Category Manager

Great British Energy Group; Milton Keynes; Hybrid; GBP 56,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28-day annual leave (buy/sell)

Pension schemes

75% travel discount (leisure)

Private Healthcare

5 days paid volunteer or carers leave

Rail/Underground travel subsidy

Gym Pass

My Benefits platform

Job summary

Network Rail is seeking a Category Manager to shape strategic direction across procurement and commercial activities. The role focuses on delivering category strategies, cost value, and cross-functional collaboration to enhance safety and efficiency.

The successful candidate will bring deep procurement experience, strong negotiation skills, and a demonstrable track record in financial management, with the ability to influence at executive levels.

Qualifications

• Educated to a Business or Economics degree standard or equivalent business experience.
• Deep level of Procurement experience, to include Category Management.
• Demonstrable experience of financial management.
• Demonstrable level of negotiation and dispute resolution skill set.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrable experience of driving cost and service value from complex multi-divisional business environments.
• Ability to deliver defined relationship and commercial value and deliver continuous improvement value.
• Experienced with agile, cross-functional collaborative working methods.
• Politically savvy, with the proven ability to use direct and indirect influencing strategies at an executive level.
• Demonstrable level of problem-solving experience of complex category specific challenges.
• Completer finisher mindset.
• Knowledge of the UK Rail Industry, including procurement processes in a reclassified environment (Desirable).

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with stakeholders to develop category strategies.
• Support other team members and lead by example.
• Apply strategic analysis to improve safety, sustainability and efficiency.
• Drive continuous improvement in cost and service value across divisions.

Skills

Procurement experience

Category management

Negotiation

Communication skills

Agile working

Influencing strategies

Problem solving

Completer finisher mindset

Education

Business or Economics degree

Job description

Network Rail - Category Manager - Commercial & ProcurementLocation: This role can be based in either Milton Keynes, Birmingham and London. This role is a full-time opportunity; flexible working patterns will be considered. Please note, if working from The Quadrant, Milton Keynes, you must live within 90 minutes.Salary: Band 3.C - £55,596 - 67,813 per annum depending on skills & experience.Are you always thinking of new and better ways of doing things? Do you look beyond what you are doing today and thinking about what could be possible?If you thrive on using your own initiative, have great people skills and like to deliver great customer service, read on.In Network Rail, a Category Manager provides strategic direction - commercially, yes, but also on improvements to how the business works. We do not source suppliers, nor do we manage suppliers. Our strategies are implemented by other teams, so we move from one category to the next, continually providing that strategic support to Network Rail. If you are someone who looks past today’s tactics and thinks about what you could do tomorrow, then this could be the role for you.The Category Management Team is a diverse team and we’re looking for someone with a good sense of humour to fit in with us and have fun along the way; if you join, our current team will support you to create your first strategies. The processes, templates and systems will be provided as guides, and you will need to apply your strategic nous on top. In return for our support, we’re looking for a caring, supportive person who will use their skills to:* collaborate with everyone;* support other team members;* lead by example and always maintain the moral high ground;* be interested and take part;* be keen to develop and learn new skills;* help us achieve our targets as a team.Understanding your customer’s needs will put you in the best place to create new strategies. We want new ideas to help us:* improve safety - everyone home safe every day;* be more sustainable;* be more efficient - reduce the burden on taxpayers;* save time on jobs - more time to do new and better things.Who are we looking for?Essential Criteria* Educated to a Business or Economics degree standard or equivalent business experience* Deep level of Procurement experience, to include Category Management* Demonstrable experience of financial management* Demonstrable level of negotiation and dispute resolution skill set* Excellent verbal and written communication skills* Demonstrable experience of driving cost and service value from complex multi-divisional business environments* Ability to deliver defined relationship and commercial value and deliver continuous improvement value* Experienced with agile, cross-functional collaborative working methods* Politically savvy, with the proven ability to use direct and indirect influencing strategies at an executive level* Demonstrable level of problem-solving experience of complex category specific challenges* Completer finisher mindsetDesirable Criteria* Knowledge of the UK Rail Industry, including procurement processes in a reclassified environmentNetwork Rail Benefits:What's in it for youHere are a few of the benefits we offer* 28-day annual leave with the option to buy and sell days* Choice of pension schemes* 75% discount of leisure travel for you and your family* Private Healthcare* 5 days paid volunteer or carers leave* Up to 75% subsidised Rail and Underground travel* Gym Pass -access to gyms across UK* My Benefits platform- giving national and local retail discountTo find out more explore [1] Working for Network RailAdditional InformationContact:If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments, please contact [e-mail] date: 7th October 2026. Late applications may not be accepted.Safe behaviour is a requirement of working for Network Rail. Applicants should be able to demonstrate their awareness of our [2] Safety VisionAll offers of employment are conditional upon satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks. [3] Click here for more informationPlease get your application in as soon as possible, we may close the advert before the listed closing date if we receive enough applications. Late applications will not be accepted.ReferencesVisible links1. https://apxprodnwrl.opc.oracleoutsourcing.com/ords/r/xxapex/recruitment-external-candidate/working-for-network-rail2. https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/our-approach-to-safety/3. https://www.networkrail.co.uk/careers/how-we-recruit/