Category Manager

Service Care; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 59,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

Service Care in London (Ealing) is seeking an experienced Category Manager to join the Strategic Procurement team. You will own subcategories, develop category plans, and lead end-to-end procurement exercises for corporate and professional services while supporting transformation and contract management.

You will collaborate with stakeholders, manage supplier performance, and drive improvements across systems and processes, with hybrid working and a 35-hour week.

Qualifications

• Proven experience developing and delivering category plans.
• Experience leading a range of public-sector procurement procedures.
• Strong knowledge of public procurement legislation and regulations.
• Experience delivering corporate or professional services procurements.
• Previous involvement in procurement transformation.
• Strong contract-management and supplier-performance experience.
• Experience monitoring contracts against SLAs, KPIs and commercial requirements.
• Sound understanding of commercial contracts, terms and conditions.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement and regularly review category plans.
• Translate category plans into effective sourcing and procurement activity.
• Lead end-to-end public procurement and tendering exercises.
• Take ownership of corporate and professional services subcategories.
• Manage framework agreements and other procurement projects.
• Support procurement transformation and improvements to systems and processes.
• Ensure a consistent and compliant approach to procurement and contract management.
• Oversee contract implementation and attend supplier review meetings.
• Monitor supplier performance against SLAs and KPIs.
• Work with stakeholders and suppliers to resolve contractual and performance issues.

Skills

Category management

Public procurement procedures

Procurement transformation

Contract management

Supplier performance

Stakeholder management

Tendering platforms

Microsoft Office

Education

MCIPS qualification or graduate calibre

Tools

D365

P2P platforms

Tendering portals

Job description

Job title: Category Manager

Location: Ealing, London W5 – Hybrid working, with one to two days per week in the office depending on business needs

Salary: £59,000–£63,000 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Weekly Hours: 35 hours per week

Job Purpose

We are recruiting for an experienced Category Manager to join the Strategic Procurement team of a leading housing organisation based in Ealing. The role will involve developing and delivering category plans, taking ownership of allocated subcategories and leading end-to-end procurement exercises. You will also support procurement transformation, contract management and supplier performance across corporate and professional services.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, implement and regularly review category plans.
• Translate category plans into effective sourcing and procurement activity.
• Lead end-to-end public procurement and tendering exercises.
• Take ownership of corporate and professional services subcategories.
• Manage framework agreements and other procurement projects.
• Support procurement transformation and improvements to systems and processes.
• Ensure a consistent and compliant approach to procurement and contract management.
• Oversee contract implementation and attend supplier review meetings.
• Monitor supplier performance against agreed SLAs and KPIs.
• Work with stakeholders and suppliers to resolve contractual and performance issues.
• Support the commercial and risk management of the supplier portfolio.
• Develop effective relationships with stakeholders, suppliers, partners and framework operators.
• Identify continuous-improvement and efficiency opportunities.
• Monitor procurement activity through D365, P2P and tendering platforms.

Candidate Profile

• Proven experience developing and delivering category plans.
• Experience leading a range of public-sector procurement procedures.
• Strong knowledge of public procurement legislation, including the Procurement Act 2023 and relevant legacy regulations.
• Experience delivering corporate or professional services procurements.
• Previous involvement in procurement transformation.
• Strong contract-management and supplier-performance experience.
• Experience monitoring contracts against SLAs, KPIs and commercial requirements.
• Sound understanding of commercial contracts, terms and conditions.
• Experience with pre- and post-contract commercial administration.
• Strong stakeholder-management, communication and influencing skills.
• Good working knowledge of procurement systems, tendering portals and Microsoft Office.
• MCIPS qualified, or of graduate calibre with a willingness to complete the professional CIPS qualification.
• Project-management experience.