Your Job
As a Global Category Manager, you will lead the strategic procurement of Fiber Optical Wire/Cable and Connectors. You will be responsible for developing category strategies, managing supplier relationships, supporting product development and lifecycle needs, and ensuring costeffective, highquality, and reliable supply to the business.
Our Team
You will be part of the Global Procurement organization, partnering closely with the Optical Solutions Business Unit (OSBU), Supplier Business Management (SBM), New Product Development (NPD) Sourcing, Supply Chain, Engineering, and crossfunctional global teams. This role requires strong collaboration, technical understanding, and strategic thinking to support business growth and operational excellence.
What You Will Do
- Lead strategic procurement for fiber optical wire/cable and connectors to support the Optical Solutions BU.
- Manage supplier evaluation, qualification, and selection; drive pricing and contract negotiations; ensure quality, supply continuity, and cost competitiveness.
- Develop and implement category strategies in partnership with BU teams, SBM, and NPD sourcing.
- Drive early supplier engagement and value engineering to reduce product cost.
- Support new product development, mass production readiness, and product endoflife (EOL) transitions.
- Collaborate with internal architecture teams, supplier engineering teams, product managers, factories, and supply chain partners.
- Build and maintain a global Preferred Supplier List (PSL) and Approved Parts List (APL).
- Communicate effectively with senior management and external partners.
- Apply strong organizational, project, and programmanagement capabilities in executing category strategies.
- Interpret technical specifications and align suppliers to engineering requirements.
- Work autonomously and navigate a matrixed organization effectively.
- Engage with global suppliers (including China and Vietnam) as part of routine business support.
Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)
- Bachelor's degree in Business or Engineering.
- 5+ years of experience in procurement, sourcing, or engineering within the fiber optical electronics category.
- Demonstrated experience in pricing and contract negotiation.
- Understanding of the product development process.
- Strong costmodeling and shouldcost knowledge in optical wire, cable, and connectors.
- Strong communication, analytical, and presentation skills (verbal & written).
- Ability to operate independently, manage multiple priorities, and maintain strong organization skills.
What Will Put You Ahead
- Master's degree.
- Experience using strategic category management techniques in a fiber optical environment.
- Deep knowledge of fiber optical cables, connectors, and industry supplier base.
- Broad knowledge of the electronic components industry.
- Experience managing sourcing directly with manufacturers and through distribution partners.
- Ability to influence, negotiate, and communicate persuasively at all levels.
At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.
Who We Are
As a Koch company, Molex is a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect components, driving innovation in electronics and supporting industries from automotive to health care and consumer to data communications. The thousands of innovators who work for Molex have made us a global electronics leader. Our experienced people, groundbreaking products and leading-edge technologies help us deliver a wider array of solutions to more markets than ever before.
At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.
Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.
