Global Category Lead - Professional Services (m/w/x) in Liverpool

The Procurement Category Lead is responsible for developing and implementing Strategic Sourcing Strategies for Indirect goods and/or services within a defined portfolio of CSL Enterprise wide spends. The Consultancy Lead will be accountable for securing maximum value from the external spend of $300M+, from our suppliers and creating competitive advantage for CSL by delivering year on year multi-million-dollar savings, mitigation of associated risks, implementing supplier relationship management, identifying and delivering innovation and protecting CSL through robust contractual negotiations. This role is seen as the Global SME for categories such as Finance, Supply Chain, Legal, Strategy Consultancy spends and is responsible for creating appropriate senior level stakeholder engagement & alignment plans to ensure the current and future needs of the business are addressed. The role will also provide guidance to the Sourcing Managers within the team.

• Category strategy development
  • Develop and implement effective category strategies aligned with organizational priorities and objectives.
  • Analyze spending, market trends and supply risks to effectively manage procurement activities to ensure cost efficiency and optimal supplier performance.
  • Provide strategic direction and operational support to Sourcing Managers to execute procurement activities.
  • Define category roadmaps, sourcing pipelines, and performance metrics.
• Supplier relationship management
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with suppliers to foster collaboration and drive innovation.
  • Facilitate supplier business performance reviews and ensure alignment with contractual and CSL needs and priorities and establish supplier performance management (KPIs, scorecards, reviews) to improve performance.
  • Lead supplier risk management and continuity planning.
  • Lead Cross Functional Category Councils to ensure CSL and the Supply base are aligned both in the immediate term but also across a 5-year pipeline.
• Execute sourcing and procurement activities
  • Engage with internal stakeholders across CSL to align procurement initiatives and saving opportunities.
  • Ensure compliance with procurement policies and governance frameworks and ethical sourcing standards.
  • Maintain accurate documentation and reporting of procurement activities and supplier engagements.
  • Identify and manage procurement-related risks within assigned categories.
  • Lead the Tendering process, negotiations, and contract awards for activities over $500K.
  • Drive total cost of ownership (TCO) improvements, cost reduction, and value creation.
• Monitor performance
  • Monitor category performance using key performance indicators (KPIs) and provide insights to the Category Director and key stakeholders across Commercial and Finance.
• Cost analysis and budget management
  • Conduct detailed cost analysis and benchmarking to identify savings opportunities and ensure procurement activities align with financial objectives.
  • Monitor and report category performance against budget using KPIs and data-driven insights to support cost optimization and compliance.
• Stakeholder Collaboration
  • Partner with internal stakeholders (Enabling Functions, Finance, Legal, etc.) to translate business requirements into sourcing and contracting strategies.
  • Act as the primary procurement point of contact for assigned categories.
• Other responsibilities
  • Risk management.
  • Training and development.
  • Market intelligence sharing.
  • Support change initiatives.
  • Stakeholder engagement.

Bachelor's degree in business, Supply Chain, or related discipline; professional certification (e.g., CIPS) preferred.

Minimum 5+ years' experience in procurement, sourcing, or category management roles. Demonstrated success in developing category strategies and managing supplier relationships. Experience in performance monitoring, risk management, and cross-functional collaboration. Experience of multi-site organizations. The role requires fluency in English and German.

20% travel expected.