Category Manager (STEM)

Join UCL’s Commercial & Procurement team and help enable world‑class research and teaching.

Our team plays a critical role in ensuring UCL’s STEM departments have the resources they need to innovate and succeed. We’re looking for an ambitious, solutions‑driven Category Manager to lead how UCL invests in cutting‑edge equipment, consumables, and transformative facilities.

If you’re passionate about delivering value, driving efficiency, and supporting ground‑breaking academic work, this is your opportunity to make a real impact at one of the world’s leading universities.

About the role

UCL is entering a major phase of investment, supporting equipment purchases for new builds, refurbishments, and enhancing STEM teaching spaces—while accelerating sustainability with bold new ideas.

In STEM alone, the team manages c. £120M of spend. You’ll be at the heart of this, influencing how UCL invests its funding to maximise value, boost research capability, and build resilient, future‑focused STEM environments.

You’ll work closely with academics, technical teams, sustainability specialists, and suppliers to deliver smart, agile procurement solutions. That means:

• Running quick‑turnaround sourcing exercises
• Supplier Negotiations to ensure value for money
• Advising on routes to market
• Driving supplier performance

Beyond your portfolio, you’ll lead cross‑university initiatives: introducing new technologies, pioneering sustainable procurement approaches, and streamlining processes. Your work will be visible and lasting—upgraded labs, new equipment, reliable consumables supply, and stronger, greener STEM operations.

About you

You’re commercially sharp, energetic, and motivated by impact. You thrive in complex environments, love solving problems, and enjoy collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders—from academics and researchers to operational teams and suppliers.

You bring:

• Excellent organisation and a data‑driven mindset
• Confidence managing sourcing end‑to‑end
• Skill in negotiations and supplier performance management
• Flexibility to adapt quickly across categories and challenges

A STEM background isn’t essential—what matters is your procurement expertise, commercial insight, and ability to deliver results.

UCL is not a contracting authority for the purposes of the EU/UK Public Contracts Regulations.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.

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