Category Management Specialist
About the job
- A Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Accounting, Engineering, Legal, or another related discipline, with 5 or more years of category management, strategic sourcing, or related supply chain experience for Category Management Specialist III, or 9 or more years for Category Management Specialist Senior; experience may substitute for the degree at 9 or more years for Specialist III or 13 or more years for Specialist Senior.
- At least 2 years of energy-industry supply chain experience in category management or strategic sourcing for Specialist III, or at least 3 years for Specialist Senior.
- An understanding of Entergy's business model and key interfaces across the business and supply chain.
- Deep proficiency in category management processes, including supplier diversity, safety metrics, and tools.
- Deep understanding of supplier relationship and vendor management principles and practices.
- Proficiency in pre-award and post-award contract management processes, including identifying and mitigating contractual, market, and supplier risks.
- Understanding of supplier capacity and cost structures.
- Experience developing RFx price breakdowns and deconstructing vendor pricing models for financial analysis and bid comparison.
- Ability to extract data and apply market intelligence to assess supply-market status and evolution.
- Knowledge of business and supply chain operations, including purchasing and payment policies and supply chain systems and processes.
- Skillful application of project-management principles, including identifying critical pathways and delivery risks.
- Commercial skills and financial acumen applied to category management.
- Business analytical skills for preparing detailed reports, interpreting data and trends, and proposing conclusions.
- Ability to apply influencing skills to develop effective outcomes with internal and external stakeholders.
- Understanding of change management in supply chain and category-management contexts.
- Knowledge of business cost management and the effect of contract terms on cost structure.
- Drive supplier commercial excellence across a diverse portfolio of corporate indirect subcategories and business functions.
- Execute end-to-end procurement and supply chain processes from planning and strategy through sourcing and performance management.
- Serve as the strategic point of contact for Entergy's third-party spend.
- Build and maintain cross-functional teams with business units, Supplier Development, Tax, Finance, Risk Management, Safety, Human Resources, Legal, suppliers, and industry organizations.
- Create prioritized subcategory profiles and develop contracting strategies.
- Execute strategic sourcing processes and manage supplier negotiations.
- Implement and oversee post-award contract management.
- Create value through the supply chain in safety, cost, and performance.
- Develop and lead supplier negotiation strategies supporting safety, price, quality, service, and innovation.
- Develop demand-planning approaches across business units, functions, and supply chain.
- Present concise and relevant information to stakeholders.
- Remain available for additional hours, alternate locations, and additional duties during storms, outages, emergencies, or other situations as necessary.
- Travel up to 25%.
- Certification from an industry accreditation organization such as Certified Professional in Supply Management or Association for Supply Chain Management.
About the company
Entergy is an integrated energy company that produces and distributes electricity to about 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It operates a mix of power plants using natural gas, nuclear, coal, and oil, handling generation, transmission, and local distribution to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. It also offers customer tools like the Bill Toolkit to help manage energy use and costs, especially during peak summer demand. Its focus is on reliability and infrastructure efficiency, with rates regulated by state and federal authorities to serve customers reliably and manage costs.
Company Size
N/A
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
New Orleans, Louisiana
Founded
1913
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Mississippi customers avoided a $4.87 July 2026 increase from Amazon-related data center revenue.
- Ironwood's August 2026 groundbreaking adds 446 MW and 40% better fuel efficiency.
- DOE's $13.7 million SPARK award funds 1,125 miles of transmission upgrades across Entergy territory.
What critics are saying
- Entergy's September 2026 Google secrecy lawsuit damaged trust with Arkansas regulators and lawmakers.
- FERC's June 2026 NOLC ADIT ruling exposed refund and surcharge risk across legacy transfers.
- $1.3 billion and $1.44 billion equity raises signal chronic capital needs and dilution pressure.
What makes Entergy unique
- Entergy's regulated Gulf South monopoly spans Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas customers.
- Fair Share Plus makes data centers fund grid upgrades and customer bill offsets.
- Entergy is replacing aging plants with high-efficiency gas units like Ironwood and Mississippi projects.
