Senior Category Strategy Lead, Indirect Spend

Who is Forcepoint?

Forcepoint simplifies security for global businesses and governments. Forcepoint’s all-in-one, truly cloud-native platform makes it easy to adopt Zero Trust and prevent the theft or loss of sensitive data and intellectual property no matter where people are working. 20+ years in business. 2.7k employees. 150 countries. 11k+ customers. 300+ patents. If our mission excites you, you’re in the right place; we want you to bring your own energy to help us create a safer world. All we’re missing is you!

Who We Are

Forcepoint simplifies security for global businesses and governments. Forcepoint's all-in-one, truly cloud-native platform makes it easy to adopt Zero Trust and prevent the theft or loss of sensitive data and intellectual property no matter where people are working. 20+ years in business. 1,400+ employees. 150 countries. 11k+ customers. 300+ patents. If our mission excites you, you're in the right place, and we want you to bring your own energy to help us create a safer world. All we're missing is you!

About the Role

Forcepoint Procurement is the strategic engine that connects enterprise spend to business outcomes.

At a glance:

• Team: High-performing team of six, reporting to the Sr. Director, Head of Procurement

• Scope: Up to $30M in total contract value across the highest-priority indirect categories each contract year

• Categories: Marketing, Cloud, Technology, Professional Services, Travel, AI platforms, and others

• Location: Austin, TX (Hybrid, Tuesday & Wednesday in-office)

This is not a role for someone who wants to manage a process.

This is a role for someone who wants to transform one.

Success in year one looks like elevating procurement from a delegated, administrative function into a trusted extension of the business team, earning that seat through competency, speed, and results that stakeholders can see and feel. The right candidate will make Forcepoint's business partners wonder how they operated without a procurement partner at the table.

Not a traditional procurement professional? That's okay. Candidates with enterprise SaaS or technology sales experience, particularly those who have worked the other side of the negotiating table in cyber security, technology, or travel industries, bring a perspective that makes procurement stronger. If you understand how enterprise deals are structured, how vendors think, and how to create mutual value in complex commercial relationships, your background may be exactly what this team needs. We encourage you to apply.

What You'll Do

Strategic Stakeholder Partnership

You will be the connective tissue between Forcepoint's business needs and its supplier ecosystem.

• Operate as a trusted advisor and collaborative partner to business and budget owners, senior leaders, and cross-functional support organizations, championing shared outcomes over procurement-centric process.

• Facilitate speed, simplicity, and value across the source-to-contract lifecycle; proactively remove friction, reduce cycle times, and eliminate unnecessary complexity that slows business decisions.

• Build and sustain strong working relationships across functions; surface sourcing opportunities, market intelligence, and risk insights in a manner that informs, not dictates, business decisions.

• Align Procurement priorities to enterprise operating objectives, ensuring every sourcing action adds velocity and clarity rather than churn or bureaucratic overhead.

Category Strategy Ownership

You will own the strategy, not just the transaction.

• Partner with business and budget owners to collaboratively build and own category strategies for assigned indirect categories, grounding decisions in stakeholder priorities, spend analytics, and multi-year sourcing roadmaps with defined savings, risk, and compliance targets.

• Leverage market intelligence, GPOs, Private Equity (PE) programs, competitive supplier dynamics, and Forcepoint's operational profile to develop differentiated strategies that deliver advantaged Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

• Continuously refresh category strategies in response to market shifts, technology evolution, and changing business priorities.

Sourcing Execution & Contract Leadership

You will lead deals from start to finish.

• Lead complex, high-value sourcing events including RFPs, RFIs, and competitive bid processes across Marketing, Cloud, Technology, and Professional Services categories.

• Structure, negotiate, and execute enterprise-grade agreements including MSAs, SLAs, SOWs, and licensing contracts, driving op