The Global Category Manager (GCM) to exclusively manage our most critical compressor supplier and requires a blend of commercial acumen, technical depth, and strategic diplomacy.

This role will act as the "Chief Negotiator" and "Crisis Lead" for this account, ensuring our company receives preferential treatment in capacity allocation and pricing. This role will receive escalation from regions and represent Smardt to drive rapid response protocols for critical commercial, delivery, quality, warranty issues while fostering seamless cross-regional collaboration.

This role is 100% on site and you'll be expected to work on a daily basis, side-by-side, with your team.

What You'll Do:

Strategic Supplier Relationship & High-Impact Negotiation

• Exclusive Account Management: Serve as the sole global point of contact for our most strategic compressor supplier. Manage all touchpoints from tactical purchasing to executive-level engagement.
• Capacity Securement: Lead high-impact negotiations to secure preferential capacity allocation. Develop compelling business cases to ensure our production lines receive uninterrupted supply ahead of competitors during market shortages.
• Commercial Optimization: Drive annual pricing negotiations and global agreement renewal.

Critical Quality Issues (CQI) Management & Liability Enforcement

• Rapid Response Leadership: Establish and enforce a stringent "Rapid Response Protocol" for all Critical Quality Issues (CQI). Work with Smardt expertise and the compressor supplier to work out immediate containment actions to minimize disruption to global production and field operations.
• Liability & Claims Management: Act as the lead negotiator regarding quality liability. Drive the supplier to promptly acknowledge responsibility for systemic defects and ensure swift settlement of cost recovery, including rework, scrap, and logistics. Work with Quality departments to push the supplier for rigorous Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and verification of corrective actions (8D) to prevent recurrence of serial defects.

Global Coordination & Communication

• Regional Liaison: Act as the central hub for our manufacturing sites across NA, EMEA, and APAC. Facilitate regular syncs to align on demand forecasts, inventory strategies, and local quality feedback loops.
• Unified Front: Collect inputs from regional supply chain and operation leaders to engage the supplier with one voice
• Executive Reporting: Provide clear visibility to Global Leadership on supplier performance, risk mitigation status, and negotiation outcomes through monthly dashboards and Quarterly Business Reviews.

Supply Chain Resilience

• Demand-Supply Balancing: Work closely with Global Demand Planning to translate forecasts into firm supplier commitments. Manage the allocation strategy during shortage periods to ensure fair distribution across regions based on business priorities.
• Risk Mitigation: Monitor supplier financial health and operational bottlenecks. Develop and maintain contingency plans to de-risk the single-source dependency

What You'll Bring:

Skills and Competencies:

• Excellent relationship management skills with the ability to engage, negotiate and manage key stakeholders and suppliers.
• Strong and confident negotiator with the ability to negotiate at all levels.
• Resilient and able to perform under pressure
• Understanding in HVAC system/components and quality tools

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in HVAC or mechanical engineering or related field or related experience.
• 10+ years of progressive supply chain experience, including category management, strategic sourcing
• Experience managing global suppliers and complex supply chains
• HVAC industry background is preferred, have basic understanding of compressor technology
• Experience in managing stakeholders across multiple time zones

What We Offer:

• Competitive salary + annual performance bonus
• 100% employer-paid medical and dental benefits as of day 1!
• Tele-Health service paid by the employer.
• Retirement savings plan with employer contributions up to 6%
• Monthly OPUS subsidy for those who take public transportation to work.
• Dynamic team within a high-growth company
• Company events and team-building activities
• Ongoing training and professional development opportunities

All job offers at Smardt are conditional to successful background and reference checks, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Please note that Smardt does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Services Agreement with agency/recruiter, we will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter fee.