Category Team Manager Core IT and Infrastructure

Citizens Bank; Johnston (RI); On-site; USD 140,000 - 248,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Retirement benefits

Flexible work arrangements

Education reimbursement

Wellness programs

Job summary

Citizens Bank seeks an Enterprise Services and Cloud Strategy Category Manager to lead a team of sourcing professionals across ERP, Data Analytics, AI, and Cloud platforms. You will drive multi-year category strategies, partner with business lines, and deliver measurable value in a highly regulated environment.

You'll coach negotiations, develop risk-aware supplier governance, and present executive insights to senior leaders, shaping strategic decisions across IT and operations.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in category management, vendor management and strategic sourcing.
• Experience leading complex negotiations and enterprise-wide sourcing initiatives.
• Strong commercial acumen and financial modeling capability.
• Advanced analytical skills translating data into insights.
• Cross-functional collaboration and consensus-building across stakeholders.
• Executive-level communication and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute multi-year category strategies aligned to business and enterprise objectives.
• Define category vision, value targets, performance expectations, and strategic guardrails.
• Maintain a comprehensive category strategy that includes demand forecasts, supplier and contract landscapes, market intelligence, and a savings and value roadmap.
• Own annual category value targets, including cost savings, cost avoidance, and productivity improvements.
• Identify opportunities for demand management, specification optimization, and supplier rationalization.
• Track, measure, and report realized savings and category performance outcomes.
• Participate complex, cross-functional sourcing initiatives, including RFIs, RFPs, and supplier negotiations.
• Inform fact-based negotiation strategies supported by financial analysis and market insights.
• Partner closely Business, Strategic Sourcing, Risk, and Compliance teams to ensure appropriate commercial, regulatory alignment and performance levels and penalties.
• Manage strategic supplier relationships through structured governance, including performance scorecards and regular business reviews.
• Define and monitor supplier KPIs aligned to business outcomes.
• Proactively address supplier performance issues and mitigate operational, financial, concentration, and resiliency risks.
• Collaborate with third-party risk, compliance, and information security partners to support effective risk management in a regulated environment.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders.
• Influence sourcing and demand decisions early in the planning cycle.
• Constructively challenge demand and assumptions to optimize enterprise outcomes.
• Present clear, executive-ready insights and strategic recommendations.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of sourcing professionals to strengthen category management capabilities and drive consistent execution.
• Set clear performance expectations, priorities, and accountability measures aligned to enterprise sourcing objectives.
• Provide day-to-day guidance on complex sourcing strategies, stakeholder engagement, supplier negotiations, and issue resolution.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performing team culture focused on continuous improvement, professional growth, and measurable business impact.
• Support resource planning, workload prioritization, and talent development to ensure effective delivery across assigned categories and initiatives.

Skills

Category management

Vendor management

Strategic sourcing

Negotiation leadership

Financial modeling

Analytical skills

Executive communication

Stakeholder management

Education

MBA or CPSM certification

Job description

Description

Citizens has transformed the Strategic Sourcing experience across the enterprise. As a CategoryTeam Manager within Strategic Sourcing, you will direct a team of Sourcing colleagues, leverage advanced spend analytics, forward‑looking market intelligence, and an integrated source‑to‑pay ecosystem to serve as a trusted strategic advisor to business line executives.

This role owns the development and execution of multi‑year category strategies that drive measurable enterprise value across cost optimization, demand management, supplier performance, risk mitigation, and innovation. The Category Manager acts as the enterprise category expert—aligning business, technology, finance, and risk stakeholders around a common strategic direction.

As a team manager you will have responsibility to knowledge share category insights with both direct and indirect reports.Develop and influence negotiation strategies, promote an environment of collaboration and team development, lead and coach strategic vendor negotiations.

Success in this role requires strong commercial acumen, executive presence, negotiation leadership, and the ability to operate effectively in a regulated banking environment.

We are seeking an Enterprise Services and Cloud Strategy Category Manager to support the sub categories of Enterprise Platforms, including ERP, Data Analytics, AI, and Governance and Risk Platforms, as well as Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps and Cloud Observability & Monitoring.

Key Responsibilities

Category Strategy & Value Delivery

• Develop and execute multi‑year category strategies aligned to business and enterprise objectives.
• Define category vision, value targets, performance expectations, and strategic guardrails.
• Maintain a comprehensive category strategy that includes demand forecasts, supplier and contract landscapes, market intelligence, and a savings and value roadmap.
• Own annual category value targets, including cost savings, cost avoidance, and productivity improvements.
• Identify opportunities for demand management, specification optimization, and supplier rationalization.
• Track, measure, and report realized savings and category performance outcomes.

Inform Contract Negotiation

• Participate complex, cross‑functional sourcing initiatives, including RFIs, RFPs, and supplier negotiations.
• Inform fact‑based negotiation strategies supported by financial analysis and market insights.
• Partner closely Business, Strategic Sourcing, Risk, and Compliance teams to ensure appropriate commercial, regulatory alignment and performance levels and penalties.

Supplier & Risk Management

• Manage strategic supplier relationships through structured governance, including performance scorecards and regular business reviews.
• Define and monitor supplier KPIs aligned to business outcomes.
• Proactively address supplier performance issues and mitigate operational, financial, concentration, and resiliency risks.
• Collaborate with third‑party risk, compliance, and information security partners to support effective risk management in a regulated environment.

Stakeholder Partnership & Influence

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders.
• Influence sourcing and demand decisions early in the planning cycle.
• Constructively challenge demand and assumptions to optimize enterprise outcomes.
• Present clear, executive‑ready insights and strategic recommendations.

Team Management & Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of sourcing professionals to strengthen category management capabilities and drive consistent execution.
• Set clear performance expectations, priorities, and accountability measures aligned to enterprise sourcing objectives.
• Provide day‑to‑day guidance on complex sourcing strategies, stakeholder engagement, supplier negotiations, and issue resolution.
• Foster a collaborative, high‑performing team culture focused on continuous improvement, professional growth, and measurable business impact.
• Support resource planning, workload prioritization, and talent development to ensure effective delivery across assigned categories and initiatives.

What You Bring

Required Qualifications

• 6+ years of progressive experience in category management, vendor management and strategic sourcing.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex negotiations and enterprise‑wide sourcing initiatives.
• Strong commercial acumen and financial modeling capability.
• Advanced analytical skills with the ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Experience working cross‑functionally and driving consensus across stakeholders.
• Structured, organized, and methodical planning skills.
• Executive‑level communication and presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in financial services or other regulated industries.
• Knowledge of third‑party risk management frameworks and regulatory environments.
• Experience managing large, complex spend portfolios.
• MBA or professional certification (CPSM, CIPS, or similar).

Core Competencies

• Strategic thinking and long‑term planning
• Negotiation and influencing skills
• Financial and analytical rigor
• Risk‑aware decision making
• Stakeholder management and executive presence
• Change leadership in matrixed environments

Hours & Work Schedule

• 40 hours per week
• Monday – Friday

Pay Transparency

The salary range for this position is $139,680– $248,320 per year, plus an opportunity to earn additional incentive earnings (if applicable). Actual pay is based on various factors including, but not limited to, the budget, work location, and relevant skills and experience. No other portions of the posting are changing, including benefits language or incentive guidance (e.g., Teller roles should continue to remove incentive language as noted).

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more. Note, Citizens’ paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory, paid sick or paid time‑away policy of every local and state jurisdiction in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits .

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Some job boards have started using jobseeker‑reported data to estimate salary ranges for roles. If you apply and qualify for this role, a recruiter will discuss accurate pay guidance.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.