Category Lead

Ocado Group; Hatfield; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Ocado Group is building its first Indirect Procurement team and is seeking a Category Lead to oversee Facilities Management, Travel, and Global Logistics procurement. The role requires strong negotiation and analytical skills, with responsibilities centered on cost, risk, quality, and supplier partnerships. Join a leading innovation in online grocery delivery, offering competitive benefits and a supportive working environment.

Benefits

25 days annual leave, rising to 27 after 5 years

Private Medical Insurance

22 weeks paid maternity leave

Pension with employer matching up to 7%

15% discount at Ocado.com

Qualifications

• Extensive Procurement experience in category management, strategic sourcing.
• Deep category expertise in the FM and/or Travel verticals.
• Expert negotiator, adept at driving win:win outcomes with suppliers.

Responsibilities

• Lead procurement activity across Facilities Management, Travel and Global Logistics.
• Deliver outstanding total procurement benefit across various metrics.
• Lead Strategic Sourcing and supplier negotiations.

Skills

Negotiation

Analytical Skills

Business Partnering

Influencing

Job description

About Us

Ocado Group is a technology-led, global, software and robotics platform business, with a strong retail heritage. Ocado has been at the forefront of innovation in the online grocery industry since it was founded in 2000. Its retail business, Ocado.com, is one of the world’s largest online-only supermarkets with over £2,2bn annual revenue and over 795,000 active customers.

About The Role

We're now building our very first Indirect Procurement team and are hiring two senior professionals to help shape the function alongside our newly appointed Head of Indirects.

As Category Lead, you will lead Ocado’s Facilities Management, Travel and Global Logistics procurement activity across c£55m annual spend, defining and delivering a portfolio of category management, sourcing and supplier management initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

Business Partnering

• Business Partner department heads and budget owners, becoming embedded within leadership teams
• Act as a ‘Critical Friend’ for key business owners, providing support and education in managing key supply partner relationships
• Be a vocal and compelling advocate for the value of quality procurement and supplier partnerships
  
  

Execution

• Deliver outstanding ‘Total Procurement Benefit’ for Ocado across Cost, Risk, Quality, ESG and Innovation, role modeling excellent delivery for the wider procurement team
• Lead a programme of Strategic Sourcing, SRM and Renewals projects within the categories
• Lead high value, high importance supplier negotiations in the category space to deliver great value for money, win:win engagements and outcomes with partners
  
  

Category Management

• Use expert knowledge of categories to deliver step change improvements in the way we engage, contract and manage partners in that space
• Embed a Category Management approach to procurement across owned categories
  
  

Supplier Partnerships

• Utilise expert influencing skills to secure preferential engagements with strategic partners
• Be a key escalation point for supplier performance management for stakeholders
  
  

Procurement Improvement

• Take ownership for specific continuous improvement activities within indirect procurement
• Provide SME input to the Procurement Transformation programme, and participate in ongoing best practice sharing and collaboration initiatives across the procurement teams
  
  

About You

• Extensive Procurement experience in category management, strategic sourcing, SRM and contract management
• Deep category expertise in the FM and/or Travel verticals
• Brilliant business partnering and influencing capabilities, able to speak and operate in non-procurement terms to truly understand and unlock value
• A natural story teller who can build compelling narratives and communicate with insightful clarity
• Expert negotiator, adept at driving win:win outcomes with suppliers
• Robust analytical experience, having leveraged multiple sources of data to inform strategies, recommendations and decision making
  
  

What We Offer

We believe in supporting our people with meaningful, flexible benefits that prioritise well-being and work-life balance. Here’s a snapshot of what you can expect:

• Time to recharge: 25 days annual leave (rising to 27 after 5 years), plus the option to buy more – and 30 days a year to work from anywhere in the world.
• Health & wellbeing: Private Medical Insurance from your first month, wellbeing support through specialist apps and EAP, plus Income Protection and Life Assurance.
• Family-first policies: 22 weeks paid maternity/primary carer leave and 6 weeks paid paternity leave (after qualifying period).
• Financial support: Pension with employer matching up to 7%, share schemes (Sharesave & BAYE), and interest-free loans for train tickets.
• Commuter perks: Cycle to Work Scheme and free shuttle buses to/from Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City stations.
• Exclusive discounts: 15% off at Ocado.com with free delivery (starting in your first month).
  
  

Ocado Group is an equal opportunities employer and as such makes every effort to ensure that all potential employees are treated fairly and equally, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, age, or disability or union membership status.