Principle Category Department Lead (Operations) - 12M FTC
Role OVO-View
Team: Procurement
Salary banding: £74,500 - £107,274
Experience: Expert
Working pattern: Full-Time
Reporting to: Director of Procurement & Supply
Sponsorship: Unfortunately we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.
This role in 3 words: Visionary, Results Focused, Influential
Top 3 qualities for this role: Delivery through a team, Setting strategy & direction, Commercial
In the words of the team, you should leave your current role for this one because….
“OVO is a fantastic place to work. The company genuinely cares about its people, which makes you want to go the extra mile. There’s a reason we were named one of The Times’ Best Places to Work! The Procurement & Supplier Management team is on an exciting journey, and it’s not every day you get the chance to be part of a Procurement transformation. OVO felt like home to me after just two weeks, and that’s down to the amazing team around me.”
Where you’ll work:
For this role, we expect the successful candidate to work from our Bristol or London hub at least 2 days per week and attend OVO Connection events in person. Our hub has accessible spaces to park your laptop, is designed to inspire people, help them connect and bring big ideas to life.
Everyone belongs at OVO
At OVO, we are on a mission to solve one of humanity's biggest challenges, the climate crisis. And we know it takes all of us to change the world. That's why we need diverse people from all gender identities, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, life experiences and backgrounds to join us.
Teamworking for the planet
Everything we do here spins around Plan Zero. So, naturally, the team you’ll be joining plays a gigantic role in making that happen. Here’s how:
As an enterprise business OVO’s supply chain presents large risk but great opportunity when it comes to sustainability and wider ESG initiatives. Procurement & Supply Management play a vital role when contributing to OVO’s wider Plan Zero aspirations ensuring we’re working with the right partners and managing risks appropriately.
This role in a nutshell:
Buying goods and services is essential to OVO’s operations, supporting everything from marketing campaigns to smart meters. We’re hiring a Category Department Lead to oversee procurement (source to contract) and supplier management (post-contract) across Smart Meters, Meter Asset Financing, Field Installations, and Logistics.
You’ll be responsible for managing our metering supply chain, including ordering, stock control, logistics, and over one million products installed annually. You’ll also lead supplier management best practices across the Procurement team and the wider business.
Reporting to the Director of Procurement & Supply, you’ll play a key role in delivering results, managing change, and building a high-performing culture. The department is becoming more strategic and data-led, with a focus on positioning Procurement as a trusted advisor across OVO.
Your objectives will include delivering commercial savings to support OVO’s EBITDA, reducing risk, ensuring compliance, embedding sustainable sourcing in line with Plan Zero, and improving processes through technology. You’ll lead business partnering for your category areas, deliver Procurement Enablement services (systems, data, accounts payable, risk and controls), and oversee stock control, asset ordering, compliance, and the back-end asset sales process.
As a senior leader, you’ll set the agenda for your team, align objectives with company goals, and lead a high-performing, diverse group of professionals. This role requires strong leadership, change management, and stakeholder engagement, with regular interaction across the business and the Retail Leadership Team.
Your key outcomes will be:
Strategic Leadership:
1. Define the team’s vision and strategy in partnership with the Director of Procurement & Supply.
2. Translate OVO’s procurement and supplier management strategies into clear goals, KPIs, and actionable objectives, supported by management dashboards.
3. Develop and implement sourcing and supplier management frameworks that drive value, reduce risk, and align with OVO’s sustainability goals.
4. Support OVO’s Plan Zero by embedding sustainability into all procurement and supplier management activity.
Team Leadership & Development:
5. Lead a team of around 18 FTE to deliver multi-year category plans, manage a pipeline of opportunities, and drive commercial outcomes.
6. Ensure strong governance and compliance across the contract lifecycle, collaborating with Legal, Finance, Security, DPA, Tax, and Sustainability teams to address any issues.
7. Drive a data-informed culture by implementing systems that capture requirements, improve decision-making, and support accurate reporting to the Finance Leadership Team.
8. Identify and deliver opportunities to reduce external spend while maintaining quality and timely delivery from suppliers.
9. Segment and assess supplier risk across areas such as EBITDA impact, data, security, and sustainability, using insights to strengthen supplier management.
10. Implement tools and frameworks to automate supplier management, including performance tracking, SLAs, business reviews, and continuous improvement initiatives.
11. Ensure strategic suppliers have the right relationships, performance improvement plans, and innovation plans in place to support long-term value.
12. Plan team resourcing effectively — define roles, recruit where needed, and identify development needs to build a strong pipeline of future leaders.
13. Coach and mentor team members in best practices for sourcing, stakeholder engagement, supplier management, and negotiation.
14. Foster a culture of continuous improvement by challenging the status quo and encouraging creative, data-led solutions.
Collaboration and Integration:
15. Partner with department peers to ensure a consistent approach to sourcing and post-contract management.
16. Align category strategies with supplier management practices to optimise performance and reduce risk.
17. Lead cross-functional collaboration to embed procurement and supplier strategies into day-to-day business operations.
You’ll be a successful Principle Category Department Lead at OVO if you…
18. MCIPS qualification (Member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply) or equivalent, with proven relevant experience in procurement, supplier management, or both.
19. Proven ability to lead, develop, and inspire diverse, high-performing teams.
20. Strong expertise in strategic sourcing, category management, supplier relationship management, and risk mitigation.
21. Excellent analytical skills with a data-driven approach, able to turn insights into clear, effective strategies.
22. Outstanding stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate across all levels of the organisation.
23. Experience driving sustainability initiatives within procurement and supplier management frameworks.
24. Comfortable working with procurement and supplier management tools, systems, and automation technologies.
25. Track record of managing large-scale supplier spend and consistently achieving savings and performance goals.
Let’s talk about what’s in it for you
We’ll pay you between £74,500 and £107,274, depending on your specific skills and experience.
We keep our pay ranges broad on purpose to give us, and you, flexibility to match your experience to our Zero carbon mission.
You’ll be eligible for an on-target bonus of 15%. We have one OVO bonus plan that focuses on the collective performance of our people to deliver our Plan Zero goal.
We also offer plenty of green benefits and progressive policies to help you feel like you belong at OVO…and there’s flex pay. It’s an extra 9% of your salary on top of your core pay to use as you like. You can take it as cash, add to your pension, or choose to spend it on a huge range of flex benefits.
Here’s a taster of what’s on offer:
For starters, you’ll get 34 days of holiday (including bank holidays).
For your healthWith benefits like a healthcare cash plan or private medical insurance depending on your career level, critical illness cover, life assurance, health assessments, and more
For your wellbeingWith gym membership, gadget, travel and cyber insurance, workplace ISA, will writing services, DNA testing, dental insurance, and more For your lifestyle With extra holiday buying, discount dining, culture cards, tech loans, and supporting your favorite charities with give-as-you-earn donations
For your home Get up to £300 off any OVO Energy plan (when you pay by Direct Debit), plus personal carbon offsetting and great discounts on smart thermostats and EV chargers (available after passing of probationary period)
For your commute Nab a great deal on ultra-low emission car leasing, plus our cycle to work scheme and public transport season ticket loans
Want to hear about our full range of flexible benefits and progressive people policies? Our People Team can tell you everything you need to know.
For your Belonging
To find better ways to support our people, we need to listen to each other’s experiences and find ways to build a truly inclusive and diverse workplace. As part of this, we have 8 Belonging Networks at OVO. Led by our people, for our people - so when you join OVO, you can play a part - big or small - with any of the Networks. It's up to you.