IT Procurement Category Management & Strategic Sourcing

IT Category Management & Strategic Sourcing

Position Profile

The Category Manager is responsible for developing and executing enterprise-wide category strategies across assigned technology and indirect spend categories. The role leads end-to-end strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, negotiations, category planning, and performance management. As a trusted business partner to IT, Finance, legal and other business stakeholders this role aligns procurement strategies with organizational goals, drive cost savings, foster supplier innovation, and mitigate risk while ensuring quality and service standards.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Category Management & Sourcing leadership

• Develop and execute category strategies aligned with business objectives, technology roadmaps, budget priorities, and enterprise requirements. 
• Conduct market intelligence, supplier benchmarking, and spend analysis to identify  emerging technologies, market trends,  sourcing opportunities. and potential risk. 
• Lead RFX’s, supplier evaluations, bid analysis, and contract negotiations for technology and assigned indirect categories.
• Monitor contract repository and support renewals or terminations.
• Identify opportunities to optimize total cost of ownership through strategic sourcing, demand management, supplier innovation, commercial structuring, and process improvement. 

• Lead enterprise, regional, and global sourcing initiatives requiring cross-functional alignment and facilitation.

   

Technology & Supplier Relationship Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key suppliers.
• Establish supplier governance frameworks, scorecards, performance metrics, and continuous improvement plans. 
• Monitor supplier performance and compliance with contractual obligations, required certifications, information security standards and policies.
• Drive continuous improvement and innovation through supplier collaboration that  improves business and technology outcomes.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner with internal business stakeholders to on category strategy  supplier selection  and business needs to ensure alignment.
• Provide guidance and education  on procurement best practices, supplier management, risk mitigation, policy compliance, and effective engagement with Procurement.
• Act as a trusted advisor to business stakeholders on category strategy, supplier selection on sourcing decisions.
• Identify and assess opportunities, develop business cases, and present recommendations to leadership.
• Influence decisions through financial analysis, market expertise, supplier intelligence, and clear executive-level recommendations. 

Contract Lifecycle & Commercial Management 

• Develop negotiation plans and lead complex contractual negotiations to maximize value and reduce business risk. 
• Partner with Legal and internal subject-matter experts to facilitate contract review and ensure completion of supplier  due diligence. 
• Monitor contract obligations, performance, renewals, amendments, expirations, and termination activities. 
• Proactively identify renewal leverage, consolidation opportunities, risks, and unfavorable contractional terms. 

Cost Management & Value Delivery

• Deliver measurable cost-savings, cost avoidance, risk reduction, service improvements and other value outcomes.
• Track and report category performance, savings, supplier performance, contract status and risk mitigation activities. 
• Develop and improve tools, templates, playbooks, and governance practices supporting strategic sourcing and category management. 
• Lead special projects and strategic initiatives as assigned. 
• Develop and improve tools, templates, playbooks, and governance practices supporting strategic sourcing and category management. 
• Risk, Compliance & Responsible Sourcing
• Ensure procurement activities comply with company policies, procurement standards and regulatory requirements.
• Develop supplier diversification, contingency, and risk-mitigation strategies for critical categories and services. 

• Champion supplier inclusion, sustainability, responsible sourcing, and supplier development objectives within category strategies. 

   

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, or related discipline.

• 7+ years of professional experience in strategic sourcing, contract negotiation, pricing analysis, or commodity management.

   

Skills & Competencies

• Expert knowledge of category management, strategic sourcing, market analysis, supplier relationship management, bid evaluation, and contract negotiation. 
• Strong understanding of technology procurement, software licensing and subscription models, cloud services, cybersecurity requirements, and IT vendor management. 
• Strong financial, and analytical capability, including spend analysis, pricing analysis, business-case development, and total cost of ownership modeling. 
• Proficient in negotiation, influencing, conflict-management, and stakeholder-management skills. 
• Ability to develop productive relationships with executives, business leaders, internal customers, suppliers, and cross-functional teams. 
• Exceptional verbal, written, and presentation skills, including the ability to translate complex information into concise recommendations. 
• Strong project and program management skills with the ability to lead multiple complex initiatives simultaneously. 
• Strategic thinking, sound judgment, customer focus, and a demonstrated ability to lead change and deliver measurable outcomes. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and procurement platforms such as Coupa, SAP Ariba, or comparable systems. 
• Expertise in strategic vendor governance, including supplier segmentation, executive business reviews, performance scorecards, service-level agreement governance, and issue escalation. 
• Demonstrated capability in technology vendor lifecycle management across software, SaaS, cloud services, cybersecurity, telecommunications, infrastructure, professional services, and managed service providers. 
• Experience with third-party risk management, including vendor financial health, cybersecurity, data privacy, regulatory compliance, business continuity, disaster recovery, and concentration risk assessments. 
• Ability to design and manage vendor key performance indicators, corrective action plans, continuous improvement programs, and value-realization measures. 
• Advanced expertise in vendor benchmarking, market intelligence, price validation, demand management, vendor rationalization, and supplier consolidation. 
• Skilled in statement-of-work development, deliverable governance, service acceptance criteria, dispute resolution, and commercial escalation management. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to manage categories and business relationships to create value and minimize risk.
• Expert knowledge of sourcing activities including market analysis, RFP development, bid evaluation, and contract negotiations.
• Understanding of Supply Chain, Purchasing, Supplier Diversity, and Strategic Sourcing functions including Procure-to-Pay.
• Ability to perform complex financial analysis of supplier data and organizational spend.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to drive change.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills.
• Planning and organizational skills to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Advanced negotiating and influencing skills.
• Customer service orientation with the ability to build productive relationships with internal stakeholders.