We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 31 Jul 2026
Careers that change lives start here. Medtronic is a global leader in healthcare technology with a Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Our 95,000 employees work across more than 150 countries to put patients first — developing innovative medical technologies that improve the lives of 72+ million patients each year. Your unique talents will help shape the future of healthcare while building a career grounded in purpose, growth, and impact.
A Day in the Life
Join our Global Supply Management team as a Category Manager – Specialty Materials, where you will utilize your strong track record of delivering results in a matrixed organization and collaborate across diverse teams, functions, and supplier networks to support Medtronic’s Mission.
As the Category Manager – Specialty Materials, you will support and execute sourcing strategies for highly specialized and regulated material categories, with an initial focus on biologics, animal tissue, collagen, xenograft-derived materials, and other specialty materials.
In this role, you will help manage a complex and strategically important supply base where tissue source availability, biologic material requirements, supplier controls, quality systems, regulatory expectations, technical capability, and continuity of supply directly impact patient care, product availability, and business continuity. You will partner closely with Operating Units, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, R&D, Technical Sourcing, Supply Network, and supplier partners to execute category strategies, negotiate supplier agreements, mitigate risk, and drive cost optimization.
At Medtronic, we bring bold ideas forward with speed and decisiveness to put patients first in everything we do. In-person exchanges are invaluable to our work. We’re working a minimum of 4 days a week onsite as part of our commitment to fostering a culture of professional growth and cross-functional collaboration as we work together to engineer the extraordinary.
As a Category Manager – Specialty Materials, you will play a key role in shaping and executing Medtronic’s supply management strategy for biologics, animal tissue, collagen, xenograft-derived materials, and additional specialty material categories. This role requires strong sourcing discipline, supplier relationship management, cross-functional influence, and the ability to translate market, technical, quality, regulatory, and business requirements into actionable category plans.
You will:
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- Execute Category Strategy & Supplier Management: Support the development and execution of global category strategies for biologics, animal tissue, collagen, xenograft-derived materials, and other specialty material subcategories.
- Manage Regulated and Supply-Constrained Categories: Monitor tissue source availability, biologic material requirements, supplier capacity, supplier capabilities, inventory posture, and regulatory requirements to help protect continuity of supply for critical product portfolios.
- Negotiate & Optimize Supplier Agreements: Negotiate, establish, and monitor supplier agreements, pricing arrangements, service commitments, capacity commitments, and performance expectations to support quality, cost, delivery, risk, and compliance goals.
- Drive Cost Reduction & Process Improvement: Identify and execute opportunities for cost savings, inflation mitigation, contract coverage improvement, process optimization, supplier consolidation, supplier development, and value improvement initiatives.
- Conduct Market, Supplier & Multi-Tier Supply Chain Analysis: Assess market dynamics, supplier concentration, technical barriers to entry, tissue source availability, biologic material constraints, sub-tier dependencies, geopolitical or regulatory risks, and best-cost sourcing opportunities.
- Support Quality, Regulatory & Compliance Initiatives: Partner with Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, R&D, and Technical Sourcing to support supplier qualification, audits, change control, material validations, supplier corrective actions, traceability expectations, and compliance with Medtronic requirements for biologic and tissue-based materials.
- Collaborate Cross-Functionally & Influence Outcomes: Lead and support cross-functional teams, facilitate alignment across stakeholders, communicate project and supplier developments, and influence internal and external partners without direct authority.
- Leverage Data & Business Intelligence: Use spend analytics, supplier scorecards, contract coverage data, savings and inflation dashboards, risk tools, and business intelligence to prioritize work, track performance, and drive informed sourcing decisions.
Must Have: Minimum Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in category management, strategic sourcing, supply management, procurement, program management, or supplier management; or an advanced degree with a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience.
- Experience in category management, sourcing, or supply chain for biologics, animal tissue, collagen, xenograft-derived materials, or other highly regulated specialty materials.
Nice to Have
- Understanding of supplier qualification, traceability, quality systems, regulatory requirements, and risk management considerations for biologic or tissue-based materials.
- Strong negotiation, analytical, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to manage supply-constrained and technically complex categories.
- Demonstrated ability to develop and execute category and negotiation strategies, with a track record in cost reduction, process improvement, supplier development, and risk mitigation.
- Excellent communication, collaboration, organization, and project management skills; strong presentation abilities and comfort influencing cross-functional stakeholders.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Excel, analytics tools, SAP, spend analytics, supplier scorecards, and business intelligence tools.
- Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally to supplier sites, manufacturing locations, and business reviews as needed.
For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required.
Physical Job Requirements
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position.
The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. For Office Roles: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be independently mobile. The employee is also required to interact with a computer, and communicate with peers and co-workers. Contact your manager or local HR to understand the Work Conditions and Physical requirements that may be specific to each role.
U.S. Work Authorization & Sponsorship
At Medtronic, we are committed to fostering an environment where employees can thrive and make a meaningful impact. In alignment with our enterprise-wide workforce planning approach, U.S. work authorization sponsorship (H-1B, TN, J, etc.) is offered exclusively for Principal-level roles and above, where specialized expertise aligns with long-term business needs. Roles below the Principal level require candidates to possess unrestricted U.S. work authorization at the time of hire and for the duration of employment.
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