Category Manager - Flexible Packaging

Location: Nashville, TN
Relocation: Assistance Available
Travel: Approximately 20%

The Opportunity

A leading industrial manufacturing organization is seeking a Category Manager, Packaging to own and advance a significant packaging spend portfolio. This is a highly visible individual contributor role responsible for developing category strategy, managing key suppliers, leading commercial negotiations, and driving meaningful cost savings.

The portfolio represents approximately $100M in annual spend, with a significant focus on flexible packaging, including plastic bags and films, wraps, tapes, stretch materials, and other polymer-based packaging, in addition to pallets and related packaging materials.

The successful candidate will bring strong strategic sourcing fundamentals and, importantly, an understanding of the raw materials and commodity inputs that drive flexible packaging costs, particularly polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, and related chemical feedstocks.

Direct packaging procurement experience is valuable but not required. Candidates from other industrial manufacturing environments with exposure to resin-based materials, polymers, and commodity cost drivers are encouraged to apply.

What You'll Own

• Develop and execute comprehensive category and sourcing strategies across packaging materials, with a particular emphasis on flexible packaging.
• Manage approximately $80M in annual category spend, identifying opportunities to improve cost, supplier performance, quality, and supply continuity.
• Lead sourcing and supplier negotiations for categories including flexible films, plastic bags, wraps, tapes, stretch materials, pallets, and related packaging products.
• Understand and track underlying commodity and feedstock cost drivers, including polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, and other resin or chemical inputs.
• Analyze supply markets, cost structures, supplier capabilities, and market dynamics to build fact-based sourcing strategies.
• Identify and qualify new suppliers to increase competition, reduce cost, mitigate risk, and improve overall category performance.
• Lead commercial negotiations, contract development, renewals, and supplier performance management.
• Partner closely with Operations, Materials Management, R&D, Process Engineering, and business leadership to understand plant requirements and qualify alternative materials and suppliers.
• Challenge incumbent supply arrangements and develop the cross-functional business case for introducing new materials and suppliers.
• Identify savings opportunities through competitive sourcing, supplier negotiations, specification changes, supplier consolidation, and alternative materials.
• Build strong supplier relationships while maintaining a commercial mindset around cost competitiveness, quality, service, and performance.
• Develop reporting around category performance, savings, supplier performance, risks, and strategic sourcing initiatives.

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of procurement, strategic sourcing, category management, or related supply chain experience.
• Bachelor's degree required.
• Experience within industrial manufacturing strongly preferred.
• Experience sourcing flexible packaging, films, polymers, resins, plastics, or other materials influenced by chemical feedstocks highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of the cost drivers behind polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, or comparable commodity-based materials.
• Direct packaging procurement experience is not mandatory for someone with strong knowledge of raw-material economics, strategic sourcing, and manufacturing.
• Proven ability to develop category strategies, rather than simply administer an existing supplier base.
• Strong supplier negotiation and contract management capabilities.
• Demonstrated track record of identifying and executing measurable cost-savings initiatives.
• Strong analytical capabilities with the ability to understand material cost structures, monitor commodity movements, and translate data into sourcing decisions.
• Experience partnering with Operations, Engineering, R&D, and plant-level stakeholders in a manufacturing environment.
• Ability to drive supplier changes and gain internal buy-in for the qualification of new materials and vendors.
• Strong relationship-building skills paired with the confidence to push back on suppliers and internal stakeholders when necessary.
• Hands-on, ambitious mindset with a desire to build and advance a category, rather than simply maintain the status quo.