Mgr Category Management

Horace Mann; United States; Remote; USD 105,000 - 148,000; Full time

Job summary

Horace Mann seeks a seasoned procurement and category leadership professional to drive indirect sourcing across assigned spend areas. You will lead a team of Category Specialists and Buyers, coaching and developing talent while owning category roadmaps aligned to business needs and TCO goals.

This role manages supplier relationships, coordinates complex negotiations, and ensures data integrity within systems like Workday.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in indirect sourcing, procurement, or consulting.
• Strong leadership, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop Category Specialists and Buyers, including coaching and performance management.
• Own category strategies and sourcing roadmaps aligned to business and TCO objectives.
• Oversee sourcing initiatives, supplier selection, and complex contract negotiations.
• Drive category planning, including demand management, supplier segmentation, and risk mitigation.
• Establish and monitor performance metrics to deliver cost savings and service improvements.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders to align on sourcing strategies and business needs.
• Manage strategic supplier relationships, including performance, governance, and issue resolution.
• Ensure accuracy of procurement data and reporting within systems (e.g., Workday).
• Monitor market trends and supplier innovations to inform strategy.

Skills

Leadership

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Tools

Workday

Job description

Leads procurement and category management strategies for assigned spend areas, driving cost savings, supplier performance, and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Partners with internal stakeholders and leads a team to execute sourcing strategies and manage strategic vendor relationships.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop Category Specialists and Buyers, including coaching and performance management.
• Own category strategies and sourcing roadmaps aligned to business and TCO objectives.
• Oversee sourcing initiatives, supplier selection, and complex contract negotiations.
• Drive category planning, including demand management, supplier segmentation, and risk mitigation.
• Establish and monitor performance metrics to deliver cost savings and service improvements.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders to align on sourcing strategies and business needs.
• Manage strategic supplier relationships, including performance, governance, and issue resolution.
• Ensure accuracy of procurement data and reporting within systems (e.g., Workday).
• Monitor market trends and supplier innovations to inform strategy.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in indirect sourcing, procurement, or consulting.
• Strong leadership, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

Salary Range: $105,200.00 - $147,950.00

• Salary is commensurate to experience, location, etc.

Horace Mann was founded in 1945 by two Springfield, Illinois, teachers who saw a need for quality, affordable auto insurance for teachers. Since then, we’ve broadened our mission to helping all educators protect what they have today and prepare for a successful tomorrow. And with our broadened mission has come corporate growth: We serve more than 4,100 school districts nationwide, we’re publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: HMN) and we have more than $12 billion in assets.

We’re motivated by the fact that educators take care of our children’s future, and we believe they deserve someone to look after theirs. We help educators identify their financial goals and develop plans to achieve them. This includes insurance to protect what they have today and financial products to help them prepare for their future. Our tailored offerings include special rates and benefits for educators.

EOE/Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Horace Mann ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

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