Product Category Manager - Hardware

Chicago, United States | Posted on 03/01/2026

BRK Strategies LLC is a leadership and workforce development firm headquartered in Houston, Texas, serving organizations nationwide. We support clients ranging from local employers to Fortune 100 companies by strengthening how they hire, develop, and retain talent. Our services include leadership development, talent acquisition support, workforce pipeline design, and execution-focused consulting aimed at building long-term organizational capability.

We partner with organizations across manufacturing, aviation, technical trades, and professional services to deliver practical, scalable solutions that work at both enterprise and local levels. While trusted by Fortune 100 companies, BRK Strategies maintains a hands-on, community-focused approach, ensuring our work remains practical, accessible, and closely aligned to the realities of each client we serve. Our commitment is to help organizations create a sustainable workforce advantage through clarity, competence, and disciplined execution.

BRK Strategies LLC, a veteran-owned recruitment and talent advisory firm, has been exclusively retained by a Fortune 500 technology and communications organization to identify and present highly qualified candidates for this position. All applicants will be managed directly by BRK Strategies throughout the recruitment and screening process.

This opportunity offers the ability to join a global organization recognized for innovation, operational discipline, and mission-driven execution. Candidates can expect a high level of professionalism, clear communication, and a confidential, structured recruiting experience facilitated by BRK Strategies.

Our client is a Fortune 500 technology and communications organization delivering mission-critical solutions that support public safety, enterprise operations, and global connectivity. The organization is known for engineering excellence, operational resilience, and a culture rooted in accountability and collaboration.

Teams across the enterprise work together to design and support hardware and integrated systems that enhance safety, performance, and reliability for customers worldwide.

The Global Procurement function operates as a strategic enabler of enterprise value. Beyond traditional sourcing, the team focuses on strengthening supplier partnerships, mitigating risk, improving profitability, and supporting new solution development.

Procurement serves as a trusted advisor to engineering, operations, finance, and executive leadership, delivering disciplined category strategies that drive measurable performance outcomes.

The Procurement Category Manager – Hardware is responsible for developing and executing sourcing strategies across assigned hardware categories.

This role requires a commercially astute professional with strong analytical capability, negotiation expertise, and the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders. Success in this position requires balancing cost, quality, risk, supply continuity, and supplier innovation while aligning category strategy to enterprise objectives.

• Develop and execute category strategies for hardware-related spend
• Lead competitive sourcing events (RFx)
• Negotiate pricing, commercial terms, and long-term agreements
• Optimize total cost of ownership while mitigating supply and contractual risk
• Establish and maintain strategic supplier partnerships
• Drive supplier segmentation and performance scorecards
• Conduct strategic business reviews and continuous improvement initiatives

• Identify and execute cost reduction opportunities
• Implement process improvements and procurement best practices
• Analyze spend data and market dynamics to inform sourcing decisions

• Partner cross-functionally with Engineering, Operations, Finance, Legal, and senior leadership
• Align sourcing initiatives to evolving business requirements
• Present…