Global Category Manager

Global Category Manager HR & Travel - Tier 1 Investment Bank - 24 months contract

• Contract: 24 months (PAYE inside IR35)
• Location: London, UK
• Flexi: 4 days WFH, 1 day onsite
• Daily Rate: £550 PAYE (equiv. to £755 umbrella)
• Benefits: 38 days of AL + Pension

Core: Category management expertise within HR Services (L&D; Insurance)

JOB SCOPE

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is responsible for the overall commercial management of how the Bank engages and spends money with its external third-party vendors. To meet increasing business and efficiency, the SCM team is looking for a candidate with strong experience in sourcing / procurement and the gravitas to engage stakeholders within SCB business function to support key priorities. The successful candidate will be responsible for influencing and executing sourcing activities in collaboration with various business function and related support teams and must be able to demonstrate excellence in negotiating favourable commercial outcomes.

Sitting within the HR & Travel Team, the Global Category Manager – HR & Travel is responsible for the overall pro-active stakeholder and commercial management of assigned areas of spend within the Hr & Travel category.

Responsibilties

Strategy

• Liaise with the business functions leads to produce a needs assessment that is aligned to their business plans
• Feeds into the category management strategy that focuses on supplier cost reduction, alignment to sustainability aspirations, through needs assessments, consolidation and expense / demand management
• Performs the role within the operating model
• Execute sourcing strategies to ensure continuity of cost-effectiveness and quality of supply
• Collaborate with country teams to align preferred channels and suppliers

Business

• Creates and builds function level senior management stakeholder relationships, influences on the ground decision making to ensure that sourcing is managed in compliance with Standards
• Maintains engagement level stakeholder relationships to advise and guide the stakeholder through the Sourcing process
• Guides Business Stakeholders through the procurement decision-making process.
• Ensure the intrinsic business value of the SCM category management framework is communicated and understood by the business.
• Provides guidance on SCM process, systems, policy and procedure
• Assist stakeholders in achieving their strategic objectives through careful sourcing of relevant suppliers to fulfil their needs

Commercials and contracting

• Influences the buy decisions
• Lead complex deal negotiation including fees at risk models
• Manages complex competitive sourcing tender with high deal value without supervision
• Proactively looks for opportunities to create value in the organisation, leveraging cost optimisation
• Carry out effective negotiations and contracting which contribute to sustainable commercial advantages for the business and best in class commercial terms
• Influences the internal and third party decisioning regarding contracts completion, plays a lead role in brokering the parties to reach complete the agreement. Fronts discussions regarding strengths and weaknesses of the agreement as applies to commercial elements.
• Leads the contractual negotiation with the supplier, accurately interprets contractual terms into risks, and supports the closing of contractual blockages through to completion

Project Management

• Identifies and mitigates risks that would impact the overall project success/failure.
• Ensures projects are prioritized and delivered against agreed timelines
• Supports, leads and executes sourcing initiatives.

Cross Functional Engagement

• Work in a highly effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) team that will deliver commercial agreements that exceed stakeholder and client expectation.
• Keeps open channels of communication to ensure high level of engagement
• Contribute to process improvement initiatives

Qualifications

• Academic or Professional Education/Qualifications; Educated at undergraduate level
• Licenses and Certifications/accreditations; CIPS or similar
• Professional Memberships; CIPS or similar

Experience

• At least 6 years working experience in strategic sourcing procurement in Technology or Corporate Services categories (including HR, Travel, Business Process Outsourcing, Professional Services, Consulting) and project management.
• Previous experience of working within the Financial Services or technology sector is an advantage
• Relevant experience in stakeholder management (i.e. practices, leadership, effectiveness).

Specialized knowledge or skills required

• Able to use ERP systems such as SAP, Ariba and Microsoft Office Excel..
• Good working knowledge of contracts & familiar with legal agreements
• Advanced commercial knowledge in procurement and project management.
• Advanced business management skills including stakeholder management, commercial judgment and process improvement.

Thank you for considering us!