Caterpillar, Inc

Category Procurement Manager

Caterpillar, Inc$147K — $221K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Procurement, Operations, Engineering, or equivalent experience
  • Experience in engineered materials or steel supply chains (bars, rods, tubes)
  • Global sourcing and negotiation experience across multi-region manufacturing networks
  • Proven ability with predictive cost modeling and procurement analytics
  • Demonstrated leadership in matrixed, global organizations
  • Strong executive presence and collaborative skills
  • Structured analytical thinker who can break down complex problems

Responsibilities

  • Develop and implement a Global Sourcing Strategy for key categories
  • Lead and manage a North America-based procurement team
  • Collaborate with Global Strategy Owners for cross-regional alignment
  • Identify supplier performance gaps and implement improvement plans
  • Partner with Supply Network on risk management and capacity planning
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to internal and external stakeholders
  • Manage quality of purchased goods and resolve supplier-related issues
  • Lead complex commercial negotiations balancing enterprise and supplier needs

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision benefits
  • Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)
  • 401(k) savings plan
  • Health Savings Account (HSA)
  • Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Career Development opportunities
  • Incentive bonus
  • Life Insurance
  • Tuition Reimbursement
Full Job Description
Career Area:
Procurement

Job Description:

The Category Procurement Manager leads strategic procurement of Resource Industries (RI)Machine Bar, Rods, and Tubes categories, delivering year-over-year improvements in Quality, Cost, Logistics, Development, and Management (QCLDM). In this role, you will be accountable for developing and executing a global sourcing strategy, building a resilient and high-performing supply base, and managing a high performing North America procurement team.

What makes this role exciting:

This role offers a rare global perspective on steel component procurement and its direct impact on Caterpillar machines. You will gain visibility into where your components are assembled into Caterpillar machines which span a wide variety of applications. You will build strategic relationships with manufacturing suppliers. This position provides hands-on exposure to steel component cost drivers, global market dynamics, daily collaboration with your counterparts located in Europe, Mexico, India, and China which will support you to develop the ultimate Global Strategy. In addition, you will lead a strong collaborative North America based team, work closely with internal customers and suppliers around the world. For a procurement leader who enjoys understanding the full commodity picture and turning complexity into clear, executable strategy, this role delivers meaningful challenge and impact.

What you will do:
  • Develop, communicate, and implement a Global Sourcing Strategy for RI Machine Bar, Rods, and Tubes categories aligned to Caterpillar enterprise objectives.
  • Lead and manage a North America-based procurement team, providing coaching, direction, and performance leadership.
  • Collaborate with other Global Strategy Owners and Regional Procurement Managers to ensure alignment across regions and categories.
  • Identify supplier performance gaps and lead structured improvement plans across cost, quality, delivery, and capability.
  • Partner with the Supply Network on risk mitigation, capacity planning, and predictive cost modeling (geographic and component-based).
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to internal Caterpillar stakeholders and external suppliers.
  • Manage the quality of purchased goods and services, resolving complex supplier-related issues and escalations.
  • Lead complex commercial negotiations, balancing enterprise objectives with supplier sustainability.
  • Prepare executive-level reporting to demonstrate category performance, ROI, and business impact.


What skills you have:

Planning - Tactical & Strategic
  • Contribute to short-term operational and tactical plans.
  • Ultra focused on achieving long term objectives within your Global Strategy
  • Anticipate plan changes, monitor execution, and course-correct to meet objectives


Effective Communication
  • Communicate clearly upward, downward, and outward
  • Adapt messaging for technical, operational, and executive audiences
  • Demonstrate empathy, influence, and assertiveness


Negotiating
  • Lead significant internal and external negotiations
  • Drive win-win outcomes while protecting enterprise interests
  • Strong collaborator with advanced purchasing expertise


Category Management
  • Design and execute end-to-end Global category strategies
  • Develop supplier agreements and follow procurement policies
  • Lead execution of all category management stages and train others
  • Experience across multiple component family types within a category


Supplier Management
  • Build strategic supplier partnerships that share risk and reward
  • Monitor performance, resolve gaps, and manage supplier exits when required
  • Establish quality standards and supplier governance


Strategic Sourcing
  • Lead complex sourcing initiatives including negotiations, contracting, and continuous improvement
  • Develop and deploy sourcing best practices across regions


Audit & Compliance
  • Support Audit & Compliance (A&C) initiatives including SOX-related controls
  • Improve compliance-related business processes and cross-functional alignment


Business Intelligence
  • Transform data into actionable business insights
  • Leverage BI tools to evaluate category performance and sourcing outcomes
  • Develop reporting that informs leadership decision making


Top candidates will also have:
  • Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Procurement, Operations, Engineering, or equivalent experience
  • Experience supporting engineered materials or steel supply chains (bars, rods, tubes, or similar components), ideally with exposure to manufacturing or shop-floor environments
  • Global sourcing and negotiation experience across multi-region manufacturing networks, with strong commercial and strategic sourcing capability
  • Proven ability to leverage predictive cost modeling, procurement analytics, and global market insights to inform category strategy
  • Demonstrated people leadership within matrixed, global organizations
  • Strong executive presence - calm under pressure, highly collaborative, and solutions-oriented
  • Structured, analytical thinker who can break complex problems into clear, actionable steps and translate global commodity trends into regional and category execution
  • Genuine passion for procurement, commodities, and business outcomes, paired with sound judgment and big-picture thinking


Additional Information:
  • Location: The location for this position is Mossville, IL and requires the candidate to work onsite five days a week.
  • Relocation: Domestic relocation assistance is available for this position.
  • Travel: This position will require 20-25% travel.
  • Sponsorship: Sponsorship is not available.


Summary Pay Range:

$147,760.00 - $221,640.00

Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.

Benefits:

Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.
  • Medical, dental, and vision benefits*
  • Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*
  • 401(k) savings plans*
  • Health Savings Account (HSA)*
  • Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*
  • Health Lifestyle Programs*
  • Employee Assistance Program*
  • Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*
  • Career Development*
  • Incentive bonus*
  • Disability benefits
  • Life Insurance
  • Parental leave
  • Adoption benefits
  • Tuition Reimbursement


* These benefits also apply to part-time employees

This position requires working onsite five days a week.

Relocation is available for this position.

Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Posting Dates:
May 22, 2026 - June 7, 2026

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.

About Caterpillar, Inc

Progress Rail Services Corporation, a Caterpillar company, is one of the largest integrated and diversified suppliers of railroad and transit system products and services worldwide. Since its acquisition by Caterpillar Inc. in 2006, Progress Rail has used the Caterpillar international footprint to gain quick and widespread notice and approval across the globe. Product technology, reliability and durability, along with legendary aftermarket parts and service support, have been their keys to success. Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. The technology and world reach of Caterpillar, combined with the service standard and historical reliability of Progress Rail, ensures their products and services make a growing impact on the world rail industry. With their acquisition of Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), Progress Rail is the world's largest builder of diesel-electric locomotives for all commercial railroad applications including freight, intercity passenger, commuter, switching, industrial and mining. EMD is also a global provider of diesel power engines for marine propulsion, offshore and land based oil well drilling rigs and stationary power generation. Electro-Motive is the only diesel engine manufacturer of its size to have produced more than 70,000 engines. This success stems from product reliability, serviceability, load acceptance capability, low operating costs and ease of maintenance with standardized components.

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Learn more about Caterpillar, Inc
Size
107,700 employees
Market Cap
$125.3 billion
Industry
Net Income
$2.9 billion
Founded
1925
5 Year Trend
+5.8%
Revenue
$41.7 billion
NASDAQ

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