Category Manager- Professional Services in London

At M&G our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. As an international savings and investments business with roots stretching back more than 170 years, we offer a range of financial products and services through Asset Management, Life and Wealth. All three operating segments work together to deliver attractive financial outcomes for our clients, and superior shareholder returns. Through our behaviours of telling it like it is, owning it now, and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.

AMS is a global workforce solutions partner committed to creating inclusive, dynamic, and future-ready workplaces. We help organisations adapt, grow, and thrive in an ever-evolving world by building, shaping, and optimising diverse talent strategies. We partner with M&G to support their contingent recruitment processes. Acting as an extension of their recruitment teams, we connect them with skilled interim and temporary professionals, fostering workplaces where everyone can contribute and succeed.

On behalf of M&G, AMS are looking for a Category Manager- Professional Services based in London, hybrid for a 6-month contract. We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and also offer workplace accommodations to ensure you have what you need to effectively deliver in your role.

Job Description - The Role

The Interim Category Specialist supports Category Managers by providing commercial, sourcing and analytical expertise to help deliver category strategies, supplier negotiations and cost-saving initiatives. The role involves analysing spend and market data, building business cases and savings opportunities, managing sourcing activities with UK stakeholders, and collaborating with the India Procurement team, which handles procurement execution at scale.

Main Responsibilities:

• Identifying and delivering cost-saving opportunities through spend analysis, including price variances, supplier consolidation, off-contract spend, unused licences, auto-renewals and demand management opportunities.
• Quantifying and tracking savings against agreed baselines, maintaining savings pipelines and ensuring realised benefits are accurately recorded.
• Analysing spend data, supplier pricing, rate cards and total cost of ownership to support commercial decision-making and negotiation strategies.
• Preparing negotiation materials, leading lower-value supplier negotiations and supporting complex commercial negotiations.
• Conducting supplier and market research, monitoring pricing trends and maintaining category intelligence and fact packs.
• Managing sourcing and tender activities through Market Dojo, including engaging stakeholders, managing supplier clarifications, evaluating bids and maintaining audit trails.
• Collaborating with the India Procurement team, providing clear requirements, overseeing execution activities and validating outputs before stakeholder engagement.
• Managing day-to-day stakeholder relationships, gathering business requirements and supporting procurement activities.
• Coordinating supplier performance reviews, tracking performance metrics and following up on commercial actions.
• Managing contract renewals, notice periods and contractual obligations to maximise leverage and create competitive tension during renewals.
• Supporting third-party risk management and governance activities, coordinating due diligence and maintaining accurate procurement records.
• Using spend analytics tools, Power BI and AI-enabled analysis to generate insights, challenge data assumptions and support category strategies.
• Maintaining accurate procurement data across procurement systems, contract repositories and eSourcing platforms.

The skills you'll need:

• Procurement, sourcing or category management experience, preferably within indirect spend categories.
• Knowledge of Consulting & Professional Advisory procurement, including professional services frameworks, rate cards, statements of work (SOWs), consultant utilisation and supplier panels.
• Understanding of HR, Recruitment and Contingent Labour categories, including agency models, MSP/VMS arrangements, rate structures, IR35 and Agency Worker Regulations.
• Strong commercial and analytical skills, including spend analysis, rate card benchmarking, cost modelling and total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis.
• Experience managing sourcing and tender processes, supplier evaluations and negotiations.
• Advanced Excel skills for data analysis and reporting.
• Ability to monitor supplier performance, contract compliance and consultant/contractor utilisation.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to challenge business demand using data and insights.
• Experience using eSourcing platforms such as Market Dojo, along with Power BI and AI-enabled analysis tools.
• Knowledge of procurement governance, third-party risk management and contract lifecycle management.
• Experience working with offshore procurement teams and managing outsourced delivery activities.
• Understanding of regulated environments, ideally within financial services or insurance.
• Working towards or holding a professional procurement qualification such as CIPS.

We have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture at M&G plc, underpinned by our policies and our employee-led networks who provide networking opportunities, advice and support for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nationality, disability or long term condition, we are looking to attract, promote and retain exceptional people. We also welcome those who take part in military service and those returning from career breaks.