Strategic Category Manager — High-Tech & Defence

Droneshield; Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

DroneShield is seeking a Category Manager to join our Sydney team. You will secure reliable, timely, and compliant supply for high-tech manufacturing, collaborating with Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Programs to enable scalable execution.

You will balance speed, resilience, and commercial discipline while managing supplier risk and validation readiness. The role reports to Head of Procurement and involves category strategy, supplier onboarding, and contract execution to ensure on-time

Qualifications

• Experience in procurement or category management in manufacturing or regulated environments.
• Strong supplier negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working with technical or engineering-driven requirements.
• Defence, aerospace, electronics, or high-tech manufacturing background.
• Experience with contract manufacturers or critical component suppliers.
• Tertiary qualification in Supply Chain, Engineering or Business.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies aligned to manufacturing demand, technology roadmaps, and risk profiles.
• Lead supplier evaluation, selection, and onboarding within the category.
• Own sourcing and negotiation activities through to contract award.
• Ensure contracts clearly define scope, performance, delivery, pricing, risk allocation, IP protection, and compliance obligations.
• Balance commercial outcomes with delivery certainty and operational criticality.
• Manage ongoing supplier performance against delivery, quality, responsiveness, and risk metrics.

Skills

Supplier negotiation

Stakeholder management

Technical requirements

Procurement / category management

Education

Tertiary qualification in Supply Chain, Engineering or Business

Job description

DroneShield is seeking a Category Manager to join our Sydney team. You will secure reliable, timely, and compliant supply for high-tech manufacturing, collaborating with Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Programs to enable scalable execution.

You will balance speed, resilience, and commercial discipline while managing supplier risk and validation readiness. The role reports to Head of Procurement and involves category strategy, supplier onboarding, and contract execution to ensure on-time