Procurement Category Manager

Procurement Category Manager

Derby | Hybrid (2-3 days per week in the office) Up to £55,000 + Excellent Benefits Permanent | Full Time

Looking for a procurement role where you can genuinely make an impact?

We're working with a growing, highly regulated organisation that is continuing to invest in its procurement and commercial capability. Following significant progress over the last few years, they're now looking to appoint a Group Category Manager who can help take things to the next level.

This isn't an operational buying role.

Instead, we're looking for someone who enjoys building supplier strategies, creating robust governance processes, managing third-party risk and helping the business become smarter in how it engages with suppliers.

The procurement function has gained significant visibility and support at executive level, and there are ambitious plans to continue growing the team over the coming years. You'll join a collaborative environment where procurement is increasingly seen as a strategic partner to the wider business.

The Opportunity

You'll take ownership of category management and supplier governance activities across a varied portfolio of spend.

The organisation works with hundreds of external suppliers across professional/ corporate services categories. Whilst cost and value remain important, the real focus is ensuring suppliers are properly managed, contracts are reviewed, risks are understood and robust processes are embedded throughout the business.

You'll work closely with stakeholders across multiple business units, helping to build engagement and ensure procurement is involved early enough to influence decision-making.

A new procurement platform has recently been introduced, creating an excellent opportunity to improve visibility, supplier oversight and reporting. You'll play a key role in ensuring the business adopts best practice and gets maximum value from the investment.

Key Responsibilities

Develop and implement category and supplier management strategies across group-wide spend areas
Lead end-to-end procurement activity including sourcing, tendering, negotiations and contract management
Strengthen supplier relationship management practices and create structured review processes
Drive governance, due diligence and third-party risk management activities
Ensure procurement processes align with regulatory and audit requirements
Partner with stakeholders to improve supplier engagement, contract visibility and commercial outcomes
Analyse supplier performance, spend and market data to identify opportunities and mitigate risk
Support the ongoing development and adoption of procurement systems and processes
Influence stakeholders to follow best practice procurement and supplier management principles

What We're Looking For

We're keen to speak with experienced procurement professionals who understand that great procurement is about far more than placing orders or running tenders.

You'll ideally bring:

Proven experience in Category Management, Strategic Sourcing or Procurement
Strong supplier relationship and contract management experience
Experience building category strategies and governance frameworks
A structured approach to supplier reviews, performance management and stakeholder engagement
Strong understanding of third-party risk, due diligence and supplier governance
Confidence influencing stakeholders across different business functions
Experience working within regulated or highly governed environments would be advantageous
Strong commercial awareness alongside a collaborative and relationship-driven approach

You'll be naturally curious, commercially minded and comfortable balancing governance requirements with practical business needs.

Most importantly, you'll enjoy building…