Senior Category Manager, IT Software & Hardware

Waymo; United States; Remote; USD 190,000 - 234,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary annual bonus

Equity incentive plan

Benefits package

Job summary

Waymo LLC is seeking an IT Category Manager to lead strategic sourcing for Corporate IT, including SaaS, hardware, and IT services. You will partner with IT, Security, and Engineering to manage renewals, negotiate favorable terms, and ensure the technology stack scales with growth.

The role requires 7+ years in procurement, strong SaaS licensing and SOW/MSA experience, and the ability to drive cost efficiency in a fast-paced, remote environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of strategic procurement experience, incl. 4+ years IT/software sourcing.
• Deep SaaS licensing expertise and negotiations with Tier 1 publishers.
• Experience drafting MSAs, DPAs, EULAs and SOWs.
• Hardware lifecycle management and large VAR/OEM negotiations.
• Strong financial acumen with TCO analysis.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a procurement strategy for Corporate IT.
• Lead high-volume software renewals and negotiate favorable terms.
• Structure SOWs for IT Professional Services and System Integrators.
• Manage VAR relationships for end-user compute and peripherals.
• Partner with CIO/IT Ops and Security to align requirements.

Skills

Strategic procurement

SaaS licensing

Contract negotiation

TCO analysis

High-velocity environment

Tools

Ariba P2P

e-sourcing

Spend analysis tools

Job description

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Since its start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has focused on building the Waymo Driver-The World's Most Experienced Driver™-to improve access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo's fully autonomous ride-hail service and can also be applied to a range of vehicle platforms and product use cases. The Waymo Driver has provided over ten million rider-only trips, enabled by its experience autonomously driving over 100 million miles on public roads and tens of billions in simulation across 15+ U.S. states.

Waymo's Procurement and Vendor Enablement Office (PVEO) is the engine behind our rapid scaling. We are a diverse, collaborative group with a mission to efficiently procure the critical infrastructure and technology required to scale the Waymo Driver. In this role, the IT Category Manager supports the business by leading strategic sourcing and category management for our Software (SaaS/On-Prem), End-User Hardware, and IT Professional Services. You will partner deeply with Waymo's IT, Security, and Engineering teams to manage complex renewals, drive cost efficiency, and ensure our technology stack scales with our growth.

You will:

• Category Strategy: Develop and execute a comprehensive procurement strategy for Corporate IT, including SaaS, Hardware, and Telecom, balancing cost optimization with speed-to-market.
• Strategic Renewals: Proactively manage a high-volume pipeline of software renewals; lead negotiations for mission-critical SaaS platforms to secure favorable long-term commercial and legal terms.
• Implementation Services: Structure and negotiate complex Statements of Work (SOWs) for IT Professional Services and Systems Integrators to ensure successful software implementation and ROI.
• Hardware & VAR Management: Optimization of Value-Added Reseller (VAR) relationships for end-user compute and peripherals, ensuring competitive pricing and seamless fulfillment logistics for a growing workforce.
• Stakeholder Partnership: Act as the trusted advisor to the CIO, IT Ops, and Security leadership; lead "make vs. buy" analyses and influence technical requirements to drive commercial value.
• Risk & Compliance: Partner with Legal (Privacy/Security) to ensure all software and hardware agreements meet Waymo's rigorous data protection and cybersecurity standards.

You have:

• 7+ years of strategic procurement experience, with at least 4+ years dedicated to IT, Software, or Technology sourcing.
• Deep expertise in SaaS licensing models (consumption-based, per-seat, enterprise agreements) and experience negotiating with Tier 1 software publishers.
• Proven ability to draft and negotiate complex commercial contracts, including MSAs, EULAs, DPAs, and Professional Services SOWs.
• Experience managing Hardware lifecycles and negotiating with large VARs (e.g., CDW, Insight, Presidio) or OEMs (Lenovo, Apple, Dell).
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to present TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) analysis to Finance and Engineering leadership.
• Ability to operate in a high-velocity environment, managing multiple concurrent high-priority renewals and sourcing events.

We prefer:

• Experience in a hyper-growth Tech or Pre-IPO environment.
• Familiarity with Cloud Infrastructure spend (AWS, GCP) and FinOps principles.
• Experience using Ariba P2P, e-sourcing and spend Analysis tools

Travel Requirement:

Up to 10%

US Remote Only:

This is a remote position.

(Remote jobs only - Please note that Waymo may not be able to employ remotely in all locations. Please speak with your recruiter about your preferred location for remote work when you begin the interview process.)

US-Remote includes employees working from their primary residence in certain locations only, as stated in the list below. This list may not be complete or accurate, and candidates should speak with your recruiter about their specific location for remote work.

• Atlanta, GA
• Austin, TX
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas, TX
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• Miami, FL
• Nashville, TN
• Orlando, FL
• Phoenix, AZ
• San Antonio, TX
• San Francisco Bay Area, CA
• Seattle, WA
• New York City, NY

Salary Range

The expected base salary range for this full-time position across US locations is listed below. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors, including exact work location, experience, relevant training and education, and skill level. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the role location or, if the role can be performed remote, the specific salary range for your preferred location, during the hiring process.

Salary Range $190,000 - $234,000 USD

Waymo employees are also eligible to participate in Waymo's discretionary annual bonus program, equity incentive plan, and generous Company benefits program, subject to eligibility requirements.