Sourcing Management Trainee
As a Fortune 300 company with over 19,000 employees, Norfolk Southern’s Sourcing Department fosters strategic business to business partnerships with suppliers to provide over $3 billion in material and service needs for all Norfolk Southern departments. As a Management Trainee within the Sourcing department, which is organized within Norfolk Southern’s Finance Division, you will work directly with tenured staff to learn the sourcing processes, negotiation strategies and legal agreements. The Trainee will build relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers by placing orders for assigned items, negotiate material or service orders or contracts, and work with internal customers including track, locomotive, operations and technology departments. A Trainee will gain an understanding of how their efforts impact our internal department’s ability to meet the requirements of our external customers and the communities we serve. A Trainee will also independently stay abreast of changing technologies and standards, and broader marketplace trends, through vendor interactions, professional publications, and supplier and NS location visits. Additionally, a Trainee may be tasked with one or more projects such as researching supply chain dynamics, conducting RFI sessions, RFP development and proposal evaluations, assisting in financial and cost reviews, assisting with contract development, and/or determining standard items to place on legal contract to improve process efficiency.
What makes a successful Sourcing Trainee?
• A highly motivated self-starter committed to learning the ins and outs of the Sourcing department structure and procedures and how the department supports constituents throughout the NS organization
• Willingness to study reference materials, ask questions and tackle problems
• Attention to detail and commitment to accuracy; strong analytical skills and the ability to leverage data
• Solid interpersonal skills along with the ability to grow from constructive feedback
• Thought leader and demonstrated leadership traits; maintains composure in tense situations; comfortable taking appropriate risk; candid and forthright and decisive when faced with opportunity or challenge; unafraid to challenge longstanding practices; able to initiate and lead change to drive improvements in areas of responsibility
• Ability to manage time, prioritize work demands effectively and maintain composure in a fast-paced environment, and meet deadlines without sacrificing standards of work
• Ability to interact with co-workers and various levels of Sourcing and NS management while being positive and professional
Education / Experience
• Minimum Bachelor’s degree, with a concentration in business, engineering or supply chain/logistics management coursework from a highly accredited university is strongly preferred
• Candidates familiar with operations management, accounting fundamentals, cost accounting techniques, financial concepts (NPV, IRR), economic fundamentals, basic statistics a strong plus
• Must possess solid analytical and Microsoft Excel spreadsheet skillsets, with an interest in routinely leveraging data, financial and/or TCO elements in evaluation of major or long-term purchasing decisions; experience working on data intensive projects (school or work) a plus
Location: Headquarters – Atlanta, GA
Work Environment
- Environment: Office, Tuesday – Thursday, remote work Monday and Friday
- Shift Work: No
- On Call: No
- Weekend Work: No