Europe & N America Procurement Transformation

Magna International – Europe & North America
Strategic Recruitment of Central Category Management & Procurement Excellence Teams

In response to a major procurement transformation, 1st Executive were engaged to lead exclusively the recruitment of a new centralized team across Category Management (Direct & Indirect Procurement) and Procurement Excellence.

EXCLUSIVE RECRUITMENT MANDATE - To support the company’s shift toward a globally aligned category management structure with adding additional talent for designated categories.

Scope Included:

Direct Procurement: • Senior Manager – Resins & Plastics • Category Director – Fasteners • Senior Manager – Semiconductors

Indirect Procurement: • Senior Manager – MRO • Senior Manager – Engineering Services • Senior Manager – Energy / Utilities • Senior Manager – Temp Labour & HR Services

Procurement Excellence: • Manager – Purchasing Process & Procedures • Manager- Systems, Tools & Data Management • Snr Specialist – Systems, Tools & Data Management

Recruitment Challenges

Talent Scarcity: Sourcing candidates with true global category ownership experience - especially within automotive - was highly competitive.

Transformation Readiness: Candidates needed not only functional expertise, but also a change mindset and the agility to operate in a transforming environment.

Regional Complexity: The hires were spread across North America and Europe, requiring a deep understanding of local talent markets and regulatory nuances.

Recruitment Strategy

Role Mapping: • Collaborated with HR and procurement leadership to define job scopes, success criteria, and ideal candidate profiles.

Market Intelligence: • Delivered benchmarking data on compensation, talent availability, and competitor structures.

Global Search: • Conducted targeted searches across key automotive and manufacturing hubs in Europe and North America.

Candidate Engagement: • Used a mix of direct outreach and referral networks, focusing on passive talent with high transformation potential. • Ensured a smooth end-to-end hiring process for candidates and hiring managers alike, including ongoing communication and management (pre & post start), interview prep and feedback calls, and presented offers to ensure high acceptance rates

Behavioural Screening: • Emphasized cross-functional influence, stakeholder management, and strategic procurement capability during interviews.

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