Category Manager (Corporate & Professional Services)

Working at the helm of an exciting procurement transformation and reporting to the Head of Corporate Services Procurement, you’ll provide category and market expertise and support to effectively manage Serco’s spend and supply base for Corporate & Professional Services (C&PS).
Role
The Category Manager (Corporate & Professional Services) mandate is one of a number of roles Procurement Heads is recruiting on behalf of Serco and forms part of its ongoing procurement evolution; Serco’s Chief Procurement Officer Gavin Boswell said:
“Procurement at Serco has come a long way over the past 5 years. We already contribute to business success by helping grow both the top and bottom line through supporting new business development and delivering cost efficiencies while protecting Serco from risk, delivering on sustainability, and driving operational excellence. And building on a platform of success, we’re now embarking on the next exciting phase in our Procurement evolution by investing in building capabilities and developing talent to increase internal collaboration and drive more strategic relationships with key suppliers. Our ambition is to deliver Procurement with impact on people, place, planet and profit, and so helping Serco to impact a better future.”
The role will see you aligned to one of Serco’s offices in either Hook, London or Solihull (location dependent) and the working pattern is very agile with most employees typically going into the office 2-8x/month.
As Category Manager (Corporate & Professional Services) your key responsibilities will be:

• Accountable for category management of assigned sub-categories within the C&PS category from strategy creation through to the delivery of business outcomes and performance targets including in-year and annualised savings targets as agreed through the planning process
• Creating and continually reviewing comprehensive and forward-looking global and/or regional category strategies and plans to deliver results and year-on-year continuous improvement in cost, service, innovation and risk for the C&PS category, applying truly global and strategic thinking whilst ensuring that local business and supply market requirements are understood and supported
• Educating and influencing key stakeholders to support category strategy development, endorsing recommended category strategies, supporting implementation and agreeing how benefits will be captured
• Leveraging one’s own deep category and market expertise and that of Serco colleagues, Procurement Business Partners and key stakeholders to support Serco in optimising value, managing demand and mitigating risk from the third-party supply base for the C&PS
• Translating category strategies into a clear and prioritised pipeline of sourcing projects for execution by the category team
• Being accountable for overseeing, guiding and managing the execution of sourcing projects within the C&PS category including the approval of gates in the sourcing process
• Leading delivery of complex and/or higher value sourcing and continuous improvement projects with the support of Buyers or working on one’s own
• Supervising and assuring the quality of delivery of Senior Buyers and Buyers working on sourcing projects within the category
• Providing coaching and supporting to develop the Procurement and category skills and experience of the category team
• Contributing to the global community of practice for the C&PS category and supporting efforts to share insights and best practices globally
• Tracking strategy implementation, project delivery, spend, performance and compliance within the C&PS category, refining strategy and plans or initiating and implementing improvement or corrective actions as required
• Collaborating with Procurement Business Partners providing category insight, expertise and best practices to support bids to create competitive supply chain architecture that meets bid requirements, leverages the existing supply base or sources new suppliers as required, and mitigates risk to support profitable growth
• Building relationships with key suppliers at a senior level and leading supplier management processes within the C&PS category to ensure that performance and value is delivered whilst managing the risks
• Being a Procurement role model by living Serco’s values, consistently delivering to the high standards expected in Procurement and promoting Procurement through engagement with key stakeholders
• Complying with and expecting compliance with Serco Procurement Policy, Standards and Standard Operating Procedures and acting within limits of delegated authority
• Making sure all team members benefit from good line management in accordance with Serco Management System
  

• Graduate calibre with a Bachelor’s degree
• Post-graduate qualification (e.g. MSc/MBA) or a professional qualification such as MCIPS is desirable but not essential
• At least 3 years’ experience in a category management role
• Has the Leadership Behaviour and Capabilities stated as most critical to this role
• Possesses strong business acumen, able to understand complex business needs and drivers and identify ways for Procurement to address
• Will have worked in a complex changing environment with demanding business objectives in a competitive market sector
• Demonstrates a consistent track record of delivery within large and complex Procurement Organisations
• Will have a track record of C&PS category and supplier management, effecting change and continuous improvement through creation and implementation of innovative category strategies and building of effective supplier relationships
• Has strong C&PS category, market and supplier knowledge
• Has a strategic mindset while being flexible to local differences and creative to encourage and seek innovative approaches
• Demonstrates track record of developing and maintaining strong senior stakeholder relationships
• Possesses excellent communication skills with the ability to influence at multiple levels
• Strong planning, organising, analytical and fact-based decision-making skills with high attention to detail
• Demonstrates personal and professional credibility and resilience
  

• £65-73,000
• Up to 10% bonus
• Company car
• 6% matched pension
• Private medical insurance
• Life assurance
• 25 days annual leave