Ep 218: Taking the Lead in Technical Procurement feat. Chuck Shehadi

The discussion about how much technical category knowledge procurement should have is ongoing - and the right answer depends a lot on the company in question. When close collaboration is needed between procurement, R&D, and suppliers, technical expertise is a must, but so are humility and curiosity.

In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Chuck Shehadi. Chuck is the COO at Solugen, a chemical manufacturing company based in Houston, Texas. When it comes to the skills required to be considered a talented procurement professional in his world, that means technical - highly technical - and with the right level of category specialization.

In this interview, Chuck talks about the unique backgrounds he and his team have and how they put them to work:

• Why former engineers and PhDs would choose to pursue a career in procurement
• How they balance having that knowledge with the experience brought by R&D and suppliers
• His advice for someone in procurement looking to become more technically proficient or someone in engineering that might want to step into procurement

Links:

• Chuck Shehadi on LinkedIn