Senior Global Category Manager - Travel and Mobility

Sodexo Group; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Sodexo is seeking a Senior Global Category Manager for Travel and Mobility to lead procurement strategies across Europe. This role involves managing supplier relationships, driving category performance, and coordinating local buyers. The successful candidate will have significant procurement experience and excellent stakeholder engagement skills, operating within a dynamic, multicultural environment.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in procurement, especially in Travel and Car Fleet categories.
• Strong project leadership skills with the ability to manage cross-functional teams.
• Fluency in English; French is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive category strategies for Travel and Car Fleet.
• Lead end-to-end sourcing processes including RFI/RFP preparation.
• Manage day-to-day supplier performance and service delivery.

Skills

Category Management

Strategic Sourcing

Supplier Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Market Intelligence

Analytical Thinking

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Procurement, Supply Chain or equivalent

Job description

Senior Global Category Manager - Travel and Mobility

Job Introduction

Location : Stevenage, UK (Preferred)
Reporting to: Global Supply Management Category Director for Indirect Services
Travel: Up to 10-20%, mainly across Europe

Join Sodexo as a Senior Category Buyer – Travel & Mobility and play a key role in shaping our global procurement strategy .We’re looking for a commercially minded and strategic procurement professional to lead sourcing initiatives across our Travel and Car Fleet categories.This is a fantastic opportunity to manage high-impact supplier relationships, drive performance across multiple countries, and collaborate with a global network of procurement specialists.

If you’re a strategic, adaptable procurement professional with experience across multiple categories and a foundation in Travel and / or Mobility categories solutions, we encourage you to apply and help shape Sodexo’s procurement future.

Key Responsibilities

• Category Management: Own and drive category strategies for Travel and Car Fleet across defined geographies. Ensure business alignment, cost optimization, supplier innovation, and full integration of Sodexo CSR ambition.
• Strategic Sourcing: Lead end-to-end sourcing processes including RFI/RFP preparation, evaluation, supplier selection, negotiation, and implementation. Ensure robust governance and stakeholder engagement throughout.
• Supplier Relationship Management: Manage day-to-day supplier performance and act as the key point of contact for strategic vendors, ensuring service delivery and issue resolution.
• Network Animation: Lead and coordinate a network of local buyers. Share best practices, ensure consistency of sourcing approaches, and drive local implementation of strategic initiatives.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Engage cross-functional stakeholders (Finance, HR, Operations, Legal) to ensure business needs are fully integrated into category plans and sourcing decisions.
• Market Intelligence: Monitor trends and innovations in the mobility ecosystem to identify cost-saving or improvement opportunities.
• Contract Management: Negotiate and manage supplier contracts in close coordination with Sodexo Legal teams.
• Data & Reporting: Define KPIs and reporting frameworks to track category performance, savings delivery, and supplier KPIs. Contribute to management reporting and category dashboards.

Unique Challenges of the Role

The ideal candidate brings strong procurement expertise, a track record of independently managing complex sourcing projects, and the ability to influence in a matrixed and multicultural environment.

This position requires agility, strategic thinking, and strong stakeholder management to succeed in an environment marked by:

• Decentralized Procurement Landscape : Aligning diverse local practices with a harmonized category strategy.
• Data Limitations : Navigating incomplete or fragmented spend and usage data to support strategic decisions.
• Change Management : Challenging the status quo and embedding new ways of working across teams and geographies.

Profile – Key Skills & Experience

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Procurement, Supply Chain, or equivalent.
• Experience: Extensive experience in procurement; with proven experience leading Travel and/or Car Fleet sourcing projects..
• Leadership: Strong project leadership skills with ability to manage cross-functional teams and influence without authority.
• Autonomy & Accountability: Comfortable working independently and taking full ownership of strategic initiatives.
• Communication and Interpersonal skills: Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, capable of interacting with senior leaders and local buyers alike .
• Analytical & Strategic Mindset: Able to combine strong analytical capabilities with a long-term category vision .Skilled at working with complex and fragmented data sets to identify spend patterns, build robust business cases, quantify savings opportunities, and support strategic decision-making. Comfortable with data tools and KPIs, and able to translate insights into actionable sourcing lever.
• Language: Fluent in English; French is a plus.

Ready to be part of something greater? Apply today!

About The Company

At Sodexo, our purpose is to create a better everyday for everyone to build a better life for all.As the global leader in services that improve the Quality of Life, we operate in 55 countries, serving over 100 million consumers each day through our unique combination of On-Site Food and FM Services, Benefits & Rewards Services and Personal & Home Services.

We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities, and we celebrate diversity .We’re an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be natural, and be the best versions of themselves.We recognise that we’re on a journey with regards to diversity and inclusion and would therefore welcome applications for candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.

We’re a Disability Confident Leader employer.We’re committed to changing attitudes towards disability, and making sure disabled people have the chance to fulfil their aspirations.We run a Disability Confident interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria for the job.

Salary Competitive salary depending on experience