Indirect Category Manager

Our purpose is simple; to keep people safe from fire every second of every day.

We specialise in the design and manufacture of high-quality fire detection solutions that protect people from fire in over 100 countries around the world.

At Apollo, we are always on the lookout for passionate people who want to make a difference. We seek talented and motivated individuals who want a rewarding and challenging career within an internationally renowned fire detection company.

Help grow a safer, cleaner, healthier future for everyone, every day.

Responsibilities:

As the Category Manager, you will support and manage indirect and services spend across the business, partnering with function leads in areas such as Facilities, Logistics, Recruitment, Marketing & IT, but not limited to these categories.

You will act as the procurement lead and commercial partner for assigned indirect categories, balancing service quality, operational needs, cost, compliance, contractual protection and supplier performance.

For this you will understand and drive the:

Category Profile

• Develop and implement category strategies for assigned service categories in collaboration with functional stakeholders.
• Ensure category strategies align with Apollo business objectives and support growth, profitability, operational excellence and sustainability goals.
• Understand historical spend trends and business drivers to forecast future requirements, sourcing activity and budget impact.
• Build and maintain category roadmaps covering savings, contract renewals, supplier development, risk management and sustainability initiatives.
• Establish sourcing strategies based on total cost of ownership, service outcomes and contractual risk rather than purchase price alone.

• Build strong working relationships with Facilities, Logistics, Recruitment, Marketing, IT, HR, Finance and other business leaders.
• Act as the primary procurement lead for assigned functions and become a trusted business partner.
• Challenge requirements constructively while ensuring stakeholder objectives are understood and achieved.
• Facilitate cross-functional decision-making on sourcing, supplier selection, service scopes, SLAs and contract positions.
• Support business stakeholders through supplier escalations, contract queries and service performance issues.
• Promote procurement best practice, contract discipline and governance throughout the organisation.

• Own the contract lifecycle for assigned spend categories, from tender and negotiation through implementation, renewal, extension and termination.
• Develop contracting strategies that balance commercial value, operational flexibility, service accountability, supplier performance and business risk.
• Lead negotiation of all required agreements, for the different functions and requirements
• Act as the procurement subject matter expert for commercial contract terms and conditions
• Evaluate and negotiate contract terms covering performance, risk allocation, compliance, business continuity and governance requirements.
• Ensure all contracts contain clear scope, deliverables, pricing schedules, payment terms, SLA and KPI requirements, reporting obligations and governance arrangements.
• Challenge supplier-proposed contractual positions and negotiate commercially balanced agreements that protect Apollo's interests.
• Maintain visibility of contract expiry dates, renewal notice periods, extension options, price review mechanisms, indexation clauses and benchmarking opportunities.
• Proactively identify opportunities to renegotiate contracts to improve commercial value, reduce risk, resolve service issues and deliver efficiency improvements.
• Ensure contractual commitments are fully understood by business stakeholders and are effectively managed throughout the life of the agreement.
• Develop and maintain contract templates, commercial standards, negotiation playbooks and contract review checklists to improve procurement effectiveness.
• Review and interpret contractual pricing schedules, indexation mechanisms, minimum volume commitments and termination costs.
• Deliver cost reduction programmes and value-added initiatives across assigned categories.
• Utilise TCO and TCA methodologies to evaluate and compare sourcing options.
• Support annual budget planning through cost forecasting, contract review and market intelligence.
• Build strategic relationships with key service providers and develop supplier segmentation and relationship management…