Job Details:
Job Title: Senior Category Manager
Type : Hybrid (once a week, ideally Tues/Wed/Thu)
Location : Paddington, UK
Mode of employment: Contract (Inside IR35)
Start Date : ASAP
End Date : 30th June 2026 (possible extensions)
Job Description:
The Senior Category Manager will lead strategic sourcing and category management for direct materials across key mechanical categories for EMEA.
Background and experience
Proven experience in strategic sourcing and category management for direct materials (ideally 7 years +)
Strong commercial experience being able to navigate complex cost structures and confidence in negotiation with a track record of cost reduction and cost avoidance results
Familiarity with datacenter or industrial procurement environments.
Proficiency in procurement systems (SAP, Ariba, iCertis).
Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
Degree in business/engineering/supply chain & ops/Technology
Master’s Degree preferred
Worked in a complex multinational corporate
Key Responsibilities
Category Strategy & Execution
Develop and implement regional sourcing strategies for direct categories aligned with business goals and global category team
Lead supplier selection, negotiation, and contracting processes regionally
Drive value engineering and cost reduction initiatives.
Develop sustainability initiatives with suppliers to improve product/solutions for Microsoft
Supplier Performance & Relationship Management
Monitor supplier KPIs including On-Time Delivery (OTD), Right-First-Time metrics, and H&S compliance.
Conduct and govern the regional QBR/SBR process and revamp to be more efficient and action orientated
Supplier relationship management capabilities (contract, risk, running QBR's, quality assessments etc.)
Stakeholder Engagement
Collaborate with internal teams (e.g. DCE, DCD, SQ, H&S) to ensure alignment on technical and operational requirements.
Act as a strategic partner to project teams, anticipating risks and resolving supply issues proactively.
Work seamlessly with engineering and operations team E2E with a responsibility for the success of the category and supplier
Process & Systems
Standardise procurement processes (e.g. PO, RFP, Award) to meet delivery SLAs.
Support SAP/Ariba/iCertis/MDM/IBP implementation and maturity.
Ability to drive process simplification and digitisation and interest in building/using AI procurement tools
People & Culture
Promote diversity and inclusion across supplier engagements.
Mentor junior team members and contribute to regional empowerment and capability building.
Desirable Attributes
Ability to navigate a complex matrix organisation with mutiple layers of stakeholders to obtain result required (without direct influence)
Ability to Zoom in and Zoom out to show attention to detail and report internally and externally
Experience with supplier performance frameworks and technical submittals.
Growth mindset and commitment to continuous improvement.
Team player and track record of working well with cultures and people from all over the world
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
- they will be owning a category (there are about 7 categories, each head owning 1 category) and will be working closely with engineering and a lot of stakeholders
- they would have worked as either a Commercial Negotiation Supplier, Sr Procurement or Head of Procurement
- will need to have a direct procurement experience
- would be great to have some direct experience (i.e. consumer electronics, automated background; physical output)
- must have experience with contract management, commercials and complex stakeholders