Sr Consultant, Procurement Category Management

If you’re passionate about being part of a dynamic organization that enables a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales to drive innovation and adopt new technologies that deliver business results, then Nationwide’s Technology team could be the place for you! At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

The Claims Management Sr. Consultant serves as the enterprise category leader for Claims Management, with primary ownership of both the Material Damage and Expert Services categories. This role is accountable for developing and executing category strategies and sourcing roadmaps that align supplier capabilities, contracts, and commercial structures with Claims and enterprise objectives.

The Sr. Consultant leads end‑to‑end category governance, including supplier segmentation and relationship strategies, complex sourcing initiatives and negotiations, contract management, and performance oversight. Through transformation initiatives such as process improvement, standardization, risk mitigation, and change management, the Sr. Consultant strengthens the resilience, scalability, and long‑term effectiveness of the Claims supplier ecosystem.

This role acts as the primary strategic partner to Claims and cross‑functional stakeholders, shaping demand, challenging assumptions, and influencing decisions through clear, data‑driven insights. The Sr. Consultant represents Procurement as a thought leader by connecting external market trends and internal performance data to executive decision‑making and enterprise prioritization.

In addition, the role provides formal people leadership for a team of 2–4 associates, setting direction, clarifying priorities, and building capability through coaching and mentoring while fostering a high‑performance, high‑accountability culture.

Work Arrangement: This role follows a hybrid schedule and requires in-office presence in Columbus, Ohio 1-2 days per week.

Location Requirement: Candidates must be based within a commutable distance to Columbus, Ohio.

#LI-KR1

Job Description Summary

Procuring goods and services necessary to successfully run and grow our business is critical. Whether working to enable the processes that support buying decisions or finding the best supplier, price or contract terms, we bring expertise, skill and talent to the task. If you are collaborative, a top-level communicator, highly ethical and have the ability to manage key relationships by providing outstanding service, we want to know more about you!

As a Senior Consultant, you'll be responsible for finding and acquiring goods and services that deliver long-term value for Nationwide. We'll count on you to find ways to enhance processes and drive efficiency. You'll have opportunities to advise business units on the acquisition of complex, specialized and highly technical products and services, including SAAS software licenses, offshore outsourcing, Marketing, Employee Benefits and more.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities: 

• Partners and collaborates with multiple Business Partners, Finance, Technology and other Procurement team members to manage new, complex sourcing requests, current contract pipelines for multimillion dollar categories and vendor agreements.  Work with reporting teams to develop data analytics and make changes to Procurement policy and procedures to ensure a predictable, easy-to-follow and efficient procurement process.

• Conducts extensive, continuous industry research and benchmark analysis within a defined spend category. Establishes a detailed category strategy for a highly technical domain, monitors purchasing trends and identifies top suppliers and innovations within the category.

• Consults with Business Partners and is a trusted advisor to manage Business Unit and Procurement relationship, by building forecasts of demand, service levels requirements, Total Cost of Ownership models, contractual and other risk requirements (by category domain, actual and forecasted spend), identifying cost reduction opportunities, and developing recommendations. Acts as Project Manager executing with business partners, Finance, and Technology. 

• Facilitates highly complex competitive bid activity, including requests for proposal (RFP), quote (RFQ) or information (RFI), where applicable. Negotiates the terms of the contract, including conditions, clauses, and service level agreements.  Documents achieved savings for Finance app