Global IT Category Manager - Up to £75k - Watford

Role: Global IT Category Manager

Location: Watford

Salary: up to £75k

Hybrid Working: 2 days a week in office

Are you an experienced IT Category Manager looking for an exciting Global opportunity?

The role is ideally suited to someone with experience in Services, Digital and/or Merchandising IT.

Key Responsibilities

Global Strategic Sourcing

Executes global, international and national category plans via tools embedded in the strategic sourcing methodology and in collaboration with internal business partners
Embraces regional international and cross-functional multi-cultural teams in the execution of the strategic sourcing process and the implementation of the strategy
Develops and evolves product or service requirements across all brands and geographies
Maximises opportunities to leverage multi-divisional requirements to create larger pools of sourcing to increase savings
Prepares a regional negotiation plan and executes accordingly involving legal as necessary.
Pro-actively uses state-of-the-art automated sourcing processes including but not limited to auctions, RFX's, and relationship management systems

Regional Vendor Management

Manages the commercial element of supplier relationships
Understands tradeoffs of risk, quality, and cost, and be able to manage each area through supplier management, contracting, and negotiations
Maintains fair, courteous and productive relationships with all international strategic vendors and reinforces positive brand image within the vendor community
Looks to identify or develop and incorporate innovative products, services, approaches such as off-shoring, out-sourcing, consortia development, best country sourcing to support low-cost producer strategy

Contract compliance

Ensure that appropriate contractual terms are implemented ensuring that the agreed terms are carried out in practice
Prepares IT category reports for their Manager and the GSPLT

Innovation

Raises market innovation for the IT category and brings applicable ideas to the business for testing, cost modelling and performance measurement

People Management and Leadership

Supports the optimization of £800 million indirect spend
On a category basis, undertakes annual sourcing initiatives delivering between £1 and £2 million in yearly savings.
Responsible and impacts up to £50 million (2019 spend) in IT spend in Europe but may also be involved in influencing global IT spend of £441 million (2019 spend)
Manages key strategic and day to day operational regional supplier relationships by actively planning and delivering on action items through the management of regional and national account executives
Actively represents within the global supplier community and the business world at large
Vendor management and the harvesting of innovation from our vendor community is an integral part of the job description.
Recommends category initiative within portfolio of spend (10 to 20 initiatives per year)
Decides on negotiation plan and executes accordingly
Recommendation for final vendor selection

Key Skills, Knowledge & Experience