Job Description:
Category Manager
3M Health Care is now Solventum
At Solventum, we enable better, smarter, safer healthcare to improve lives. As a new company with a long legacy of creating breakthrough solutions for our customers’ toughest challenges, we pioneer game-changing innovations at the intersection of health, material and data science that change patients' lives for the better while enabling healthcare professionals to perform at their best. Because people, and their wellbeing, are at the heart of every scientific advancement we pursue.
We partner closely with the brightest minds in healthcare to ensure that every solution we create melds the latest technology with compassion and empathy. Because at Solventum, we never stop solving for you.
The Impact You’ll Make in this Role
As a Category Manager, you will have the opportunity to tap into your curiosity and collaborate with some of the most innovative and diverse people around the world.
Here, you will make an impact by:
- Managing the commercial, strategic, and tactical operational relationships with contract manufacturing suppliers to ensure product availability through developing and maintaining a competitive supply base for Solventum.
- Managing and partnering with suppliers to develop business relationships that deliver effective operational control to agreed performance levels across service, cost, quality, and working capital through contractual agreements, periodic business reviews, and scorecards.
- Identifying, leading, and implementing solutions to complex and multifaceted situations, including contract negotiations, category strategies, supplier management, internal and external sourcing decisions, and dual-sourcing strategies.
- Engaging key affiliates across Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Business Teams, Regulatory, and other functions to ensure timely issue resolution and successful completion of strategic business initiatives.
- Developing continuous supply chain improvement practices to enhance value and performance through lead time reductions, increased supply chain agility, capacity optimization, cost reduction initiatives, and risk assessment and mitigation activities.
- Leading and supporting, as needed, the RFP/RFQ process, contract negotiations, benchmarking activities, make-versus-buy evaluations, should-cost analyses, total cost analyses, supply chain mapping efforts, and New Product Introduction initiatives.
- Managing one or more procurement processes as a Subject Matter Expert within the Purchased Finished Goods team, including make-versus-buy evaluations, sub-tier supplier management and consolidation efforts, and programmatic savings stage-gate transitions.
Your Skills and Expertise
To set you up for success in this role from day one, Solventum requires (at a minimum) the following qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree or higher (completed and verified prior to start) AND seven (7) years of experience in a third-party supply chain and/or category management environment, including experience managing and developing supplier relationships and negotiating contracts
Additional qualifications that could help you succeed even further in this role include:
- Experience resolving complex supply chain issues involving multiple stakeholders through negotiation, problem-solving, and decision-making activities
- Experience communicating and collaborating with stakeholders at multiple levels of an organization
- Experience applying knowledge of Supply Chain Finance, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), product validation requirements, or regulatory expectations
- Experience successfully collaborating with internal and external stakeholders on complex projects.
- Project management experience managing timelines, resources and risk (across various functional area stakeholders e.g. influencing without authority) to ensure projects deliver desired expectations with respect to completion and cost targets.
Work location: Remote in the United States (preferred Eagan, MN or San Antonio, TX)
Travel: May include up to 10% domestic or international
Relocation Assistance: Not authorized
Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status).
Supporting Your Well-being
Solventum offers many programs to help you live your best life – both physically and financially. To ensure competitive pay and benefits, Solventum regularly benchmarks with other companies that are comparable in size and scope.
Applicable to US Applicants Only:The expected compensation range for this position is $125,600 - $172,700, which includes base pay plus variable incentive pay, if eligible. This range represents a good faith estimate for this position. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s relevant knowledge, training, skills, work location, and/or experience. In addition, this position may be eligible for a range of benefits (e.g., Medical, Dental & Vision, Health Savings Accounts, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Disability Benefits, Life Insurance, Voluntary Benefits, Paid Absences and Retirement Benefits, etc.). Additional information is available at: https://www.solventum.com/en-us/home/our-company/careers/#Total-RewardsResponsibilities of this position include that corporate policies, procedures and security standards are complied with while performing assigned duties.
Solventum is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and professionalism in our recruitment process. Applicants must remain alert to fraudulent job postings and recruitment schemes that falsely claim to represent Solventum and seek to exploit job seekers.
Please note that all email communications from Solventum regarding job opportunities with the company will be from an email with a domain of @solventum.com. Be wary of unsolicited emails or messages regarding Solventum job opportunities from emails with other email domains.
Please note, Solventum does not expect candidates in this position to perform work in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.Solventum is an equal opportunity employer. Solventum will not discriminate against any applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly.
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Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree or higher (completed and verified prior to start)
- Seven (7) years of experience in third-party supply chain and/or category management
- Experience managing and developing supplier relationships and negotiating contracts
- Ability to support RFP/RFQ processes, contract negotiations, benchmarking, and make-versus-buy evaluations
- Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship (e.g., H-1B not accepted)
- Experience resolving complex supply chain issues involving multiple stakeholders
- Experience communicating and collaborating with stakeholders at multiple organizational levels
- Knowledge or experience with Supply Chain Finance, GMP, product validation, or regulatory expectations
- Project management experience managing timelines, resources, and risk across functional stakeholders
Solventum Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Solventum and has not been reviewed or approved by Solventum.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Salary ranges on many U.S. postings are explicitly stated, providing clear visibility into target pay bands. Pay is characterized as competitive for numerous technical, engineering, sales, and specialist roles.
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Healthcare Strength — Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with day‑one eligibility is emphasized alongside resources such as EAP, coaching, and care referrals. Benefits breakdowns indicate strong sentiment toward core health coverage and related time‑off elements.
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Retirement Support — The U.S. 401(k) program pairs company matching with an additional automatic retirement contribution. Employee-facing benefit details highlight favorable impressions of the 401(k) plan.
Solventum Insights
What We Do
At Solventum, we enable better, smarter, safer healthcare to improve lives. We never stop solving for you








