Category Manager

**Company Description**
Founded in 2007, Akuo is an independent renewable energy producer with operations in over twenty countries. The Group is present across the entire value chain: development, financing, construction and operation of solar, wind and storage power plants.

Akuo's teams combine technological relevance, environmental added value and social benefits to develop exemplary, meaningful projects in local areas. The Group is a pioneer in agrivoltaics and storage solutions and was the first to develop large-scale floating solar power plants in France.

True to its values and convictions, Akuo is a responsible company, committed to the diversity of its teams and determined to ensure the inclusion of all.

This position is part of the S&E (Structuring & Execution) department, which encompasses the following areas of expertise: project management, contract and purchasing management, supply chain management, construction management and technical expertise.

Within S&E team, the Supply Chain Management team is taking care of our global procurement strategy, our category management strategy of our various products & services and our logistic operations.

As the **Category Manager for PV Panel & Structure**, you will be aiming to increase our level of control & knowledge for the PV modules & structures category and to standardize our methodology for all the regions.

Based in the head office of Paris, your main tasks will be as follow:
**Suppliers Management**:

- ** Sourcing.** Identify, evaluate, and onboard new partners based on capabilities, technology, compliance requirements, and strategic priorities, including managing onboarding processes such as NDAs and KYC,
- ** Supplier Mapping.** Maintain and update the supplier profiles, including spend analysis, capabilities, power mapping, audit results, and NDA/KYC status, while monitoring ongoing topics and ensuring continuous performance assessment through KPI tracking,
- ** Relationship Building.** Foster strong, trust-based relationships with suppliers through regular engagement meetings, collaboration, and alignment on shared goals,

**Frameworks.** Negotiate and manage framework agreements that reflect business objectives and support long-term, value-driven partnerships.

**Strategic Planning**:

- ** Pipeline.** Maintain a realistic, non-confidential procurement pipeline that can be shared transparently with suppliers, contractors, and partners,
- ** Strategic Plan.** Develop a 3Y procurement plan, including a strategic allocation matrix aligning group and partnerships strategies with project needs and risk mitigation,
- ** Internal Reviews.** Deliver monthly and quarterly management reviews, including key procurement metrics and supplier performance analysis,
- ** Spend Analysis.** Track and analyze spending by supplier and contractor, including indirect procurement, to identify cost-saving opportunities and strategic sourcing approaches.

**Continuous Improvement**:

- **ESG Strategy.** Champion a best-in-class ESG approach, publicly advocate strong standards, and implement actions that elevate sustainability performance across the supply chain,
- ** Innovation Roadmap.** Lead or contribute to continuous improvement initiatives in areas such as circularity, cybersecurity, digitalization, AI, and other transversal innovations.

**Market Watch**:

- ** Industry Events.** Attend exhibitions, conferences, webinars, and workshops to stay informed on market developments and emerging technologies,
- ** Regulatory & Geopolitical Monitoring.** Track global regulatory changes, incentives, and barriers to ensure compliance is embedded in procurement processes,
- ** Pricing Trends.** Monitor short
- and long-term price trends using market intelligence tools, RFQs, and industry memberships to inform procurement decisions.
- ** Competitor Benchmarking.** Collect and analyse competitor data to understand market positioning, strategies, and maintain competitiveness.

**Project Support**:

- ** Lead** **full contracting** process including drafting and negotiation (internal & external contracts),
- ** Pre-Qualification.** Ensure supplier mapping is complete; source new suppliers and new EPCs in the regions, including on-site visits, and manage pre-qualification processes and KYC where needed,
- ** Tendering.** Support Contract and Procurement Manager tender scoring and decision-making by providing strategic insights such as supplier workload, past collaboration, compliance, and alignment with group strategies,
- ** REX (Structuration).** Support the Contract and Procurement Manager with internal preparation and external communication to non-awarded bidders, ensuring insights are captured in supplier mapping for future sourcing,
- ** REX (Execution).** Lead post-execution reviews with suppliers/contractors and ensure insights are used for continuous improvement.

**Qualifications**
Must-have
- 3-5 years experience in the following areas: project procurement, cont