Senior Category Manager

The Procurement department manages ING’s external spend and suppliers, working closely with ING Global and WB Procurement and various business partners to maximise the business benefits ING receives from its vendors. We buy a full range of products and services, including IT, Market Data, banking systems, consulting, recruitment, facilities services and energy, and manage the Know Your Supplier process to ensure all suppliers are fully qualified.

Roles and responsibilities

• Category Management – Technology focus
  • Manage one or more technology categories to optimise value and deliver procurement projects on time.
  • Build stakeholder relationships to identify and meet internal needs.
  • Gather market knowledge and build key supplier relationships.
  • Analyse the current state to identify optimisation opportunities.
  • Negotiate contracts and complete all required contract renewals, terminations, amendments and moves.
  • Develop and implement annual category plans based on sourcing, budget and market information.
  • Maintain an annual calendar for contract renewals, reporting activities and budgeting.
  • Lead the end‑to‑end Procurement lifecycle for the Market Data subcategory from business requirements to contract execution and performance management.
  • Provide direction and oversight to leverage category spend through robust contract negotiations and supplier selection, ensuring end‑to‑end commercial, contractual and relationship lifecycle value.
• Generalist Procurement
  • Manage the end‑to‑end Procurement lifecycle for other spend areas (e.g. Transformation, HR, Professional Services, IT, Banking Systems, Premises, Research and Economics, Facilities Management).
• Regulatory
  • Understand the regulatory environment within Financial Services and its impact on Procurement, including EBA and ECB laws and guidelines such as DORA, Sourcing Guidelines and the AI Act.
• Other general responsibilities
  • Act as the deputy Head of Procurement when required.
  • Collaborate with the Global Technology Procurement Team to implement relevant global strategies and projects in the UK and supported regions.
  • Represent the UK (and potentially WB) within the Global Technology Procurement Community.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with support functions such as Finance, Legal, Compliance, Risk, IT Security, and the supplier network.
  • Mentor other members of the Procurement Team.
  • Assist the Head of Procurement in designing and implementing procurement strategies that improve commercial performance while maintaining compliance with global category strategies, risk management and procurement policies.
  • Contribute significantly to the team’s KPIs, such as P&L Savings, Benchmark Savings, managed spend coverage, regulatory delivery, market intelligence use and internal tools/systems utilisation.

How to succeed

Essential – Experience working in a Procurement department within a regulated business (banking, insurance, financial services, PE, hedge funds, etc.). Strong focus on technology procurement and the ability to manage projects in other categories.

Desirable – European‑headquartered banking experience; full knowledge of banking procurement regulations such as EBA Sourcing Guidelines, DORA, and the AI Act.

Personal competencies

Essential – Flexibility, adaptability, proven influencing skills, ability to build relationships at all levels quickly, work at pace, and deep understanding of procurement processes and systems.

Desirable – Team leadership experience or potential.

Qualification / Education

Essential – Degree level qualification, ideally in a business or research‑based subject.

Desirable – Procurement qualifications are not essential, but a true understanding of strategic and tactical procurement, contract development and negotiation, category management and related principles is highly desirable.