Category Manager - K&L and Finance

Slaughter and May; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Slaughter and May is seeking an experienced Category Manager to lead Knowledge & Learning and Finance spend, shaping strategies and delivering value across the firm.

You will own end-to-end strategic sourcing, manage supplier relationships, and partner with Legal, Risk and Information Security to ensure compliant, cost-effective contracts while driving continuous improvement. The role demands autonomy, strong commercial acumen and a track record of delivering measurable savings.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience in procurement with category management expertise.
• Experience across Knowledge & Learning (K&L) and Finance categories preferred.
• Strong negotiation, supplier management and contract drafting skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies for K&L and Finance.
• Lead end-to-end sourcing and renewal activities, including negotiations.
• Partner with Legal, Risk and Information Security to ensure robust contracts.
• Manage supplier performance and risk across short-, medium- and long-term horizons.
• Provide analytics, dashboards and reporting on category performance and savings.

Skills

Procurement

Category Management

Negotiation

Stakeholder Management

Data Analytics

BI & Excel

Education

Degree in supply chain or business administration

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Category Manager to join our Procurement team and take ownership of two specialist indirect spend categories: Knowledge & Learning (K&L) and Finance. This role is integral to ensuring the firm acquires the right goods and services at the best value, supporting our strategic objectives while maintaining operational excellence.

As Category Manager for K&L and Finance, you will lead and drive strategic procurement initiatives across these categories, acting as the trusted commercial partner to our Knowledge, Learning & Development and Finance functions. You will shape category strategies, lead complex sourcing and renewal activity, and deliver measurable commercial value across the organisation.

These are niche categories, characterised by specialist supply markets, high-value subscriptions and licences, multi-year renewals and business-critical professional services. This role requires someone who thrives in an autonomous environment, bringing deep expertise, commercial acumen, and a forward-thinking approach to procurement. You will be part of a team fostering a high-performance culture and ensuring procurement strategies align with the firm’s overarching business priorities.

Key responsibilities

The key responsibilities of this role are set out below and there may be others which are not listed. You may be required on occasion to work outside our normal working hours of 9:30am to 5:30pm.

Category Strategy Development:

• Develop and execute category strategies for K&L and Finance that align to departmental business objectives and the firm’s overall business goals.
• Perform spend analysis to identify areas of spend optimisation and return on investment, including subscription and licence rationalisation and demand management.
• Build and maintain a forward-looking renewals and contract pipeline across both categories, ensuring sourcing activity starts early enough to secure maximum leverage.
• Monitor, collate and analyse supplier performance and usage data to assess value for money and identify supplier improvement opportunities.

Strategic Sourcing:

• Lead end-to-end sourcing and renewal activity for K&L and Finance categories, from requirements definition through to contract award and implementation.
• For K&L, this includes research and information services, subscriptions and databases, knowledge platforms, learning and development, professional training and specialist knowledge services.
• For Finance, this includes banking, insurance, audit, tax, financial systems and specialist financial or professional services.
• Lead all relevant commercial and contractual negotiations, including pricing models, licence and usage rights, user entitlements, price-increase protections, service levels and exit provisions.
• Ensure the application of robust supplier approval and due diligence processes.
• Draft, review and agree all relevant third-party contracts, working with Legal, Risk and Information Security colleagues as required.
• Lead supplier performance reviews and development improvement initiatives.
• Identify risks and build plans to mitigate them across short-, medium- and long-term horizons, including supplier concentration, dependency on sole or specialist providers, and data and confidentiality risks.
• Lead on segmenting suppliers and develop long-term relationships and supply plans executed through cross-functional teams.

Stakeholder Management:

• Act as the dedicated procurement business partner to the Knowledge, Learning & Development and Finance functions, understanding their priorities and translating them into commercial outcomes.
• Collaborate in cross-functional teams such as legal, risk, information security, technology and operations to align procurement goals.
• Provide procurement partnering support services within the dedicated category departments, and other categories when required.
• Manage and resolve supply chain performance-related issues with the relevant department.
• Ensure compliance with internal policies, ethical standards and regulatory requirements.

Data Analytics:

• Use and build analytical dashboards to identify trends, risks and opportunities within the K&L and Finance categories.
• Provide regular reports on category performance, savings and value delivered, spend management and procurement partner metrics.
• Develop dashboards and tools to enhance visibility of spend, subscription usage, renewals and supplier performance.

Candidate profile

Candidates for this position must have:

• It is desirable the candidates possess deep knowledge of market dynamics and supplier ecosystems across the K&L and/or Finance categories;
• the ability to foster innovation and challenge the status quo in procurement processes;
• a commitment to ethical and sustainable procurement practices, with an aptitude for continuous improvement.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in procurement, with expertise in category management.
• Proven history in cost management, profit protection, value creation, supplier commercial negotiation and supplier management.
• Experience of managing a portfolio of high-value contracts and renewals, including subscription, licence or professional services agreements.

Category Experience:

Candidates should have experience developing category strategies, leading complex sourcing and renewals, negotiating commercial and contractual terms, and using market intelligence and benchmarking to deliver measurable value.

• For K&L, relevant experience may include research and information services, subscriptions, knowledge platforms, learning and development, professional training and specialist knowledge services.
• For Finance, relevant experience may include banking, insurance, audit, tax, financial systems and specialist financial or professional services.

Technical and Analytical Skills:

• Strong understanding of procurement processes, supplier management and category-specific trends.
• Proficiency in procurement systems and tools.
• Excellent knowledge of contract law and drafting agreements, including licence, subscription and professional services terms.
• Advanced data analytics and knowledge of BI and Excel.

Soft Skills:

• Exceptional communication and negotiation skills.
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Collaborative and able to influence stakeholders across all levels of management in the firm.

Education:

• Degree in supply chain, business administration or a related field or equivalent demonstrable experience
• CIPS highly desirable.

We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and will offer an interview to applicants with a disability or long-term condition who best meet the minimum or essential criteria for our Business Services roles. You are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. For more information about the Disability Confident scheme, please see the government website here.

We welcome applications irrespective of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, belief or marital status.