Senior Category Manager-IT Services

Role: Senior Category Manager-IT Services

Location: Farnborough(3 days/week)

Duration: 6 months

Rate: competitive

Inside IR35: Umbrella

The IT category has a spend of circa 100m across key categories including Software, Hardware, Networks and IT Services. This role is responsible for the IT Services Category.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain strategic relationships with senior stakeholders, driving early engagement to influence business planning and ensure alignment with organisational priorities
• Own, develop and execute category strategies for IT Services, using market insights and data to challenge existing approaches and maximize value
• Lead complex sourcing activity, including the design of sourcing strategies, working with the business to support business case development, competitive tenders, and negotiation of high-complexity contracts
• Identify and manage category-specific risks, including information security, IR35, supply resilience, geopolitical, financial and sustainability considerations
• Support stakeholders to drive Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) across key contracts to ensure performance, innovation and value realisation from strategic partnerships
• Support the Finance and Business Systems transformation, including transition from SAP Ariba to Oracle Fusion and establishment of a mature Source-to-Pay model

• Communicates complex commercial and strategic concepts clearly and confidently adapting style to suit senior stakeholders
• Aligns diverse stakeholders behind shared objectives
• Confident decision-maker, balancing commercial, operational and risk considerations to drive the best outcomes in ambiguous or dynamic environments and collaborates x-functionally to achieve this
• Builds collaborative and trusted relationships with stakeholders and suppliers
• Demonstrates resilience and adaptability during transformation
• Role-models integrity, accountability and a growth mindset
• Proactively improves processes, challenges existing ways of working and contributes to Supply Chain and Procurement functional development

• Degree or equivalent professional experience
• MCIPS qualified or working towards completion
• Minimum five years' strategic category management experience in similar categories of spend
• Proven track record of building successful relationships with senior stakeholders
• Demonstrable experience negotiating high-value contracts
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Practical experience with Source to Pay (S2P) technology