Category Management Lead

We’re the UK's largest ports operator with a network of 21 ports around Britain. We handle around one quarter of the UK's seaborne trade and contribute £7.5 billion to our economy every year. We’re transforming our business and embracing the future.

We offer a vast range of roles spanning the UK, all rooted in a culture that welcomes diversity, fosters talent, encourages internal movement and progression, and places safety as our number one priority. Are you passionate about driving cost-effective, efficient sourcing strategies? Do you thrive on delivering strong commercial value and leading high-performing teams? If you’re motivated by continuous improvement and want to make a meaningful impact on the business, we’d love to hear from you.

We are looking to appoint a Category Management Lead within our Infrastructure category, covering CAPEX, maintenance, and major projects across our Land and Marine services. The role includes strategy development, sourcing, procurement, contract management, and handover, requiring a highly capable and commercially driven individual.

You will lead a team of five experienced professionals, so strong leadership, stakeholder engagement, and the ability to drive performance in an established team are essential.

• Identify, secure and lead people from a range of disciplines to enable effective delivery of the defined Categories.
• Lead, negotiate, manage, coach, and develop the team in line with the budget and continuous improvement requirements.
• Identify opportunities to increase compliance of regional and functional teams using Group contracts.
• Provide direction and clarity in the accountabilities of team resources, as well as for cross-work stream collaboration in consultation with other work stream leads, to ensure seamless working across ABP.
• Develop and implement the contract management process to realise maximum benefit from the category activity with reviews of business usage and contract compliance, and provide insight through the analysis of spend, contract metrics, supply markets and savings.
• Provide specialist advice and guidance on leading procurement practice to internal business partners.
• Lead the business in identification, assessment and management of potential risks associated with differing sourcing and contract management strategies for assigned categories of spend.
• Must be willing to travel approximately 25% of the time due to requirements associated with the role.

• Member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) with public sector procurement experience, ideally within large, complex infrastructure or construction environments.
• Highly commercial, analytical, and innovative in approach.
• Proven experience of leading teams to deliver successful business outcomes.
• Demonstrable understanding of contracts and contract law.
• Experience in strategic supplier management, including supplier selection, negotiation, and performance management.
• Experience overseeing category portfolios up to £150M.
• Proven track record of delivering category strategy through to implementation.

We offer a competitive salary, contributory pension from day one (Starting at 3% employee contribution with 5% company match), private healthcare, access to our Employee Assistance Program, 26 days annual leave with the option to purchase additional days leave. A wide range of discounts and cash back with high street and online retailers. We offer an inclusive work environment with an in-house training academy which offers ongoing opportunities to develop your skills.

When joining ABP you will find an environment that is both welcoming and challenging. We reward our employees well and offer a generous remuneration package, employer pension, private health insurance and a range of other benefits.

Please note that ABP undertake random screening for substance abuse and operate a zero-tolerance policy. A medical will be required before starting this position also.

We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their background, which helps us to provide a diverse and inclusive working environment.

As part of our recruitment process, all successful candidates will be subject to pre-employment screening to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). Please note your consent will be required and further information on this check can be found using the following link: National Security Vetting Clearance Levels.