Global Category Manager Professional Services

ING; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation days 25–28

Pension scheme

13th month salary

8% Holiday payment

Hybrid working

Personal growth and challenging work

Innovative colleagues

Job summary

ING is seeking a Global Category Manager Professional Services to develop category strategies for consultancy, contingency labour and legal services. You will lead negotiations with top vendors and drive cost improvements, working closely with Board members and stakeholders across regions.

The role emphasizes governance, risk management, and delivering procurement value in a fast‑moving financial services environment, with hybrid working and ample growth opportunities.

Qualifications

• Master English business language, both spoken and written.
• Strong negotiation skills with senior stakeholders.
• Analytical skills for market trends, supplier risk and cost optimization.
• Regulatory and compliance knowledge within finance procurement.
• Legal acumen relevant to advisory services and contracts.
• Strategic mindset to develop and execute sourcing strategies.
• Experience leading cross‑functional teams and large-scale negotiations.

Responsibilities

• Develop and drive category strategies for Professional Services (consultancy, contingency labour, legal services).
• Lead negotiations with top strategic vendors and present results to C‑level and Board.
• Execute strategic sourcing and RFX processes; manage supplier selection and risk.
• Partner with stakeholders to implement cost reduction and value creation initiatives.
• Build and manage supplier relationships, governance, and performance metrics.
• Coach and lead category buys and teams across regions; manage change and transformation.

Skills

English (business)

Negotiation

Analytics

Project management

Stakeholder management

Regulatory compliance

Legal acumen

Strategic thinking

Sustainable procurement

Data presentation

Job description

(Reposted)

The Global Category Manager Professional Services is responsible for developing and driving the category strategies related to the Professional Services category including consultancy activities (strategy, management, IT), contingency and temporary labour, legal services Achieve goals by setting favourable conditions for the organization, steering vendor strategy , ensuring significant year-on-year cost improvements while meeting financial and budget targets and provide financial market updates for forecasting and budget purposes. Identify and implement demand, productivity and innovative improvements while maintaining quality and managing vendor service levels. Work closely with internal and external key stakeholders including Board members to develop effective cost reduction strategies and implementation plans.

Your responsibilities

Category Expertise

• Provide and share category trends, developments, and risks for assigned sub-categories with Procurement colleagues and senior business stakeholders for either identifying opportunities or triggering awareness.
• Knowledge and extensive experience with top 10 strategic Professional Services vendors. Leverage on expertise to successfully lead negotiations with strategic supplier firms as Mckinsey, BCG, Oliver Wyman, ability to steer decision and present result up to C-Level and Board Level.
• Leverage on expertise to successfully lead negotiations with consulting firms such as EY, PWC, Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture, Capgemini implementing pricing mechanisms across the organization.
• Proven experience in managing sourcing initiatives related to professional services and in general understanding of professional services fee structures.
• Solid understanding of Consulting market including strategic advisory services and management consulting (business transformation, risk consulting, tax consulting, etc.), benchmarking rates and pricing models.
• Solid understanding of Legal panel services (litigation services, regulatory advisory, specialist legal expertise). Proven experience in contracting frameworks, fee models and billing structures (T&M, fix fee, retainer, outcome-based fee, capped fee, etc.) related to professional services.
• Proven experience with contracts which includes clauses and obligation specific to advisory services (confidentiality, IP, conflict of Interest, etc.).
• Solid understanding of workforce market (contingency and Temping) and related regulatory frameworks and proven experience in identifying and implementing optimization initiatives.

Category Management

• Execute business partnering activities by establishing and managing business stakeholder relationships and align on business specific objectives targets. Establish, review and monitor governance policies with business stakeholders and provide training if necessary.
• Identify business innovation opportunities and stakeholders need and expectations. Monitor and analyse stakeholder satisfaction.
• Gather market intelligence and assess supplier innovation opportunities and market innovation trends.
• Develop and execute forward looking category strategies and plans for the Professional Services category covering the input from team members managing strategic suppliers and contracts in this category. Establish KPI’s and manage category performance.
• Manage and conduct supplier segmentations and manage supplier performance and risk.
• Perform strategic activities around innovation management and developing and releasing new specifications with suppliers.
• Execute strategic sourcing activities, provide project level risk assessments and mitigation plans. Define project scope and objectives by developing sourcing approaches, sourcing strategies, conducting complex supplier negotiations and managing the supplier selection process.
• Build supplier relationships, prepare/validate negotiation strategies, conduct strategic/complex supplier negotiation sessions and manage escalations/conflicts.
• Give direction to the teams on the sourcing initiatives activities (RFX) and contract signings and approvals.
• Provide guidance to the contract management team for the contract creation and finalization process.
• Consult the Procurement Leadership team on the development of the procurement strategy by analysing market trends, communicating governance strategies and reviewing corporate strategy.
• Manage buying channel strategies.
• Function as an SME towards the business for the respective category.
• Develop and implement the global strategy and/or include local requirements where applicable.
• Drive contract and third-party risk compliance for a full area of responsibility.

People Management

• Lead the sourcing & category experts in their area of expertise and procurement generally by influencing.
• Coach category buyers on how to negotiate, make analyses, and build strategies. Lead and influence cross-functional teams across regions.
• Execute functional-, talent-, people- and performance management.
• Perform stakeholder management activities with senior stakeholders by leveraging advanced advisory skills.

Strategic Challenges

One of the key challenges in this role, and across the broader organisation, is transitioning from a business partner model to a category-focused approach. Success in this position will depend on the ability to embed category management practices in close collaboration with local procurement teams, thereby unlocking strategic category opportunities. Importantly, this challenge extends beyond capability building in alignment with global direction; it also involves ensuring the consistent adoption and practical application of these capabilities across all locations.

Your profile

Work Experience

• >6 years in Procurement area, preferably at a strategic level in an international financial services provider organisation.
• >6 years experience in managing (hierarchical line) direct reports or actively coaching (functional) procurement colleagues.
• >5 years of Category specific experience for workforce management (contingency and temping labour) including understanding of different country legal frameworks, related market technologies.
• Experience in promoting and setting initiatives around workforce location strategy and cost optimization programme.
• Proven experience in managing Global Legal panel.
• Proven track record in delivering Procurement Value.
• Experience in leadership and transformation.
• Experience working with offshore teams.

Competencies

• Master English business language/communication perfectly (spoken as well as written).
• Strong project management skills to align with multiple stakeholders.
• Strong negotiation skills.
• Regulatory and Compliance aspects of procurement in finance organisation.
• Legal acumen.
• Analytical Skills.
• Strategic mindset: develop and execute best in class sourcing strategies with involvement of Business stakeholders.
• Influencing and conflict resolution skills.
• Agile and self-driven.
• Drive Sustainable Procurement.
• Proficient in data analysis and executive presentation.

Rewards and benefits

We want to make sure that it's possible for you to strike the right balance between your career and your private life.

Find out more about our employment conditions.

The benefits of working with us at ING include:

• 25-28 vacation days depending on contract

• Pension scheme

• 13th month salary

• 8% Holiday payment

• Hybrid working

• Personal growth and challenging work with endless possibilities

• An informal working environment with innovative colleagues

About us

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