Coforge
Senior Category Manager
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Role: Senior Category Manager (ERP SAP S4/HANA)
Skills: SAP RISE and S/4HANA, ERP
Primary location: Sunbury, UK. (3 days per week Onsite)
Occasional travel: Central London office (approximately 1-2 times per month), it will be 60/40 overall.
Type: Permanent
Company Overview
We are at Coforge hiring for a Senior Category Manager with SAP RISE and S/4HANA programme experience, procurement background, and deep ERP category expertise.
Job Description
Responsible for managing a large team to deliver procurement, programme, and stakeholder management support in line with business priorities for the hub or at site. Key responsibilities include coordinating the development of demand forecasts, enabling value delivery cross-category, ensuring compliance, and meeting the Service Level Agreements and Operational Level Agreements for procurement operations.
- Experienced commercial negotiator with extensive experience of Enterprise ERP contracts.
- Strong understanding of contractual terms and conditions within the I.T software and services categories.
- Experience of managing internal and external senior stakeholder relationships (C-suite).
- Experience of SAP S4/HANA would be a significant advantage.
Key Responsibilities
- Urgent requirement for an experienced Senior Category Manager with deep ERP category expertise.
- Primary focus on managing BP's strategic relationship with SAP, one of BP's key technology partners.
- Supporting Quantum Programme, a major SAP transformation initiative involving SAP RISE and S/4HANA.
- Current incumbent is leaving in late August; handover preferred before departure.
- Initial contract duration: 6 months, with strong possibility of extension based on business need and performance.
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Required Experience
- Extensive experience in Technology Procurement and Category Management.
- Strong commercial management experience with SAP (preferred) or Oracle.
- Proven experience managing:
- Complex supplier negotiations
- Strategic vendor relationships
- Commercial aspects of large-scale ERP programmes
- Understanding of:
- Software licensing models
- Consumption models
- Pricing and commercial structures
- Experience negotiating with large enterprise technology vendors.
- Comfortable working with and influencing executive/C-suite stakeholders.
- Ability to rapidly enter a complex environment and independently manage critical supplier relationships.
- SAP RISE and S/4HANA programme experience.
- Experience supporting large ERP transformation programmes.
- Experience working with Systems Integrators (SIs) and implementation partners.
- Exposure to SAP implementation partners is advantageous.
- Experience managing strategic supplier relationships worth tens or hundreds of millions.
- Experience leading teams and managing direct reports.
Ideal Candidate Criteria
- Ideally 10+ years' experience.
- Degree educated.
- Strong commercial and procurement background rather than programme management.
- Confident, credible stakeholder manager capable of operating in a highly visible environment.
- Comfortable engaging with:
- EVPs
- Senior leadership
- Executive stakeholders
- Strategic vendors
- Potential line management responsibility.
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Current Context
- Current ERP team consists of approximately 3 employees who may report into this role.
- Team structure may be reviewed and potentially restructured in future.
- Existing SAP contract has been in place for approximately 2 years.
- Overall ERP transformation programme expected to continue for around 10 years due to BP's scale and complexity.
- Global rollout covering:
- Oil rigs
- Retail operations/petrol stations
- Corporate functions
- Multiple business units worldwide
- Candidate will inherit an ongoing programme rather than start at programme inception.
- Managing a supplier relationship valued in the tens of millions annually and hundreds of millions over the contract term.
- Holding SAP accountable while managing ongoing commercial negotiations.
- Managing a dynamic contract environment as BP's business changes.
- Adjusting agreements based on organizational changes, divestments, and evolving business requirements.
BP Hiring Manager Confirmed Shortlist Criteria
- Complex supplier negotiations
- Category management expertise
- Procurement/commercial management background
- SAP RISE experience
- SAP S/4HANA experience
- Oracle experience (acceptable alternative)
- Executive stakeholder management
- Available at short notice (ideally <30 days)
Candidate Red Flags / Less Suitable Profiles
- Primarily programme management backgrounds without procurement ownership.
- Candidates with only narrow SAP product experience (e.g., only Ariba implementations).
- Individuals lacking ERP commercial procurement experience.
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