Indirects Category Manager

Indirects Category Manager

Permanent

Maidenhead

Hybrid 2 days a week on-site

Job Purpose

Reporting into the Head of Indirects, you will have responsibility for multiple commodities including but not limited to H&S, property, security and environmental spend areas, sourcing activities for the Indirects contracts across multiple areas of the Retail and Digital business.

You will be responsible for developing the category sourcing strategy to capture real savings through pooling company-wide purchasing volumes, negotiating Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) contracts with suppliers and leading other TCO cost reduction initiatives

You should be able to take a holistic view of your category and have the ability to make improvements and develop flexible and creative solutions to support business strategies and the Support Office and Operational senior leadership team.

As part of this multi-disciplined role you will need to challenge and influence senior stakeholders within the business to ensure value for money in the Group\’s external spend and deliver real cost savings to the bottom line supporting the profitability of the business.

Responsibilities

Strategy development

• Develop effective procurement, cost reduction strategies and implementation plans tailored to the category based on internal assessments of current and future needs, market trends and competition, in collaboration with the Support Office and Operational teams
• Identify and prioritise sourcing projects within the category across different spend areas whilst incorporating the annual procurement plan for digital and retail projects

Strategy implementation

• Drive initiatives to deliver significant cost reductions and year-over-year productivity improvements in TCO while maintaining or improving product quality and supplier service levels
• Ensure strategies are implemented and TCO reductions secured according to implementation plans

Supplier management

• Lead the vendor selection and negotiation process and define supplier standards (RFQ, Tendering process, Master contracts)
• Maintain contractual and business relations and drive negotiations with all assigned suppliers, as well as monitor supplier satisfaction

Performance management

• Measure and track internal key performance measures, define the data collection process and forecast budgetary impact and actual savings
• Assess performance of operational purchasing, identify key issues and fix with permanent solutions

Knowledge, Expertise and Qualifications

• MCIPS qualified or studying is desirable
• Ability to develop and maintain an in-depth understanding of the supply market, covering all relevant markets and supplier base, including the relevant legislation and policies
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Detailed knowledge of contract law, structuring & documentation of agreements
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to influence internal stakeholders at all levels
• Good team player able to work effectively as part of the Purchasing Team as well as being part of virtual teams across the business