Category Manager

Computacenter; Irvine (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Computacenter North America seeks a senior leader to oversee a defined category within the partner management organization. You will manage the category team, drive commercial partnerships with manufacturers and service partners, and align with sales units to deliver competitive advantage.

You will lead performance reviews, develop team capabilities, and ensure professional qualification. The role requires strategic thinking, strong communication, and proven relationship management across

Qualifications

• University degree or equivalent qualification.
• More than 3 years of professional experience or professional specialization.
• Distinct strategic and analytical thinking; high problem-solving competence.
• Very good communication skills and professional appearance in language and appearance.
• Ability to lead and motivate teams across regional borders.
• Excellent relationship management with internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong negotiating skills for complex commercial arrangements.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for defined category within partner management and personnel leadership for the category team.
• Develop and execute commercial strategies with manufacturers, distributors, and service partners.
• Drive operational excellence and support Quote-to-Cash processes.
• Set targets, conduct performance reviews, and coordinate development plans.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration to achieve category goals and optimize profitability.
• Manage P&L for the category and align with strategic alliance activities.
• Support complex negotiations and ensure favorable outcomes for Computacenter.
• Maintain contacts with partner contacts and communicate segmentation and strategy.

Skills

People management

Strategic thinking

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Team leadership

Relationship management

Negotiation skills

Presentation skills

Cross-regional collaboration

Education

University degree

Job description

Responsibility for a defined category within the partner management organization. Personnel responsibility for the category team. Management of the relevant commercial partner relationships with manufacturers, distributors, and service partners with the aim of achieving a commercial competitive advantage for the sales teams in the country units. Delivering Operational Excellence and supporting the “Quote to Cash “Process.

What you'll be doing

• Performing the personnel responsibility for the employees in the defined category.
• Setting an example and creating a trustful, productive and positive working environment.
• Delegation of responsibility for processes and tasks to the category team, setting and measuring corresponding targets for the individual team members.
• Conducting regular performance reviews, developing and coordinating personnel development plans, coaching and mentoring employees in their own team. Ensuring the professional qualification of employees.
• Aligning and developing one's own team towards a high-performance team, in which each individual team member is deployed in accordance with his or her strengths and, in cooperation with the team members, makes a valuable contribution to the success of the team and the fulfilment of the set goals.
• Ensuring regular contact with employees through the appropriate combination of on-site presence and the use of telecommunication media such as teams, etc. Use of "distance leadership" methods where continuous on-site team leadership is not possible.
• Responsibility for commercial contribution growth in the defined category
• Maximise overall profitability using existing or negotiating alongside the strategic sales alliance team new partner agreements or programmes
• Achieving the optimal commercial agreements within the Computacenter Group through close cooperation and
• Coordination with the corresponding category managers within the partner management organisation and with Expert Services
• Positioning of the team in the direction of the country unit (especially sales) as knowledge carriers to the partners' contacts, processes, and programmes
• Regular coordination, revision and communication of the partner segmentation and strategy for the defined category
• Responsibility for the qualitative development of relations with the defined partners in the category
• Preparation and coordination of an annual business plan per category and coordination with the goals for Strategic Alliance Partner function
• Management and further development of effective commercial instruments such as PVC (Preferred Vendor Contribution) and War chest
• Further development and maintenance of an opportunity pipeline for the category as well as coordination and communication of a regular forecast for sales, Soft$ and MDF income.
• Responsibility and management of P&L for the category
• Support Strategic Alliance Sales Directors with complex commercial negotiations and working in harmony to deliver the right outcome.

Management of operational purchasing

• Stock responsibility regarding valuation and inventory management
• Day to Day Support for buyers and ensuring logistics and end to end supply chain performance is best in class
• Managed inbound delivery disputes and be a point of escalation for the buyers,
• Workflow and Due Data management is monitored to delivery operational excellence to the Country Unit

What you have

• University degree or equivalent qualification, more than 3 years of professional experience or professional specialization good knowledge of business administration, distinctive overall entrepreneurial thinking and acting
• Distinct strategic and analytical thinking; high problem-solving competence
• Very good communication skills and professional appearance in language and appearance, also excellent Abilities to structure complex issues clearly, to prepare them vividly and to present them convincingly
• Ability to lead and motivate teams - even across regional borders
• Comprehensive understanding of culture, ability to work constructively and result-oriented in dialogue with team members and contacts throughout CC North America
• Excellent relationship management - Ability to build and maintain a comprehensive network of internal and external stakeholders at employee and management Level.
• Negotiating skills - strong ability to conduct complex negotiations for the benefit of Computacenter
• Team-oriented thinking and working; high competence in the moderation and motivation of teams
• High resilience and self-motivation; high sustainability and implementation strengthComprehensive technology and market understanding in the relevant category environment
• Ability to define, agree and develop clearly formulated strategies and business plans
• Ability to build and develop an opportunity pipeline for the responsible business in order to achieve the set business objectives
• Confident business English for conversations with manufacturer contacts across Computacenter North America and Group –
• Existing personnel responsibility or passed management experience
• Diverse specialist activities with decisions and development of solutions
• Collaborative skills to partner closely and alongside the Strategic Sales Alliance team to achieve mutual benefits for Computacenter
• Strong presentation skills to be able to present complex commercial solutions to key stakeholders