Market Area Procurement Lead

At Kalmar, we are moving goods in critical supply chains around the world. As the forerunner in sustainable material handling equipment and services, we set the industry benchmark for a zero-emission future. We are driven by teamwork, innovation, and taking ownership to deliver results. With our global reach and local expertise, our success starts with a strong focus on the customer, ensuring their needs guide our daily work. We are dedicated to respecting others and fostering an inclusive culture where all voices are heard, empowering us to succeed together. With us, your work has an impact. Your work moves the world! Join us and take your career to the next level Purpose of the Position

The Market Area Procurement Lead will lead the development and execution of sourcing activities for the North America region, including Front Line Units (FLUs) and manufacturing plant (Ottawa), across all indirect categories within the regional organization. You will collaborate with global category and country procurement organizations, lead savings projects, ensure supplier preferencing and consolidation activities, create synergies and drive sustainable compliance improvements that are aligned with local and regional needs.

What Are Your Key Responsibilities To succeed you will develop and foster a culture of collaboration, business partnering, results-oriented performance and continuous improvement together with the country organizations with a strong customer focus and value creation mindset that supports service and sales growth in line with Kalmar strategy.

• Lead cost-saving initiatives by identifying opportunities for RFQs, process optimization, supplier renegotiation, TCO initiatives, and agreeing implementation within the country.
• Lead contract negotiations for procurement projects and contracts, ensuring compliance with legal and commercial terms.
• Facilitate communication between business functions and central category management teams to ensure alignment and implementation of global procurement strategies.
• Structured insourcing vs outsourcing analysis and dialogue on core capabilities and in/outsourcing activities together with negotiation and implementation of those with functional partners.
• Build and maintain strong local relationships with preferred suppliers, ensuring high levels of collaboration and mutual benefit along with supplier consolidation and tail spend reduction.
• Lead key supplier development initiatives, including risk mitigation strategies (together with TPRM) and continuous improvement efforts.
• Ensure that all procurement activities adhere to both Kalmar internal policies and local legal requirements.
• Work closely with finance, operations, and other relevant departments to align procurement activities with business needs. Promote and increase procurement process awareness across functions
• Identify inefficiencies in local procurement processes and work with the country procurement teams to implement improvements that enhance operational efficiency.
• Support front-line units in implementing procurement best practices, including process standardization and tool utilization.
• Provide regular reporting to country directors and controllers on procurement performance, highlighting key achievements, risks, and areas for improvement against targets for cost, quality, and delivery.
• Ensure transparency in procurement activities by using Kalmar digital procurement systems and tools to streamline procurement workflows and increase transparency in procurement activities.

Influencer & Relationship Manager

• Closely collaborate with business stakeholders at all levels ensuring impactful category strategy and savings action implementation.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders across the organization, including Finance, Legal, Sales & Service, and other relevant departments.
• Effectively communicate sourcing strategies, plans and results to stakeholders, ensuring alignment and buy-in.
• Proactively identify and address stakeholder needs and concerns ensuring compliance whilst supporting business growth and flexibility.

Process Improvement & Innovation

• Ensure best practice sharing across counties and across regions
• Develop and manage procurement metrics and KPIs, developing dashboards to track sourcing performance on a country, regional and global level.
• Drive improvements in the source-to-pay process, including requisitioning, purchasing, invoicing, and payment to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and PO compliance.
• Together with sourcing digitalization and IM drive the development, implementation and utilization of both new and existing sourcing tools and technologies to simplify processes and enable efficiency improvements.

What We Offer You "People who move together"

Purpose that drives change: You'll have a direct impact on Kalmar’s future and contribute to solutions that transform global trade, creating environmental and operational breakthroughs.

Rewards that count: You’ll have development opportunities to grow and we prioritise work-life balance, providing flexible working hours and a hybrid work model tailored to meet your needs.

Competitive Benefits: You will have comprehensive healthcare options, matching 401K, performance based annual bonus system, 3 weeks paid time off and 11 holidays.

People who move economies: You'll collaborate with a global team, build strong relationships, solve challenges, celebrate wins, and connect with colleagues and clients in an open, sustainable culture.

Safety that moves us forward: Beyond physical safety, you'll benefit from the stability of a long-standing company, established in the 1940s, offering strong job security and a reliable foundation for your career.

Education What you bring to the role:

• Bachelors degree in Supply Chain Management, Finance, or Engineering

Experience

• At least 5 years of experience in Procurement and Strategic Sourcing
• Proven track records in managing complex sourcing projects and process improvement activities
• Sourcing experience within an international supply base and cross-functional environment
• Understanding TCO with practical deployment in procurement area
• Basic financial and acumen required to take optimum commercial judgments and decision
• Legal awareness and contract negotiations experience would be an advantage
• Experience gained in a large multinational company with a matrix organizational structure essential
• Budget and business plan development and implementation
• Experience in working with global teams and executing transformational change projects is necessary

Skills

• Strong Negotiation, influencing and relationship building skills
• Successful collaboration with key stakeholders and ability to maintain relationships at the executive level
• Strong oral, written and presentation skills
• Ability to gather relevant information systematically; consider a broad range of issues or factors; grasp complexities and ensure the relationship among problems or issues; seek input from others
• Demonstrate resourcefulness to effectively leverage and focus resources across organisational/ geographic boundaries

Competencies

• Exceptional integrity; operating at the highest level of ethical standard, is required
• Ability to cope with ambiguity and complexity is necessary
• Continuous improvement, change leadership and management with process focus and benefit realisation mindset
• Ability to balance strategic and hands-on needs to manage multiple projects and relationships while remaining focused on the key deliverables is key

Ready to elevate your career? Apply today! Please submit your resume/CV today for consideration!

About Kalmar Kalmar (Nasdaq Helsinki: KALMAR) is moving goods in critical supply chains around the world, with the vision to be the forerunner in sustainable material handling equipment and services. The company offers a wide range of industry shaping heavy material handling equipment and services to ports and terminals, distribution centres, manufacturing and heavy logistics. Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Kalmar operates globally in over 120 countries and employs approximately 5,200 people. In 2024, the company's sales totalled approximately EUR 1.7 billion. www.kalmarglobal.com