Strategic Indirect Category Lead – Marketing & Recruitment

OCS; England; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Award-Winning Employer

Digital Learning

Retail Perks

Professional Growth

Flexible Pay

Job summary

OCS UK & Ireland is seeking an experienced Indirect Category Manager to lead procurement across Marketing, Professional Services and Recruitment. You will manage approximately £25m annual spend and shape category strategy, supplier relationships and commercial negotiations in a fast-paced environment.

Reporting to the Head of Indirect Procurement, you will drive savings, governance and risk management while working closely with stakeholders across Marketing, HR, Finance and Legal to realise

Qualifications

• Experience in strategic procurement or category management across marketing, professional services and/or recruitment.
• Experience managing significant indirect spend and complex stakeholder environments.
• Proven success developing and delivering category strategies.
• Experience leading sourcing activities, supplier evaluation, negotiation and contract award.
• Strong commercial and contractual negotiation skills.
• Experience using spend analysis, market intelligence and business requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver 3-5 year category strategies aligned to business objectives and market trends.
• Manage approximately £25m annual Group & UK spend across assigned categories.
• Partner with senior stakeholders, providing procurement expertise and market insight.
• Support business development, acquisitions, mobilisations and integrations, ensuring commercial and supplier considerations are addressed early.
• Review supplier portfolios, contracts and commitments to identify consolidation, standardisation and cost‑saving opportunities.
• Lead market testing, benchmarking, supplier engagement and solution design activities.
• Deliver end‑to‑end sourcing programmes, including market analysis, RFIs, RFPs, e‑auctions, supplier evaluation, negotiation, contracting and award.
• Deliver savings, cost avoidance and wider commercial value while balancing quality, service, innovation and risk.
• Use market intelligence and benchmarking to challenge costs, validate proposals and identify opportunities.
• Lead negotiations covering pricing, commercial models, contracts, service levels and risk allocation.
• Develop strategic supplier relationships supported by effective KPI, SLA and governance frameworks.
• Manage contract renewals and procurement pipelines to minimise unmanaged and reactive spend.
• Drive supplier consolidation, standardisation, demand management and process improvement initiatives.
• Collaborate with Marketing, HR, Finance, Legal and Operations to manage commercial and contractual risk.
• Track and report category performance, savings, supplier performance, contract status and commercial risk.

Skills

Strategic procurement

Category management

Indirect spend management

Negotiation skills

Stakeholder management

Spend analysis

Supplier governance

Data-driven analysis

Multi-priority management

Dynamic environment experience

Education

CIPS qualification

Tools

Coupa

Microsoft Dynamics

Job description

OCS UK & Ireland is seeking an experienced Indirect Category Manager to lead procurement across Marketing, Professional Services and Recruitment. You will manage approximately £25m annual spend and shape category strategy, supplier relationships and commercial negotiations in a fast-paced environment.

Reporting to the Head of Indirect Procurement, you will drive savings, governance and risk management while working closely with stakeholders across Marketing, HR, Finance and Legal to realise