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Letter to the Editor: rising energy costs and what the State Legislature can do. Dear Editor, Energy costs are top of mind for most of River Journal Online right now, for good reason. The prices River Journal Online is paying to power its homes and cars have skyrocketed lately. I write to share more about how my colleagues and I in the State Legislature are working to lower energy costs, and to correct some misconceptions about the reasons for high prices. Its biggest problem is its reliance on outdated, high-cost forms of energy. Even without subsidies, renewables - solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower - are currently less expensive to produce than oil, natural gas and nuclear. Transitioning to renewables will also help protect River Journal Online from price spikes like those caused by the war in Iran. Households and communities can also generate renewable energy, especially solar, ourselves; over time, this can reduce the leverage that investor-owned power generators have to raise prices. This year in its state budget, River Journal Online passed the Accelerate Solar for Affordable Energy Act along with $200 million for NY-Sun to help more New Yorkers benefit from solar. River Journal Online also passed the Solar Up Now New York (SUNNY) Act which, if signed, will enable more New Yorkers to produce energy at home using low-cost plug-in solar panels. I also sponsor several bills aimed at siting more solar over parking lots (A.10028) and along highways (bill number forthcoming), as well as accelerating the deployment of community solar projects (A.9087). I co-sponsor many other pieces of legislation aimed at getting more renewable energy into the grid. During this year's budget, River Journal Online also passed reforms which will pressure utilities to focus on affordability. Utilities must now return excess profits to ratepayers and are prohibited from passing certain costs on to River Journal Online, such as lobbying costs and political donations. Going forward, utilities requesting rate increases will be required to present a "budget-constrained" option with increases limited to the current rate of inflation. The State will also convene a new Residential Affordability Through Energy Savings (RATES) Commission to study rising utility costs and propose solutions. Other reforms River Journal Online passed this year target the Public Service Commission (PSC) itself. The PSC is now required to develop an energy affordability index to track the financial impact of energy rates on residential customers. The PSC can also install an independent affordability monitor to study and recommend changes at utility companies whose average customer spends more than 3% of their income on electricity service (or 6% on combined gas and electricity service). Moreover, with four of the current commissioners' terms ending in February 2027, the Governor has an opportunity to appoint new commissioners with backgrounds in consumer protection. I will be advocating for this and encourage the public to join me. Now let's address some myths. Contrary to what some say on social media, the CLCPA and NYSERDA have a minor impact on your energy costs. The CLCPA has not been fully implemented, and was even rolled back during this year's budget negotiations. NYSERDA is funded in part by the very small System Benefit Charge listed on your bill. People fearmongering about "green energy mandates" hiking its bills are not reading the numbers. The idea that restarting Indian Point would lower bills relies on nostalgia, not fact. Here's the truth: Entergy closed Indian Point because it was not able to compete on price with other sources of electricity. Con Ed declined to renew its last Indian Point contract for this reason. Nuclear remains the most expensive form of energy; reopening this plant would not lower costs but would increase safety risks for its area. As an intervenor in the most recent Con Ed rate cases, I learned a lot about what is really driving high energy costs. I'm working hard to bring them down. You can learn more about this work and find resources to help with your bills by visiting my web page on this issue: https://bit.ly/LoweringUtilityCosts. Sincerely, Assemblymember Dana Levenberg
The US Energy Department has awarded Entergy $13.7 million in federal funding to enhance power delivery across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The investment will support the deployment of advanced transmission technology across 1,125 miles of existing transmission lines. Through the DOE's SPARK programme, Entergy will implement dynamic line rating technology, targeted geographic surveys, and substation upgrades. The project aims to unlock at least a 25% increase in transfer capability on selected transmission corridors, with early modelling showing potential gains of 29% to 61% in available power capacity. The four-year initiative will help Entergy manage energy infrastructure in areas experiencing load growth from industrial development, manufacturing, and data centre expansion. The company serves more than 3 million customers through its operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
First benefits from data centers appear in Entergy Mississippi customer bills. By Editor | September 28, 2026 | New revenues from Mississippi data centers, like Amazon's, are a primary reason why Entergy Mississippi customers won't see their rates increase this summer. The Mississippi Public Service Commission recently approved a rate plan that keeps Entergy Mississippi's rates well below the national average and prevented what otherwise would have been a $4.87 per month increase in July, compared to June rates. Eliminating this increase is an early sign of how data centers are directly benefiting customers. It also represents the first of more than $2 billion in projected savings for Mississippi customers over the next two decades, thanks to Entergy's Fair Share Plus Pledge announced in March. As data center customers ramp up their operations, Entergy Mississippi expects to flow more benefits back to customers. For example, Entergy Mississippi recently filed for an additional $0.41 rate reduction that, if approved, would become effective in October. This decrease is related to the ad valorem tax adjustment and is due in part to data center revenue. Flattening rate increases helps offset increases in other areas, especially fuel that is tied to the price of natural gas. "At a time when our company is having to replace half-century old power plants to keep up with the energy needs of our almost half-million customers, these data center revenues are providing enormous benefits by covering much of those costs that our other customers would otherwise have had to bear alone," said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and CEO. "And while we also work to strengthen our power grid against more extreme Mississippi weather for the long term, data center revenues are making those investments more cost-friendly for our customers, too." Despite the significant costs required to generate power, maintain infrastructure and provide electrical service at a time of increased residential, commercial and industrial electricity demand, Entergy Mississippi's annual rate plan takes effect during the July billing cycle, offsetting those costs and keeping rates flat this