Category Specialist

Starr Underwriting; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a leading company as a Category Specialist, responsible for sourcing Marketing and Brand solutions within a hybrid working environment. This role involves strategic supplier management, contract negotiation, and collaboration with internal teams to enhance procurement strategies. We value diverse backgrounds and encourage all to apply.

Benefits

16% bonus up to 32%

Private medical cover

38 days annual leave

Excellent pension plan

Career breaks and income protection

3x volunteering days

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in indirect category procurement.
• Good negotiation skills; ability to influence internal and external stakeholders.
• Some knowledge of marketing and financial services procurement.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement sourcing strategies for marketing and client-facing services.
• Research and manage supplier relationships to ensure quality and cost-effectiveness.
• Negotiate contracts and manage supplier performance.

Skills

Negotiating skills

Stakeholder communication

Market analysis

Tools

Procurement tools

Job description

Job Description

We have an incredible opportunity to join us here at Phoenix Group as a Category Specialist to join our Asset Management & Product category team within the Group Procurement and Partner Management function (GPPM).

Job Type: Fixed Term Contract - 6 months

Location: This role is hybrid with working from home and time in either our Edinburgh or Birmingham offic e.

Flexible working: All of our roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about Phoenix Flex here.

Closing Date: 29 th July 2025

Salary and benefits: £52,100-£55,000 plus 16% bonus up to 32%, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more

The role

We’re looking for a proactive and commercially minded Category Specialist to support our GPP Managers. In this role, you’ll be responsible for identifying, evaluating and acquiring Marketing & Brand and Client-Facing/Financial Services solutions from external third-parties. You will be involved in researching market trends, negotiating contracts, and end-to-end sourcing activities to ensure the selected third-party solutions align with company standards and objectives.

Key Accountabilities

Category strategy development: Support the development and implementation of sourcing strategies and plans for Marketing & Brand and Client-Facing/Financial Services categories and sub-categories.

Supplier selection and management: Research the supply market to identify, assess and commercially manage end-to-end relationships with suppliers to ensure the delivery of high-quality products and services at competitive pricing.

Sourcing and negotiation: Lead, or support, the sourcing process for solutions within category remit - negotiate contracts and manage supplier performance to achieve cost savings and mitigate risks.

Deliver and embed cost savings: Implement cost optimisation strategies including, but not limited to, demand management, volume consolidation, and process efficiencies to drive savings and improve profitability.

Risk Management: Proactively identify and mitigate risks associated with sourcing activities, including managing regulatory contractual change, ESG standards (Environmental, Social and Governance), supplier risks, contract risks and ensure business continuity.

Cross-functional collaboration: Collaborate with internal stakeholders including Finance, Legal, Risk, and Business Unit executives to understand their needs and requirements and provide strategic guidance and support.

Continuous Improvement: Drive continuous improvement initiatives with the Centre of Excellence team ensuring that procurement and third-party management best practices and technology is adopted to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of GPPM.

What are we looking for?

• Demonstrable experience of working in a Procurement role responsible for an indirect category of spend (ideally involving Marketing and/or Technology), leading end-to-end third-party sourcing activities including opportunity identification, drafting of technical and commercial requirements, market analysis, proposal / supplier evaluation, commercial and contracting negotiation planning and execution, and awareness of third-party risk management process.
• Good negotiating skills with the ability to influence and communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Some knowledge of the Marketing & Brand and/or Client-Facing/Financial Services third-party supply markets, with an inquisitive mind.
• Some working knowledge of contracting models, commercial terms and conditions and the confidence to negotiate them.
• Experience of working with procurement tools and systems & working knowledge of financial services regulation.
  
  

We Want To Hire The Whole Version Of You.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.

If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

We’re reviewing applications as they come in, so apply early to avoid missing out.

Find out more about

• Guide for Candidates: thephoenixgroup.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates
• Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.thephoenixgroup.com/careers/talk-to-us