Valerie Koh is currently a Senior Category Manager of Procurement within Supply Chain Organization at ARRIS International. She is instrumental to the overall development and execution of the sourcing strategy for talent acquisition of contingent workforce at ARRIS globally. She leads the suppliers’ evaluation and selection process; pricing strategies and negotiations of contractual terms with suppliers. She provides leadership to a team who manages the global contingent workforce source-to-pay program with engaging over 1,000 contracted workers from over 35 countries worldwide. She continues to seek every opportunity to benchmark her program with the industry to achieve the most efficient and cost competitive advantage for her company.
Valerie graduated with a Degree in Electrical Engineering in Singapore and worked as an Engineer for a couple of years. Through a Sourcing Engineer position opportunity, she then developed her passion for her sourcing career and further obtained a B.S. in Business Management from Purdue University.
Her sourcing professional began with Motorola Inc as the Sourcing Specialist for semiconductor components within their Cellular Business division. Throughout her career at Motorola, she also gained a wide variety of experiences by sourcing and managing other categories such as Manufacturing and Test Equipment, Engineering Consulting Services, HR Benefits and Employee Payroll Services, etc. In addition, another of her professional interest is particularly around process improvement in reducing maverick spending or improve cost savings opportunity, and ways to improve process efficiency within the company. She has always been part of either a process re-engineering or characterization team and an active contributor to the Teaming for Excellent program at Motorola. She is currently a certified Green Belt and a fully trained Black Belt member of Six Sigma Lean program.
Valerie is a strong believer of consistently engaging people in her life holding her accountable for her values, beliefs, and continuous growth in her leadership skill. She is always part of a Mentor/Mentee program throughout her professional as well as her personal life. She and her husband lead a group at their local Willow Creek Church; people who share similar set of values and actively motivating each other towards serving others. She is also leading a group of middle and high school girls mentoring them on a regular basis. Contributing back to her community by volunteering efforts and participating in global poverty or social justice fund raising events are her inspiration for involving in numerous activities during her leisure time.
Although Valerie is a true Singaporean growing up with totally warm weather throughout the year, she still enjoys the four seasons living in Chicago with her husband Bok and their three children, Nathan, Aaron and Hannah.
