Senior Category Manager

Overview:

Reporting to the Director of Procurement Operations, the Senior Category Manager is accountable for building and executing category strategies that deliver measurable business value across cost, risk, service quality, and supplier performance. This role partners closely with Procurement & Sourcing, Legal, Finance, Vendor Management, and IT/Security to translate business demand into scalable sourcing strategies, lead sourcing events end-to-end, and manage strategic supplier relationships.

The ideal candidate is a experienced category leader with a proven track record managing both large, complex sourcing initiatives and fast-turn tactical events across multiple categories. The hired individual is expected to influence senior stakeholders, drive alignment across competing priorities, and deliver sustainable outcomes through strong governance, commercial discipline, and data-driven decision-making. This role will also leverage AI to automate and streamline tactical procurement work, enabling greater focus on strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and value creation.

Key Responsibilities

Category Strategy & Value Delivery

• Develop and execute robust category strategies grounded in demand analysis, market intelligence, supplier economics, and total cost of ownership (TCO) modeling.
• Build multi-year category roadmaps and value pipelines, including savings forecasts, risk mitigation initiatives, and supplier-led innovation opportunities.
• Challenge demand assumptions and identify demand management levers that reduce cost while protecting business outcomes and service quality.

Strategic Sourcing Execution (End-to-End)

• Lead sourcing events from intake through award and implementation for Indirect Categories (IT, Market Data, Marketing, etc.), including requirements definition, RFx design, negotiation planning, supplier evaluation, and executive-ready recommendations.
• Execute a mix of high-complexity strategic sourcing initiatives and smaller, high-velocity events, consistently delivering results on time and with stakeholder buy-in.
• Own commercial negotiations including pricing, contract structure, SLAs, performance metrics, risk terms, and governance frameworks.

Stakeholder Leadership & Consensus Building

• Serve as the primary category business partner, aligning cross-functional stakeholders around strategy, trade-offs, and final decisions.
• Influence senior leaders through structured business cases, clear recommendations, and fact-based options analysis.
• Help develop and drive governance discipline across category decisions, supplier performance, and sourcing outcomes.

Supplier Relationship & Performance Management

• Manage strategic supplier relationships including performance reviews, QBRs, risk assessments, and continuous improvement plans.
• Establish and monitor KPIs, SLAs, and corrective action plans to improve service delivery, compliance, and cost performance.
• Identify and mitigate supplier-related risks across operational resilience, security, compliance, and financial stability.

AI-Enabled Procurement & Systems Enablement

• Leverage AI and automation to streamline tactical work (e.g., spend analysis, RFx drafting, requirements synthesis, supplier research, meeting summaries, pipeline tracking), improving speed and decision quality.
• Partner with Procurement Operations and IT to improve procurement workflows, intake/orchestration, and system adoption across the business.
• Contribute to procurement technology enablement, with experience supporting at least one implementation of ERP, eProcurement, CLM, intake, or orchestration tools.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, or related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 6-12 years of progressive procurement/category management experience, including ownership of category strategy and end-to-end sourcing execution.
• Demonstrated success delivering measurable savings and value outcomes across multiple categories (direct and/or indirect), with the ability to quantify impact.
• Strong track record of stakeholder leadership, executive influence, and navigating complex decision-making environments.
• <