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Job Summary

The Category Strategist develops, champions, implements, and communicates strategies aligned with business requirements, while maximizing optimized value from the overall spend. This Strategist oversees many categories including, but not limited to IT, Facilities, HR, Travel, etc. and will report directly to a Senior Manager or Director in the organization.

 

Essential Job Functions

• Plans and analyzes multiple categories using spend data and market trends. Develops multi-year strategies aligned with enterprise objectives. Adapts strategies based on trends and collaborates with decision-makers. Manages category pipelines through data analysis. - (30%)

• Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to foster long-term partnerships. Shares best practices, influences higher management, and presents category reviews. Achieves economies of scale and drive operational efficiency. Monitors and ensures continuous improvement for key suppliers. - (20%)

• Tracks and monitors progress of initiatives to ensure savings. Develops methodologies to calculate and track savings. Shares best practices and translate findings into actionable strategies. Reports spend analysis opportunities and develops new initiatives. - (15%)

• Manages commercial issues in contracts, including SOW and SLA development. Supports business with contract knowledge. Leads or coaches on the sourcing process, including strategy development, supplier selection, negotiation, and contract execution. - (15%)

• Drives project closure from a procurement perspective. Builds relationships with project teams and assists with other projects. Identifies, prioritizes, and executes analytical work to deliver insights across spend categories. Presents findings to leadership. - (10%)

• Supports the procurement process, including RFX development, supplier selection, and evaluation methodologies. Acts as the primary contact for suppliers during the selection process. Uses procurement tools and templates for competitive bidding and spend analytics. - (10%)

Minimum Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED.

• 2+ years experience in budget cycles, lowest cost of ownership, lease/buy analyses, analytics tools such as OBIEE, Tableau, Expert level Excel user (pivot tables, Macros, etc.).

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Business Administration, Business Analytics, Procurement, Project Management.

• 3+ years experience in a banking, insurance or other regulatory environment.

Skills

• Category Strategy

• Contract Management

• Procurement Support

• Project Management Essentials

Reports To: Senior Manager and above

Direct Reports: 0

Work Environment

• Normal office environment. (Remote or Hybrid), 3 to 4 days per month are required in office if within 60 miles of a posted Bread Financial location.

Physical and Mental Requirements

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job function satisfactorily and meet the physical, mental and work environment requirements. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions, absent undue hardship.

• Communicate/Hearing

• Communicate/Talking

• Stationary Position/Seated

• Typing/Writing

• Maintain focus in high pressure or fast-paced work environment

Other Duties

This job description is illustrative of the types of duties typically performed by this job. It is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of each and every essential function of the job. Because job content may change from time to time, the Company reserves the right to add and/or delete essential functions from this job at any time.

Salary Range (unless otherwise noted below):

$69,900.00 - $126,600.00

Full Salary Range for position:

California: $80,400.00 - $158,300.00

Colorado: $69,900.00 - $133,000.00

New York: $76,900.00 - $158,300.00

Washington: $73,400.00 - $145,600.00

Maryland: $73,400.00 - $139,300.00

Washington DC: $80,400.00 - $145,600.00

Illinois: $69,900