Category Manager
Job description
Job Title: Category Manager
Department: Sourcing and Purchasing, Procurement, Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd. (Japan)
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Your impact begins here
As Category Manager, you will make sure the goods and services our business in Japan relies on deliver real value. Working with suppliers and internal stakeholders across development, commercial, warehousing and distribution, and indirect categories, you will turn market knowledge into savings, competitive prices, faster speed to market and new ideas for sustainability. Because much of our value comes from suppliers, your sourcing decisions help colleagues move with speed and focus on progress for people living with serious chronic diseases.
What you’ll bring
You know procurement creates value by connecting business needs with what suppliers do best. You will also bring:
- A bachelor’s or master’s degree.
- Indirect procurement experience in the pharmaceutical and/or FMCG industry.
- Experience in strategic sourcing, combined with a solid understanding of procure-to-pay (P2P) processes.
- Strong negotiation skills, grounded in good supplier and customer relationship management.
- Respect for suppliers and an understanding that they bring capabilities and market value we do not have in-house.
- Native or N1 level Japanese language skills and at least 1 year of experience working in Japan.
- Strong business English, both written and spoken (a TOEIC score of 800 or above as a target).
- The confidence to speak up at the right time, and respect for people of different backgrounds – suppliers, business partners and colleagues in other countries.
- Curiosity about new ways of working and thinking, such as how AI can improve procurement.
Useful, but not essential:
- Direct procurement experience, which can give you a wider view of the value chain.
- Experience working abroad and across cultures.
- Line management experience.
What you’ll do
- You will own a broad category portfolio and work directly with suppliers in the market to bring the value internal stakeholders need – from hard savings and cost avoidance to innovation, optimised costs and better cash flow.
- Manage categories across key areas of our business: development (such as contract research organisations and post-marketing surveillance), commercial (such as marketing and digital agencies, meetings and events, and public relations), warehousing and distribution, and indirect areas including rent, IT, HR and fleet.
- Lead or take part in sourcing projects that match business objectives and timelines.
- Deliver measurable value through savings, competitive prices, faster speed to market, improved Management Cash Flow and new ideas for sustainability.
- Build supplier relationships that create sustainable value and stay strong during negotiation process and also after the negotiation is over.
- Work independently towards objectives agreed with your manager, keeping stakeholders informed through open, transparent communication.
Who you’ll work with
- You will join the Sourcing and Purchasing team, which shapes and drives the procurement strategy that meets our internal business needs in Japan. You will report to the Associate Director, Sourcing and Purchasing.
- Your closest partners will be internal stakeholders across development, commercial, warehousing and distribution, and corporate functions such as IT and HR – together with the suppliers who serve them. You will also work in English with procurement colleagues in other regions and at headquarters, building relationships that help you share knowledge, align quickly and keep sourcing projects moving.
What you can expect here
- With categories spanning development, commercial, distribution and indirect spend, you will see how procurement supports almost every part of the business – and build skills across the value chain as you do. You will be trusted to work independently against clear objectives, and encouraged to make your voice heard, bring new ideas to the table and explore how AI and new ways of working can raise the bar.
Start now
- Your impact begins today. If you are ready to turn supplier value into progress for our business in Japan, apply for the Category Manager role by uploading your CV online (click Apply and follow the instructions). Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.
Skills mentioned
We are a global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered just outside Copenhagen, Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases, built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure the diseases we treat. Our story began over 100 years ago when two small Danish companies started producing the revolutionary new drug, insulin, which had just been discovered by Canadian scientists. These companies, Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium and Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium, were established by individuals driven by a common goal: to make life-saving insulin available to people with diabetes in Denmark and beyond. August Krogh, a Nobel laureate, and his wife Marie, a physician whose own diabetes fueled their quest, played a pivotal role in bringing insulin production to Denmark, leading to the founding of Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium in 1923. Shortly after, in 1925, the Pedersen brothers, former Nordisk employees, established Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium, creating a dynamic of competition and innovation that would characterize the Danish pharmaceutical landscape for decades. After years of parallel growth and groundbreaking research, these two entities merged in 1989 to form Novo Nordisk A/S, a company that has since expanded rapidly. Today, we are a world leader not only in diabetes care but also in obesity care, haemophilia care, and therapies for rare endocrine disorders. Our commitment extends beyond developing innovative medicines; we strive to make them accessible to patients worldwide. We employ more than 77,000 people across 80 offices globally and market our products in approximately 170 countries. The Novo Nordisk Way, our set of guiding principles, is rooted in the vision of our founders and continues to inspire our thousands of colleagues. We are dedicated to applying our passion, skills, and commitment to defeat serious chronic diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people and represent some of the most urgent global health challenges. Our U.S. headquarters is located in Plainsboro, New Jersey, playing a vital role in the life sciences industry through sales, marketing, and clinical trial management for all Novo Nordisk U.S. products. We are also significantly investing in manufacturing capabilities, including a $4.1 billion expansion in North Carolina, to meet the growing demand for our diabetes and obesity medications.
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