Senior Category Manager Direct Procurement

Authority Brands; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Authority Brands seeks a Senior Category Manager to own strategy and execution for direct-spend categories, including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical parts. You will partner with franchisees and cross-functional teams to reduce costs, improve supplier performance, and strengthen supply continuity.

You will lead market analysis, RFPs, negotiations, contracting, and program implementation, measuring value delivery and governance. A bachelor’s degree and 5–8 years in direct procurement are expected.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of progressive experience in direct procurement, strategic sourcing, or category management.
• Experience leading RFPs and supplier negotiations.
• Ability to develop and execute category strategies across complex direct-spend categories.
• Understanding of financial reporting and ability to generate category insights.
• Ability to lead cross-functional projects on aggressive timelines.

Responsibilities

• Manage an assigned portfolio of direct categories, including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical parts.
• Develop category strategies using spend, demand, and supply-market analysis; Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT analyses; sourcing levers; supplier segmentation; risk mitigation; implementation and adoption plans.
• Establish and execute annual category value-delivery plans including savings and supplier performance.
• Create and manage category timelines and reporting to confirm negotiated savings and value at franchise locations.
• Lead RFPs, supplier evaluation, negotiations, award recommendations, and contracting support.
• Implement awarded supplier programs with stakeholder approval, franchisee engagement, training, and adoption measurement.
• Partner with cross-functional leaders and franchisees to drive utilization of preferred supplier programs.
• Establish supplier governance with scorecards, business reviews, corrective actions, and escalation.
• Manage product supply and implement category risk-mitigation measures to prevent gaps and achieve savings.
• Help develop a data-capture system that improves visibility into systemwide purchases and opportunities for scale.
• Support broader procurement and supply-chain initiatives as required.

Skills

Strategic sourcing

RFP leadership

Contract negotiations

Vendor management

Cross-functional leadership

Data analysis

Risk management

Microsoft Office

AI in procurement

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business or related field

Job description

The Senior Category Manager, Direct Procurement reports to the Director of Strategic Sourcing and owns strategy, sourcing, implementation, supplier performance, risk management, and value realization for an assigned portfolio of direct-spend categories supporting Authority Brands’ corporate and franchise operations.

Working closely with franchisees, Brand and Central Operations, Finance, Legal, and other cross-functional stakeholders, this role develops and executes category strategies that reduce franchisee unit-level costs, improve product and supplier performance, strengthen supply continuity, and increase adoption of preferred programs.
The Senior Category Manager leads supply-market analysis, competitive sourcing, supplier negotiations, contracting support, implementation planning, and ongoing category governance. The role is accountable for ensuring negotiated value is implemented and realized at the location level and contributes to broader procurement and supply-chain transformation initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage an assigned portfolio of direct categories, including equipment, components, tools, and repair parts across heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), plumbing, and electrical businesses.
• Develop category strategies incorporating spend, demand, and supply-market analysis; buyer-side Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT analyses; sourcing and negotiation levers; supplier segmentation; risk mitigation; implementation requirements; and adoption plans.
• Establish and execute annual category value-delivery plans, including savings, cost avoidance, working-capital improvement, supplier performance, risk reduction, and franchisee adoption objectives.
• Create and manage category timelines and reporting to confirm negotiated savings and other value are realized at the franchise location level.
• Lead competitive sourcing activities, including Requests for Proposals (RFPs), supplier evaluation, negotiations, award recommendations, and contracting support.
• Implement awarded supplier programs across the franchise system, including stakeholder approval, franchisee engagement, communications, training, transition planning, issue resolution, and adoption measurement.
• Partner with cross-functional leaders and franchisees to build support for procurement initiatives and drive utilization of preferred supplier programs.
• Establish supplier governance based on category criticality, including scorecards, business reviews, corrective-action plans, performance monitoring, innovation pipelines, and executive escalation.
• Manage product supply and implement category risk-mitigation measures to prevent gaps and achieve project savings.
• Help develop a data-capture system that improves visibility into systemwide purchases and identifies opportunities to leverage scale.
• Support broader procurement and supply-chain initiatives as required.

Qualifications

The Senior Category Manager, Direct Procurement will have Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) procurement experience and be comfortable working in a semi-autonomous environment.

• 5–8 years of progressive experience in direct procurement, strategic sourcing, or category management, including leading RFPs and supplier negotiations.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing category strategies across complex direct-spend categories.
• Understanding of financial reporting and ability to use technology to generate category insights, monitor value delivery, and improve execution.
• Ability to lead complex, cross-functional projects on aggressive timelines.
• Experience securing suppliers and implementing new vendors and programs in a decentralized field organization.
• Strong supplier and implementation management experience, including requirements development, contract review, pricing and service exhibits, and oversight of multiple suppliers.
• Proven supply-chain risk-management experience, including multisource decisions, contingency planning, and research into emerging risks.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Ability to use AI as a support tool while maintaining ownership and understanding of the content produced.
• Comfort presenting to large audiences.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, finance, engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.