summer, when customers' energy use is at its highest. Company officials say the plan also helps them to begin delivering their Superpower Mississippi cost-saving actions that provide customers with more and better power at a lower cost, including: - Cutting outages in half: The addition of new, large customers into the company's service area, such as Amazon, allows them to invest 50% more in reliability to help cut outages in half by 2030. These improvements come at no additional costs to customers. Approximately $18 million of the incremental $300 million for reliability projects that were announced last year was included and approved in the formula rate plan. - Modernizing their generation fleet: Entergy is building three combined cycle combustion turbine natural gas plants - in Greenville, Vicksburg and Ridgeland - with a combined capacity of over 2,100 megawatts. Accelerating the replacement of retired plants saves an estimated $1.3 billion in materials and equipment costs to build new power plants now, compared with building them on their original schedules. And modern natural gas plants are 40% more fuel efficient than older plants, allowing Entergy to bring cleaner and more cost-effective power generation to Mississippi. - Reducing projected bill impacts: The company's diverse generation portfolio gives them flexibility to lessen the impact on customers' bills if one fuel source spikes in price. By adding advanced power generation to their fleet, they expect to pass on to customers an estimated savings of $700 million in future fuel costs. Customers would have shouldered the costs to make these upgrades, but instead, expected bill increases will be lower than they otherwise would have been because Amazon and other large industrial customers are paying 100% of their own costs to be on the grid, plus bringing these added benefits for all customers. As the summer heat continues to rise, customers are reminded that bills are not only impacted by rates, but also energy usage. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, cooling costs can account for more than 20% of a typical household's electric bill during the year - and even more during Mississippi's hottest months. For tips on how to save money and energy, customers can visit billtoolkit.entergy.com/mississippi. "During these months of high temperatures, securing rate stability right now is perfect timing for our residential customers, when they need it most," Fisackerly said. "It is important to remember this has been a team effort. These benefits our customers will see on their power bills would not have been possible without Governor Reeves' help in recruiting one of the world's leading technology companies to our state, the Mississippi Legislature's review and approval of it, and the guidance and oversight of the Mississippi Public Service Commission," Fisackerly said.
Entergy Corporation has already completed a follow-on equity offering of roughly US$1.44b, issuing more than 17 million shares of common stock at prices clustered in the US$75 to US$82 range. The decision to raise such a large equity amount signals Entergy’s intent to fund heavy capital needs through share issuance. This directly affects ownership dilution and the balance between equity and debt financing. With this sizeable equity raise now in place, we will examine how Entergy’s use of...
Entergy protects endangered whooping cranes while increasing reliability for customers. Entergy is partnering with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and FulcrumAir to deploy bird flight diverters on transmission lines across Louisiana, marking a significant milestone in the company's commitment to protecting the endangered whooping cranes while improving reliability for our customers. A remarkable recovery, protection efforts ongoing Today, there are over 800 whooping cranes in existence, with breeding pairs of birds living year-round in our service territory. However, these unique creatures native to the marshes of southern Louisiana were almost wiped out entirely many decades ago. "Whooping cranes are an endangered species that came very close to going extinct in the early 1940s," said Sara Zimorski, wildlife biologist for the LDWF. "There were only 21 whooping cranes left at that time. Now, they have made a remarkable recovery thanks to measures taken to preserve the species." One example of these preservation measures is the installation of bird flight diverters on transmission lines that intersect the natural habitat of the whooping crane. Entergy operates more than 1,000 miles of transmission lines and nearly 3,500 miles of distribution lines in Louisiana parishes where the LDWF identified breeding pairs of whooping cranes live year-round, including Jefferson Davis Parish. "The LDWF reached out to us regarding a breeding pair of whooping cranes in the area," said Sydney Johnson, avian and biodiversity lead at Entergy. "This family of cranes lives in a crawfish and rice field right by our transmission lines, and we wanted to make sure that we do what we can to protect these endangered birds." Improving reliability for our customers through safer technology Reducing instances of avian strikes with our infrastructure helps improve long-term reliability for our customers by mitigating conductor damage and fault events. To achieve this, Entergy is deploying bird flight diverters - high contrast devices that are suspended on our power lines and visible from all angles and in low-light conditions using the FulcrumAir LineFly. "FulcrumAir is installing bird flight diverters using the drone-deployed LineFly robotic tool," said Jason Jones, vice president of sales for FulcrumAir. "To place bird flight diverters on a transmission line, historically you would have a crew installing it by hand using a helicopter. We're able to take that human safety risk out of play, and we take environmental disturbance out of play as well. We're also able to install the diverters while the transmission lines are energized." "By installing the bird flight diverters, the whooping cranes are able to better see those lines when they are both landing and in-flight in bad conditions giving them the opportunity to avoid those lines," said Jones. The importance of leadership through partnerships Entergy's mitigation approach aligns with federal requirements under the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Working with the LDWF demonstrates how regulatory agencies and utilities can achieve common goals: protecting the species while reliably serving customers. "Partnering with the LDWF really highlights the opportunity to work together with regulatory agencies to achieve a common goal of protecting the species and the animals in our service territory, while also reliably providing power to our customers and our communities," said Austin Langley, environmental operations manager at Entergy. These partnerships continue to exhibit why Entergy is a leader in our industry. "Entergy has really taken a lead position in wildlife mitigation, both in distribution and transmission. They are very proactive in protecting the wildlife. The things we're doing here today are the next steps for Entergy to continue to help protect the whooping cranes and other bird populations here in Louisiana," said Jones. With this pilot complete, Entergy plans to deploy similar mitigation across other parts of our service territory.