide category management framework, governance, and standards
• Lead and direct enterprise-wide development and execution of category strategies across key spend areas (Nitrates, Chemicals, Packaging, Engineering, Logistics, Indirects)
• Embed a consistent, data-driven category management methodology across all business units
• Establish structured cadences and review cycles (3-year category strategies, annual value planning, ongoing performance tracking)
• Own spend under management, value delivery and contract compliance for all managed categories
• Implement robust tracking of value leakage vs realised value
• Act as a strategic advisor to EXCO and senior business leadership on sourcing decisions
• Embed category management into operations planning, capital investment decisions and commercial strategies
• Embed sustainability and security of supply principles across all critical categories
• Align procurement with AECI’s broader sustainability and transformation agenda

Risk Management

• Design and own enterprise frameworks for supply risk management, commodity exposure, geopolitical and logistics risk
• Develop category specific contingency strategies for high-risk inputs
• Ensure zero business disruption for critical categories

Continuous Improvement

• Deliver sustainable cost optimisation, value creation beyond savings (i.e. innovation, demand shaping initiatives and total cost of ownership optimisation)
• Drive demand management and specification optimisation
• Drive adoption of spend analytics and should-cost models, digital sourcing tools and predictive market intelligence
• Embed Global market intelligence and cost drivers (TCO, pricing trends)

Supplier Management

• Build and manage strategic supplier ecosystems for critical and bottleneck categories
• Drive supplier innovation, long-term strategic partnerships, supplier performance and value tracking
• Actively shape global supply markets to AECI’s advantage
• Embed Supplier transformation and localisation (BBBEE)
• Embed competitive supplier landscapes

People Management

• Lead and develop a team of Category Managers, Specialists, and Analysts
• Build capability in commercial acumen, negotiation and category strategy development
• Build a high-performance category management organisation, developing capabilities in advanced category management, commercial negotiations and market analytics
• Drive a value focused, commercially driven culture

Qualification and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Supply Chain, Finance or a related field
• Postgraduate qualification in Procurement, Supply Chain, or Business Management will be advantageous
• Procurement certification, e.g. Certified Purchasing Manager
• Matric
• Minimum of 8 years proven experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, category management, supply chain or operations
• Experience with ERP systems (SAP preferred) and eProcurement platforms (Coupa advantageous)
• Exposure to industrial or specialty chemicals or similar industries. (Explosives Industry knowledge advantageous.)
• Proven ability to develop and execute sourcing strategies in complex, multi-stakeholder environments

Key Competencies

Skills

• Strong commercial acumen
• Excellent communication
• Influencing skills
• Negotiation expertise
• Stakeholder engagement skills

Knowledge

• eProcurement platforms
• ERP Systems
• Proficiency in Excel and data analysis tools (e.g., modelling, pivot tables) and experience with data visualization / BI tools a plus)

Behaviours (Attributes)

• Exceptional strategic thinking abilities
• Demonstrated leadership capability, including to influence at EXCO level

Key internal stakeholders

• Finance
• Business Executives
• Cross functional teams

Key external stakeholders

• Suppliers

Role reporting to

• Vice President: Strategic Sourcing and Procurement

AECI respects your right to privacy. Please review our privacy policy at https://investor.aeciworld.com/governance.