Manager, Technology Category Management

Value Apothecaries; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Cencora is seeking a Manager, Technology Category Management to lead category strategy and sourcing for Hardware/Telecom/Cloud, Software, or Technology Services. You will identify opportunities, negotiate agreements and manage supplier relationships to deliver value.

You will partner with IT and business stakeholders, drive savings, risk reduction, and ensure contract compliance while mentoring analysts and guiding best practices across the category.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Information Technology or related field; MBA preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, category management or procurement, with at least 3 years focused on technology categories.
• Demonstrated success negotiating technology contracts and delivering measurable savings.

Responsibilities

• Category execution: Manage category strategies, sourcing plans and pipeline priorities for assigned spend areas.
• Productivity identification: Analyze spend, demand and market data to identify cost savings opportunities.
• Sourcing and negotiation: Lead sourcing events, supplier evaluations, negotiations and award recommendations.
• Contract expertise: MSAs, SaaS, Cloud Agreements and pricing/licensing terms governance.
• Productivity delivery: Realize savings, drive implementation and track benefits.
• Supplier management: Manage supplier performance, contracts and risk.
• Stakeholder coordination: Align requirements with business/ IT/ Legal/ Finance and provide status updates to leadership.
• Budget and savings tracking: Manage budgets and report performance.
• Market insight: Stay informed on market trends and vendor capabilities.
• MA&D support: Support vendor overlap analysis and due diligence.
• Process improvement: Contribute to policy adherence and tool adoption.
• Team guidance: Mentor analysts and promote best practices.

Skills

Category management

Sourcing & negotiation

Vendor management

Stakeholder engagement

Contract management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Information Technology or related field

MBA

Job description

Our team members are at the heart of everything we do. At Cencora, we are united in our responsibility to create healthier futures, and every person here is essential to us being able to deliver on that purpose. If you want to make a difference at the center of health, come join our innovative company and help us improve the lives of people and animals everywhere.

Job Details

The Manager, Technology Category Management executes category strategy and sourcing activity for assigned technology spend within one of three categories: Hardware/Telecom/Cloud, Software, or Technology Services. The role identifies, negotiates and delivers productivity, manages supplier relationships, and partners with business and IT stakeholders to capture value. The Manager partners with peer category leads and may guide analysts supporting the category. This role is critical to delivering savings, risk reduction and supplier performance for the enterprise.

Responsibilities

• Category execution: Manage category strategies, sourcing plans and pipeline priorities for assigned spend areas, aligned with business demand, service, quality and cost objectives; develop the annual plan for assigned spend and contribute to the broader category plan.
• Productivity identification: Analyze spend, demand and market data to identify productivity (cost savings and cost avoidance) opportunities such as consolidation, demand management, renegotiation, rate and license optimization and process improvement; maintain the opportunity pipeline for assigned spend.
• Sourcing and negotiation: Lead sourcing events, supplier evaluations, negotiations and award recommendations to secure commercial value and category continuity within policy and control requirements; manage contracts within delegated authority and
• Contract expertise: MSA, Saas, Cloud Agreements and demonstrate expertise in technology contract terms (pricing models, licensing rights, IP etc..), governance practices to ensure compliance to maximize long term value.
• Productivity delivery: Deliver negotiated productivity through realization, validating savings against baseline spend with Finance, driving implementation and business adoption of negotiated terms, and tracking benefits to completion.
• Supplier management: Manage supplier performance, contract compliance and issue resolution to address service, quality, risk and supply concerns; run supplier reviews, track SLAs and KPIs, and flag financial and cyber risk.
• Stakeholder coordination: Coordinate cross-functional stakeholders (business, IT, Legal, Finance, Security, Regional Sourcing/Country Leads) to align requirements, specifications, timelines and handoffs; serve as primary contact with business and vendor counterparts for assigned spend and provide timely status updates with risks and recommendations to the Director.
• Budget and savings tracking: Manage budgets, savings tracking and delivery plans for assigned spend using financial, capacity and quality metrics; report performance to the Director and leadership.
• Market insight: Maintain current knowledge of market trends, emerging technologies (e.g., cloud, AI, cybersecurity) and vendor capabilities to inform sourcing approaches and negotiation positions.
• MA&D support: Support MA&D and corporate initiatives, including vendor overlap and synergy analysis, due diligence, Day-1 readiness and post-transaction integration or separation.
• Process improvement: Contribute to process improvements, onboarding, cross-training and local standardization efforts; follow and help maintain category policies, procedures and playbooks, and support adoption of approved tools and practices.
• Team guidance: Provide day-to-day guidance and coaching to analysts and other team members on analysis, sourcing events and best practices; support clear routines, accountability and escalation paths.

Category Focus

• Hardware / Telecom / Cloud: end-user and data center hardware, networking, telecom and carrier services, public cloud and hosting (IaaS/PaaS), consumption and commitment models (e.g., EDP/MACC, reserved capacity).
• Software: enterprise, SaaS and infrastructure software; licensing models, renewals, true-ups and audits; platform and ecosystem vendors (ERP, security, data, collaboration, AI).
• Technology Services: IT consulting, systems integration, application development and managed services, staff augmentation, outsourcing and offshore delivery models.

Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Information Technology or related field; MBA preferred.

5+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, category management or procurement, with at least 3 years focused on technology categories; experience in the assigned category (hardware/telecom/cloud, software or technology services) required.

Demonstrated success negotiating technology contracts and delivering measurable savings.

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