Senior Category Manager-IT Services
Posted Today by Jobserve
Negotiable
Inside
Undetermined
Farnborough, Hampshire
Summary: The Senior Category Manager for IT Services is responsible for managing a significant spend in the IT category, focusing on strategic relationships and category strategies. This role involves leading sourcing activities, managing risks, and supporting supplier relationship management. The position requires collaboration with stakeholders to drive performance and innovation while overseeing a transition to a new Source-to-Pay model. The role is based in Farnborough and is classified as inside IR35.
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
Key Skills:
- 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
Salary (Rate): undetermined
City: Farnborough
Country: United Kingdom
Working Arrangements: undetermined
IR35 Status: inside IR35
Seniority Level: undetermined
Industry: IT
Role: Senior Category Manager-IT Services
Location: Farnborough(3 days/week)
Duration: 6 months
Rate: competitive
Inside IR35: Umbrella
IT & TechThe 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
Key Person Attributes
- 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
Experience and Qualifications
- 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
