Strategic Category Manager - Clinical - Procurement & Supply Chain (Secondment)

Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand; New Zealand; Remote; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is seeking a Strategic Category Manager - Clinical to lead category strategies and procurement across the public health system. This secondment role oversees contracting, supplier relationships, and performance management to deliver high-quality healthcare and value for New Zealanders.

You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, influence national procurement practices, and drive commercial outcomes across multiple locations nationwide during a 12-month

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or higher degree in a relevant field is preferred.
• Proven experience leading strategic category management and sourcing.
• Strong negotiation and supplier management capabilities are required.
• Demonstrated financial and market analysis skills and collaborative leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee the full commercial lifecycle of a designated category.
• Develop category strategies and enable Sourcing Managers to deliver value.
• Influence national procurement practices and supplier performance management.

Skills

Category management

Strategic sourcing

Contract negotiation

Supplier relationship management

Financial analysis

Market analysis

Leadership

Education

Tertiary qualification

Job description

Strategic Category Manager - Clinical - Procurement & Supply Chain (Secondment)

• Full-time, seccondment opportunity (12 months)
• Work from any Health New Zealand office location nationwide

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is the country's largest employer, delivering universal public healthcare to 5 million New Zealanders.

We provide essential hospital, specialist, and community health services across 80+ locations — from large urban centres to rural towns and remote communities.

Our goal is to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders by delivering equitable, accessible and innovative care.

About the Role

As a Strategic Category Manager within our Commercial Directorate, you will play a key role in shaping and executing commercial strategies that support the delivery of high-quality healthcare across Aotearoa. This role is responsible for leading and overseeing the full commercial lifecycle of a designated category. You will lead the strategy development of a given categories and ensure our Sourcing Managers and Supplier Performance Managers, deliver excellent value through procurement, contracting, and supplier performance management within those categories for HealthNZ.

This is a high-impact role that offers the opportunity to influence national procurement practices and deliver meaningful public value. Few procurement jobs combine scale, complexity, and impact like those at Health New Zealand. We're talking about billions of dollars, thousands of suppliers, and a highly capable team that supports the health of an entire nation. This is where your skills move from impressive to invaluable. Here, your work doesn't just ripple through spreadsheets - it ripples through people's lives.

About the Team/Service

The Procurement, Supply Chain and Health Technology (PSC&HTM) team at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora are a national function with a vast and complex scope. They play a critical role in ensuring the availability, safety, and efficiency of clinical and non-clinical goods and services across the health system. Responsible for managing and influencing over$9 billion in annual spend, the team are central to delivering high-quality patient outcomes and standardising product usage across regions.

About you

You are a strategic and commercially minded professional with a strong background in category management and sourcing. You thrive in complex environments and bring a collaborative approach to your work. Your ability to build strong relationships, navigate market dynamics, and deliver impactful results makes you a trusted advisor and leader in your field. Driving and delivering value is simply second nature to you. And now, your time has truly come. The time to apply that skill and seasoned expertise to something bigger. A procurement career move – a calling - with real purpose. Imagine the impact and personal reward of helping to keep neonatal units stocked, emergency departments running, and hospital patients fed. This is career challenge with care running through every part.

You will bring:

• A tertiary qualification in a relevant field.
• 5+ years of experience in category management or strategic sourcing.
• Proven success in contract negotiation and supplier relationship management.
• Strong financial and market analysis capabilities.
• A collaborative and inclusive leadership style.

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

Job details

Job Reference:

Job Reference: 1951023

Location:

New Zealand - All values

Job type:

Job type: Secondment

Expertise:

Non-clinical - Supply Chain - Supply Chain