Category Manager

Experis - ManpowerGroup; Farnborough; On-site; GBP 104,000 - 136,000; Full time

Job summary

Experis - ManpowerGroup is seeking two Category Managers to lead sourcing, supplier engagement and category strategies within a defence and security context. The roles require active SC clearance and will be based near Farnborough, with flexibility to Malvern or Boscombe Down.

You will manage end-to-end sourcing, run tenders, negotiate contracts, and drive value across Engineering Services and Materials categories, while mitigating risk and ensuring compliance.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent professional experience.
• MCIPS qualification or working towards it.
• Minimum three years' strategic category management experience in similar spend areas.
• Proven track record of building relationships with stakeholders.
• Experience negotiating Manufacturing and Supply contracts.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Practical experience with Source to Pay technology.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships to influence planning.
• Develop and execute category strategies for Engineering Services and Materials.
• Lead sourcing activity including tenders and negotiations of mid-value contracts.
• Manage category risk including information security and resilience.
• Support SRM across key contracts to ensure performance and value realization.
• Assist with transition from SAP Ariba to Oracle Fusion and Source-to-Pay maturity.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Sourcing strategy

Category management

Contract negotiation

S2P knowledge

Strategic supplier relations

Communication

Education

Degree or equivalent professional experience

MCIPS qualified or in progress

Tools

S2P technology (e.g., SAP Ariba, Oracle Fusion)

Job description

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.

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

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

If you receive suspicious outreach claiming to be from us, please contact us via the ManpowerGroup website.