Strategic Sourcing Specialist at MED Medtronic Inc — Minneapolis, MN

A Day in the Life

Strategic Sourcing Specialist - Global Transportation Analyst

Role Overview

This position supports the Global Transportation sourcing team by providing analytical and operational support across transportation categories, including parcel, air freight, ocean freight, truckload (TL), less-than-truckload (LTL), and related logistics services. The role is highly data-driven and responsible for developing insights, maintaining dashboards, analyzing transportation spend, supporting sourcing initiatives, and identifying opportunities to improve cost, service, and supplier performance.

The individual will work closely with Strategic Sourcing, Transportation Operations, Finance, and Logistics teams to support decision-making through data analysis, market intelligence, and reporting.

Key Responsibilities

Transportation Analytics & Reporting

• Analyze transportation spend, volumes, rates, fuel surcharges, and service performance across global transportation categories.
• Develop and maintain dashboards, scorecards, reports, and KPI tracking tools using Power BI, Excel, and other analytical platforms.
• Identify trends, cost drivers, risks, and improvement opportunities through data analysis.
• Support monthly, quarterly, and annual business reviews with transportation suppliers.
• Ensure data accuracy and consistency across multiple systems and reporting sources.

Sourcing & Category Support

• Support strategic sourcing initiatives by gathering and analyzing supplier, market, and internal spend data.
• Assist with Request for Proposal (RFP) activities, bid analysis, benchmarking, and supplier evaluations.
• Prepare business cases and fact-based recommendations to support sourcing decisions.
• Maintain transportation category spend databases and savings tracking tools.
• Support contract implementation and supplier onboarding activities.

Market Intelligence

• Monitor transportation market trends, including carrier pricing, fuel indices, capacity conditions, and macroeconomic factors affecting logistics costs.
• Develop regular market intelligence reporting for internal stakeholders.
• Support benchmarking efforts against industry trends and peer organizations.
• Consolidate external market data and translate findings into actionable insights.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partner with Transportation Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Procurement, and other cross-functional teams to support transportation initiatives.
• Respond to ad hoc data requests and business analysis needs.
• Present analytical findings and recommendations in a clear and concise manner to stakeholders.
• Support process improvement projects related to transportation reporting, analytics, and sourcing.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to automate reports, streamline data collection, and improve data quality.
• Support initiatives to enhance visibility into transportation performance and costs.
• Contribute to the development of standardized reporting and analytical methodologies.

Differentiating Factors

Autonomy

• Works under general supervision with guidance from senior sourcing professionals.
• Manages assigned analytical and reporting activities independently.

Organizational Impact

• Supports transportation sourcing decisions through accurate reporting and data-driven analysis.
• Contributes to cost savings identification and process improvements.

Problem Solving

• Applies analytical skills to interpret data, identify trends, and resolve reporting challenges.
• Supports evaluation of sourcing opportunities using quantitative analysis.

Communication

• Communicates effectively with internal stakeholders and suppliers.
• Presents findings and recommendations using clear visualizations and summaries.

Teamwork

• Collaborates closely with sourcing, transportation operations, and finance teams.
• Contributes to cross-functional projects and continuous improvement initiatives.

Knowledge & Experience

Technical Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to work with large datasets.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables, Power Query, lookups, and data modeling.
• Experience with Power BI, Tableau, or similar business intelligence tools.
• Ability to create reports, dashboards, and executive-level presentations.
• Strong data management and data visualization capabilities.

Preferred Knowledge

• Understanding of transportation and logistics concepts, including parcel, air freight, ocean freight, and truckload transportation.
• Familiarity with sourcing, procurement, supply chain, or logistics operations.
• Experience with ERP, TMS, freight audit, or procurement systems is preferred.

REQUIRED FOR THE ROLE:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Data Analytics, Engineering, Economics, or a related field.
• Typically 2-5 years of experience in analytics, procurement, supply chain, logistics, transportation, or finance.
• Experience working with large datasets, reporting tools, and business analytics.

Success Profile

The ideal candidate is highly analytical, detail-oriented, intellectually curious, and comfortable working with data to solve business problems. This role is best suited for someone who enjoys turning complex transportation and sourcing data into meaningful insights that drive better business decisions.

Physical Job Requirements

U.S. Work Authorization & Sponsorship

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Benefits & Compensation

Salary ranges for U.S (excl. PR) locations (USD):$66,400.00 - $99,600.00