Publiée 4 juin 2026
Category Manager - Direct
Straumann
Sallanches, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 74700, France
CDI
Are you ready to unlock your potential?
At Straumann Group we're on an exciting journey of growth, innovation, and impact - driven by our mission to improve oral health and transform millions of lives worldwide. United by purpose, we bring our best selves to work every day, embracing a high-performance, player-learner culture that inspires collaboration, curiosity, and ambition. Here, you'll have the opportunity to take charge of your own career, harnessing your skills, passion, and enthusiasm for learning to continually grow and progress. Together, we're not just shaping brighter smiles, we're unlocking the potential of people everywhere, including our own.
Introduction
As a Category Manager - Direct, you will play a key role in managing strategic sourcing activities for raw materials, chemicals, and selected services that support Straumann Group's manufacturing operations. Based in Sallanches, France, and reporting to the Global Category Director - Direct, you will help ensure supply continuity, optimize costs, and drive operational excellence across multiple manufacturing sites, with a particular focus on supporting the Villeret site in Switzerland.
This position offers a unique combination of operational procurement responsibilities and global category management exposure. Working closely with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and Procurement teams, you will contribute to supplier performance, risk mitigation, inventory optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives across the Group.
Approximately 20% of the role is dedicated to operational procurement support for the Villeret manufacturing site, while 80% focuses on global category management activities and cross-site collaboration within Straumann Group.
Your Role
In this role, you will:
Must-Haves
At Straumann Group we're on an exciting journey of growth, innovation, and impact - driven by our mission to improve oral health and transform millions of lives worldwide. United by purpose, we bring our best selves to work every day, embracing a high-performance, player-learner culture that inspires collaboration, curiosity, and ambition. Here, you'll have the opportunity to take charge of your own career, harnessing your skills, passion, and enthusiasm for learning to continually grow and progress. Together, we're not just shaping brighter smiles, we're unlocking the potential of people everywhere, including our own.
Introduction
As a Category Manager - Direct, you will play a key role in managing strategic sourcing activities for raw materials, chemicals, and selected services that support Straumann Group's manufacturing operations. Based in Sallanches, France, and reporting to the Global Category Director - Direct, you will help ensure supply continuity, optimize costs, and drive operational excellence across multiple manufacturing sites, with a particular focus on supporting the Villeret site in Switzerland.
This position offers a unique combination of operational procurement responsibilities and global category management exposure. Working closely with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and Procurement teams, you will contribute to supplier performance, risk mitigation, inventory optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives across the Group.
Approximately 20% of the role is dedicated to operational procurement support for the Villeret manufacturing site, while 80% focuses on global category management activities and cross-site collaboration within Straumann Group.
Your Role
In this role, you will:
- Manage sourcing activities for a portfolio of direct materials, chemicals, and related services.
- Execute sourcing initiatives in line with global category strategies and procurement objectives.
- Lead sourcing events, supplier selection processes, and contract implementation through Straumann's digital procurement platforms.
- Identify and deliver opportunities to improve cost, quality, supply reliability, and process efficiency.
- Support value creation initiatives, including cost of goods sold (COGS) improvements, working capital optimization, and operational performance enhancements.
- Maintain accurate procurement data within SAP and digital procurement systems, including supplier, material, and sourcing information.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders to support specification harmonization, supplier risk management, and supply continuity.
- Monitor supplier performance and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
- Track, measure, and communicate procurement results and project progress to relevant stakeholders.
- Support procurement activities across other Straumann manufacturing entities when required.
Must-Haves
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field.
- Experience in direct procurement within a manufacturing or industrial environment.
- Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders across multiple locations or regions.
- Hands-on experience using Source-to-Contract (S2C) procurement platforms.
- Experience working with SAP Procure-to-Pay (P2P) processes or comparable ERP systems.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and French.
- Professional procurement certification such as CIPS, CPSM, or equivalent.
- Experience in highly regulated or quality-driven industries such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, FMCG, or precision manufacturing.
- Knowledge of sustainable procurement practices.
