Procurement Category Manager

Kennedys; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A global law firm in Birmingham is seeking a Procurement Category Manager to develop and implement procurement strategies across its business services. The successful candidate will provide high-quality procurement guidance and support to stakeholders, manage supplier engagement programs, and enhance procurement processes within the firm. The role requires a professional CIPS qualification or equivalent and substantial experience in strategic procurement.

Benefits

Opportunities for career development

Inclusive firm culture

Supportive work environment

Qualifications

• Professional CIPS qualification or equivalent desired.
• Substantial experience working in a similar role.
• Proven track record of providing strategic procurement advice.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert advice to stakeholders throughout the procurement lifecycle.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders.
• Support the development of the Global Procurement Strategy.

Skills

Strategic procurement advice

Strong verbal and written communication skills

Sustainable procurement initiatives

Market research

Education

CIPS qualification or equivalent

Tools

Advanced Excel

Databases and analytics tools

Job description

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Kennedys are seeking an experienced and strategic-minded Procurement Category Manager to support the development of the Procurement function across all business services departments and the legal practice. The ideal candidate will be responsible for developing and implementing procurement strategies to support our business objectives, optimise costs, and ensure the timely and efficient delivery of goods and services.

This role will provide high quality procurement guidance, advice and support to internal stakeholders to facilitate the implementation of Procurement Strategy enabling the firm to deliver its vision and goals.

The Procurement function at Kennedys is growing and the successful candidate will support the Head of Sustainable Procurement in developing policies, processes and ways of working as it seeks to add increased value to the business.

Team

Procurement within Kennedys sits within the wider Facilities team who ensure that the firm's offices are maintained and consistently delivered to a high standard. They drive the continuous improvement of all aspects of Kennedys facilities management and property portfolio globally.

The Facilities team provide strategic support on projects, with suppliers and budget management as well as Front of House services, and ensure the firm operates the Health & Safety policy and acts in accordance with Health and Safety regulation and ISO and BSI standards.

The Facilities team have presence in all Kennedys offices.

Key responsibilities

• Provide expert advice to all stakeholders throughout the procurement lifecycle to achieve fit for purpose, sustainable, diverse and innovative sourcing solutions. This will include analysis, market research, identification and qualification of suppliers, preparation of tender documentation, management of sourcing processes, analysing supplier responses, project management and stakeholder management.
• Influence, develop and maintain strong relationships with all stakeholders; internal customers, such as Team Leaders, Divisional Heads, Directors and Local Managing Partners and external supply partners/providers.
• Support the development of the Global Procurement Strategy and Policies across the firm which build on our vision and goals.
• The Category Manager will be expected to support the Head of Procurement in establishing and strengthening the Procurement function within Kennedys. This will involve the creation and communication of governance.
• Lead the supplier engagement programme to embed sustainable procurement within our supply chain, ensure adherence to our Supplier Code of Conduct and implement steps to reduce the carbon emissions from our purchased goods and services.
• Manage the continuous improvement of the firm's procurement processes and reporting, to track spend and supplier performance, fulfil ESG reporting requirements and provide effective commercial insight by identifying areas of risk to be addressed.
• Develop and deliver appropriate procurement and contract management training across the firm.

Required experience

• Professional CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply) qualification or equivalent desired.
• Substantial experience working in a similar role.
• Proven track record of providing strategic procurement advice and support to stakeholders at all levels across an organization.
• Excellent understanding of the commercial environment including the identification of commercial risk and providing high level commercial advice to stakeholders at all levels.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to influence at a senior level.
• Strong knowledge and experience of sustainable Procurement initiatives.
• Excellent IT skills including advanced Excel and experience of using databases and analytics tools.

Please let us know if you require any additional support or adjustments to be made in order to submit your application to Kennedys.

*where a level of experience is indicated, this is a guideline only and represents the amount of time we would usually expect a candidate to accumulate the requisite level of experience. This does not preclude applications from candidates with more or less experience.

About Kennedys

Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 2,750 people worldwide across 47 offices in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and America we have some of the most respected legal minds in their field.

Our lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services, for many industry sectors but we have particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.

We're a fresh-thinking firm, and we're not afraid to bring challenging new perspectives to the table way beyond the traditional realm of legal services. We empower our clients with a diverse range of ideas, tools and technology to make their lives easier, as well as delivering exceptional results, every time.

What do we have to offer?

We welcome high-performing lawyers, business services professionals, secretaries, graduates and apprentices to join our rapidly expanding global firm. Whatever your role at Kennedys, you'll be involved in exciting and stimulating work, where your input will make a difference.

Our culture and values form a big part of who we are and we take them seriously. We make a difference by being approachable, straightforward, supportive and distinctive. Our values are at the core of who we are and what make us a great firm to work with and for.

The Firm recognises the value of investing in our people's development and believes our culture and values contribute to the quality of our work and of our client relationships. With a culture of on-the-job and experiential learning, peer to peer learning, mentoring, resources and tools that enable you to drive your career, we can support your development in your current and future roles. A variety of other opportunities are available including secondments to clients and our global offices.

We strive to celebrate diversity, empower our people and ensure everyone can bring their authentic selves to work. We've created a culture based on client service, professional excellence, hard work and trust, where diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key priority. We recognise that many of our people want to work for an employer that is aligned to their values, which is why we are building an inclusive culture, decarbonising our operations and supporting our people to thrive at work. Our people are the key to driving this change and helping us to make a difference to our clients, our people and the communities in which we live and work.

Kennedys is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We expect all employees to be aware of and comply with all relevant policies and procedures within their jurisdiction, including those relating to Information Security, Data Protection and Quality Management, refer any breach promptly to Risk & Compliance and to complete all mandatory training when requested.