Category Manager

Thales; Templecombe; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Thales UK seeks a Procurement Category Manager to enhance its procurement function. The role involves managing suppliers, driving category strategies, and leading complex negotiations. Ideal candidates will possess extensive experience in procurement, with a strong focus on supplier relationships and market understanding. You'll enjoy benefits like a pension plan, medical insurance, and flexible working arrangements, all designed to support your well-being.

Benefits

Private medical insurance

Pension plan

Life assurance

Income protection

Employee assistance programme

Flexible benefits platform

27 days annual leave

Opportunity to volunteer

Qualifications

• Proven experience in direct procurement categories.
• Strong contractual knowledge, especially in framework agreements.
• Experience implementing procurement strategies.

Responsibilities

• Lead major supplier selection exercises.
• Manage supplier performance and drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure competitiveness and optimal supply base changes.

Skills

Supplier Relationship Management

Negotiation

Category Management

Contractual Knowledge

Education

Experience in Direct Procurement

Technical/Engineering Background

Job description

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Location: Templecombe, United KingdomIn fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow's possible.Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across five major industries; Aerospace, Defence, Ground Transportation, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

C3A Procurement Category Manager – Specific Systems & Equipment

Based Templecombe - Hybrid Working (also open to other commutable office locations)

Are you an experienced procurement professional who is passionate about category management and can deliver the transformation that Thales is implementing?

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Procurement Category Manager to join our Thales UK Procurement function. In this role, you will focus on managing our specific systems and equipment suppliers.

Key responsibilities

On a day-to-day basis, you’ll have:

Accountability for ensuring the most up-to-date knowledge of the supplier market, including new innovations and key emerging technologies relevant to the category.

Responsibility for leading major / business critical supplier selection exercises to support business needs, as well as the deployment, implementation and monitoring of category strategies.

End to end performance responsibility for the acquisition process via the management of RFIs and/or RFPs.

Responsibility for supplier relationship management and continuous improvement of suppliers within the category (with the support of Supplier Performance Management Team if needed) and the management of strategic supplier performance including, but not limited to, quality, cost, delivery, contractual performance and innovation.

Responsibility for ensuring that the suppliers provide the competitiveness required to support the business and to introduce optimal supply base changes to support business-winning capability.

Responsibility for mastering economic models for the category so that increased value can be added to Thales and the supply base.

About you

Ideally, you’ll have:

Proven experience in direct procurement categories (ideally with experience working with technical/engineering stakeholders).

Experience in developing, supporting and implementing category strategy initiatives.

Experience performance managing suppliers to above target performance and have a working knowledge of supplier development techniques.

Strong contractual knowledge especially of framework agreements and key clauses.

The ability to lead complex negotiations including import/export considerations.

A good understanding of the market for the category as well as an understanding of customer drivers, needs and programme issues.

Experience implementing procurement strategy from an operational perspective.

Proven ability challenging and developing innovative supply chain/procurement analysis that adds value to the business and end customers.

Benefits at Thales

We strive to create an environment where you can prioritise your wellbeing and have designed our benefits to give you the flexibility and power to do so. Our core benefits include a pension plan, private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection as well as an employee assistance programme.

In addition, our flexible benefits platform gives you the power to customise your benefits to suit your needs. You can choose to add a number of optional benefits including: healthcare cash plan, health assessments, family cover private medical insurance, buying/selling annual leave, gym membership discounts + much, much more. You can also enjoy exclusive access to our discount site!

Alongside a competitive base salary, we offer a variable compensation plan bonus, 27 days annual leave + 1 company day + UK public holidays as well as the opportunity to volunteer up to 3 days to support local charities/communities in which we work.

Thales is an equal opportunities employer and diversity and inclusion are integral to our success.

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In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment,if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Teamfor graduate and apprentice roles.

Great journeys start here, apply now!