Remote Sr. Category Operations Specialist – Sourcing

Lumen; Nashville (TN); Remote; USD 85,000 - 113,000; Full time

Job summary

Lumen is seeking a Sr. Category Operations Specialist to support Outside Plant services and procurement strategies for the Network Construction team. The role emphasizes spend analytics, supplier management, and contract governance in a remote U.S.

work setup. You will develop reports and dashboards, collaborate with stakeholders across Finance, Legal, and Operations, and drive cost optimization and process improvements across categories.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, finance, operations, or related field.
• 2–4 years of procurement, sourcing, or supplier management experience.
• Ability to analyze spend and performance data and communicate recommendations.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel for data analysis and reporting.
• Strong attention to detail and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Analyze spend, supplier performance, service demand, and market trends to identify sourcing opportunities, optimize costs, and mitigate risk.
• Develop reports, dashboards, and performance metrics in partnership with the Reporting & Analytics team.
• Maintain visibility into category spend, supplier utilization, service volumes, and financial performance.
• Partner with Network Construction and regional stakeholders to align sourcing and supplier strategies with Outside Plant support requirements.
• Support supplier sourcing, onboarding, and management for locates, flagging, and related field services.
• Monitor supplier performance, capacity, quality, and service delivery, driving issue resolution and corrective actions as needed.
• Manage RFI, RFQ, and RFP activities from requirements gathering through supplier selection and implementation.
• Track operational issues, supplier commitments, and business priorities to support service continuity and project execution.
• Translate business, supplier, and market insights into actionable category strategies and execution plans.
• Lead or support initiatives focused on cost optimization, supplier performance, demand management, and process improvement.
• Monitor initiative progress, risks, and benefits, providing updates to stakeholders and leadership.
• Coordinate contracts, statements of work, amendments, and renewals in partnership with stakeholders, Legal, and Contracting Excellence.
• Maintain contract records and ensure compliance with sourcing, legal, and approval requirements.
• Monitor key commercial terms, obligations, pricing, and contract milestones.
• Build strong relationships across Network Construction, Operations, Finance, Legal, and other business partners.
• Facilitate supplier and category reviews, align priorities, and drive issue resolution.
• Deliver clear analyses, recommendations, and status updates to stakeholders and leadership.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for assigned suppliers, managing operational discussions, performance reviews, and escalations.
• Maintain supplier scorecards and support ongoing governance and business reviews.
• Identify and mitigate supplier risks related to capacity, compliance, financial stability, and service delivery.
• Drive accountability for supplier commitments, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills

Spend analysis

Supplier performance

Contract administration

Sourcing strategies

Cross-functional collaboration

Data analysis

MS Excel

Education

Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, finance, operations, or related field

Tools

SAP

Ariba

Job description

Lumen is seeking a Sr. Category Operations Specialist to support Outside Plant services and procurement strategies for the Network Construction team. The role emphasizes spend analytics, supplier management, and contract governance in a remote U.S.

work setup. You will develop reports and dashboards, collaborate with stakeholders across Finance, Legal, and Operations, and drive cost optimization and process improvements across categories.