Experis UK
Category Manager
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Role: Category Manager x 2
Location: Ideally Farnborough, willing to consider Malvern or Boscombe down
Rate: Around £650 per day
Length: Initially 6 months
CANDIDATE MUST HAVE ACTIVE SC CLEARANCE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE ROLE*
Background
We are a £2BN global defence and security company delivering mission-critical solutions that protect lives and enable operational advantage. Our vision is "to be the chosen partner around the world innovating for our customers' advantage." To do this, we combine deep technical expertise with a bold approach to innovation - helping our customers solve complex challenges across land, sea, air, space and cyber. We employ circa 8,000 people in 50 locations across the UK, Europe, US, and Australia.
About Procurement And Supply Chain
Finance is a Global Group Function with Procurement and Supply Chain, a key department, reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer and influencing £1BN spend across directs and indirects. The Procurement and Supply Chain department has several key pillars including Business Partnering, Category Management, Supply Chain, Responsible Procurement and Operational Excellence.
To deliver the business' five-year growth strategy, we need to foster and enable a progressive mindset. We aspire to be a key business enabler and a value creator. To do this we need to shape and influence stakeholder strategies, drive value, deliver excellence and manage supply chain opportunities and risk.
Materials, Manufacturing & Products Team
The Materials, Manufacturing & Products team provide various levels of support from Category Management to project delivery of owned products. We are responsible for a spend of circa £100 million across key categories including but not limited to Contract Electrical Manufacturing, Precision Engineering and Engineering Support Services.
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This role sits within the dedicated Category Management spoke of the department. The team are responsible for delivering fit for purpose eco systems that align to our various capabilities not only delivering value for money but supporting a validated response to our customers' needs.
Key Responsibilities
- Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, driving early engagement to influence business planning and ensure alignment with organisational priorities.
- Support with development and execution of category strategies for Engineering Services and Materials, using market insights to maximize value.
- Lead sourcing activity, including the design of sourcing strategies, working with the business to support investment case development, run competitive tenders, and negotiating mid-value and complex contracts
- Manage category-specific risks, including information security, supply resilience, geopolitical, financial and sustainability considerations
- Support stakeholders to drive Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) across key contracts to ensure performance, innovation, and value realisation from strategic partnerships
- Support the Finance and Business Systems transformation, including transition from SAP Ariba to Oracle Fusion and establishment of a mature Source-to-Pay model
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Key Person Attributes
- Clear and confident communicator who can adapt their style to suit stakeholders
- Builds trusted relationships with stakeholders and suppliers
- Collaborates effectively across teams and coach others when needed
- Ability to work independently and takes accountability to resolve problems, interpreting data and drawing relevant insights to inform decision making
- Ability to balance commercial, operational and risk considerations to drive the best outcomes in ambiguous or dynamic environments and collaborates x-functionally to achieve this
- Demonstrates resilience and adaptability during transformation
- Role-models integrity and a growth mindset
- Proactively challenges existing ways of working and contributes to Supply Chain and Procurement functional development
Experience And Qualifications
- Degree or equivalent professional experience
- MCIPS qualified or working towards completion (desired)
- Minimum three years' strategic category management experience in similar categories of spend
- Proven track record of building successful relationships with stakeholders
- Demonstrable experience negotiating Manufacturing and Supply contracts
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Practical experience with Source to Pay (S2P) technology
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