Category Manager - H/W, Infrastructure and Cloud

At Verint, we believe customer engagement is the core of every global brand. Our mission is to help organizations elevate Customer Experience (CX) and increase workforce productivity by delivering CX Automation. We hire innovators with the passion, creativity, and drive to answer constantly shifting market challenges and deliver impactful results for our customers. Our commitment to attracting and retaining a talented, diverse, and engaged team creates a collaborative environment that openly celebrates all cultures and affords personal and professional growth opportunities. Learn more at www.verint.com.

Overview of Job Function:

The Category Manager will be responsible for leading the strategic procurement of goods and services, sourcing, negotiating and contract management for the enterprise IT categories, including telecom, data network services, hardware, cloud and IT services. This includes leading cross functional teams to determine and execute the category sourcing strategy, requirements, vendors, and supplier selection. The Category Manager will be responsible for the supplier relationships and ensuring compliance of vendor engagements in accordance with the company’s procurement policies and procedures.

Principal Duties and Essential Responsibilities:

• Lead, develop and implement assigned category specific plans and remain accountable for targets aligned with procurement objectives.
• Demonstrate cross functional leadership, working closely with teams to identify opportunities, aggregate spend, standardize telecom and data network services, hardware, cloud and IT services as required to leverage purchasing power and achieve results.
• Bring strategic thinking to spend categories to support execution of business transformation strategies.
• Interface and persuade cross-functional teams, including senior leadership, to ensure seamless execution of category plans.
• Use current spend information/data and business knowledge to identify sourcing projects for individual subcategories and develop an overall cost reduction plan.
• Communicate, execute, and implement strategic category initiatives.
• Lead complex, strategic sourcing projects and obtain cost savings through supplier negotiations, event driven activities and alternate sourcing.
• Monitor current category market conditions to identify potential supply challenges and develop supply continuity plan.
• Manage all vendors as required, including key suppliers with global and/or critical contracts.
• Respond and resolve issues around the contract, technical and operational support, and invoicing.
• Establish global collaboration and proper alignment with cross functional teams and stakeholders.
• Responsible for interfacing with stakeholders to improve decisions regarding budgeting, forecasting, sourcing, compliance, quality and contracting.
• Build and maintain positive business relationships with suppliers and stakeholders yielding effective partnerships.
• Initiate and lead supplier business reviews that address performance, technology, roadmaps, business growth strategies and supply market changes.
• Ensure all procurement projects and activities follow the Global Procurement policy and procedures.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Technology or related field or equivalent work experience.
• 5+ years’ experience as a Category Manager in developing/implementing strategic sourcing and spend initiatives of infrastructure, cloud and hardware with high-quality, delivered results.
• Strong technical understanding of the organizational technology, infrastructure needs and cloud operations with expertise in one or more cloud platforms (e.g. Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud Platform).
• Demonstrated expertise with all elements of a structured strategic sourcing process.
• Strong stakeholder and supplier relationship management skills.
• Experience interacting with all levels of the organization, consistent record of effective and productive senior management level interactions.
• Excellent knowledge of procurement sourcing process and category strategy development.
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to communicate both verbal and written and engage at all levels within the organization.
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