Category Specialist in Bolton

TMS Global are a wholly owned subsidiary of DS Smith, together with International Paper, they are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. TMS Global specialise in the outsourcing of retail display, print and packaging for a variety of global customers and are active in 97 markets globally and we are made up of just over 300 people who are spread internationally across APAC, LATAM, EMEA and NA.

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Category Specialist to join our sourcing team. Working remotely, you will support our European sourcing requirements across key categories including 3D and 2D. As a Category Specialist, you will act as a subject matter expert for your category, bringing deep knowledge of the supplier landscape and a strong understanding of stakeholder needs. You will align capabilities to current and future requirements, delivering commercial value and supporting our client contractual commitments.

You'll play a key role in driving value through collaboration with client-facing teams and category support functions - identifying and delivering opportunities to improve cost, performance, and overall supply base effectiveness.

Key Responsibilities:

• Partner with the Global Category Lead to develop, implement, and continuously evolve the category sourcing strategy
• Build, manage, and strengthen supplier relationships
• Lead value delivery initiatives and competitive sourcing activities aligned to supplier and spend segmentation
• Deliver measurable cost savings through negotiation, total cost of ownership initiatives, and commercial strategy optimisation
• Support client-facing teams to maximise gross profit margins
• Stay informed on market trends, technology developments, and innovation within the category
• Provide category and product expertise to internal stakeholders
• Regularly benchmark and review the supplier base to ensure alignment with internal and client requirements
• Support tenders and RFQs for new business and contract renewals
• Ensure data integrity, auditability, and accurate tracking of savings in line with commercial strategy
• Work with Sourcing Operations to resolve supplier performance issues and escalations
• Identify and mitigate supply risks, ensuring continuity and resilience

About You

This role would suit someone who thrives in a fast-paced, matrix environment and enjoys collaborating across teams and geographies. You'll bring strong analytical capability, attention to detail, and a proactive, solutions-focused mindset.

To be successful, you will have:

• A background in Manufacturing or Packaging, with Print experience essential (POS experience desirable)
• Proven experience managing internal and external stakeholders
• Demonstrated success in delivering cost savings and driving improvements within category management
• Strong project management capability
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel

If this role sounds like an exciting challenge and you feel you have the skills and experience to succeed, then please get in touch!

To achieve our aim of being among the most successful, sustainable and responsible companies in the world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.