Closing Date 2026-06-01 Job Title: Category & Sourcing Manager (Operations) Location: Durrington, Worthing (Hybrid – 2 days per week on site) Contract Type: Permanent Hours: 37 hours per week, flexible working options considered Salary: Up to £60,000 per annum, commensurate to experience excellent benefits About the role: There’s never been a more exciting time to join Southern Water. We’re on a mission to create a more sustainable and resilient future – tackling climate change, reducing our carbon footprint, and delivering long‑term value for our customers and communities. As part of this journey, we are strengthening our Procurement Division and investing in talent that can influence change at scale. We’re now looking for a Category & Sourcing Manager (Operations) to support our operational teams by delivering effective, compliant, and value‑driven procurement solutions across goods and services critical to our asset base. In this role, you’ll take ownership of operational procurement categories, running multiple sourcing activities in parallel and working closely with internal stakeholders to ensure Southern Water achieves the best possible commercial and sustainability outcomes. What you will be responsible for: Developing and delivering category strategies aligned to operational and organisational objectives Managing end‑to‑end sourcing activities, including tendering, evaluation, and contract award across operational goods and services Partnering with stakeholders across operations to understand demand, challenge requirements, and shape effective sourcing solutions Driving value through cost optimisation, standardisation, and demand aggregation, while ensuring compliance with procurement regulations Managing supplier relationships to support performance, resilience, and continuous improvement Championing best practice, innovation, and continuous improvement within the procurement function What you’ll bring to the role: Essential Proven experience in a Category or Sourcing role within an operational, engineering, manufacturing, construction, or asset‑focused environment Knowledge of public sector procurement regulations, including PA23 (experience with UCR is also advantageous) Experience running multiple procurement exercises concurrently and managing competing priorities Confident stakeholder management and negotiation skills A proactive, solutions‑focused mindset with strong commercial and analytical capability Desirable CIPS qualification (or working towards) Experience procuring operational goods, equipment, hardware, or services within a regulated environment About Southern Water: Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, with £7.8bn of planned investment for 2025–2030 to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. This is a unique opportunity to join a business committed to making a generational difference in how water services are delivered. You’ll be joining at a time of significant change, working alongside experienced leaders with a clear vision for the future. We offer an environment where talented professionals can influence important decisions, develop their careers, and make a meaningful impact. At Southern Water, we believe diverse perspectives drive innovation. If you’re passionate about making a difference and feel you could add value to our team, we’d love to hear from you – even if you don’t tick every box. Our Commitment to Diversity: We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic. If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know. Additional information: In line with Southern Water’s security requirements, successful candidates will be required to undertake pre‑employment checks, including identity verification, right‑to‑work checks, DBS, and employment/education history verification. Ready to Make a Difference? Join our Procurement team and help us deliver smarter, greener solutions for the future. Apply today and see how far your career can go with Southern Water —where innovation meets impact. Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role? If this role isn’t quite what you’re looking for but are keen to be contacted about opportunities at Southern Water, you can register your details here: Introduce Yourself (myworkdaysite.com) Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this, we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support – because when problems appear, fixing them is our top priority. That’s why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means you’ll become part of our incident support team. During your interview, your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position. Privacy Statement: Please note: If you are an existing Southern Water employee, you will need to confirm within your application that your Manager is aware of your application. All applicants must be eligible to live and work in the UK. You will need to provide evidence of eligibility (e.g. a passport or long birth certificate and proof of NI) and current proof of address (dated within the last 3 months), will be required as part of the recruitment process. If you do not meet these criteria, your application will not be considered.