Procurement Category Manager - Digital & Technology

Interview dates: W/C 2nd March

Salary: £63,500

Closing date: 25th February

Contract type:
Permanent

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by funding science, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships. We plan to spend £16bn over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health, and wellbeing, and taking on three global health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health. These challenges need the bold science we support, but they won’t be solved by science alone.

Where in Wellcome will I be working?

You will be working in the Procurement team who enable the delivery of a professional value driven procurement service to Wellcome’s internal teams. Procurement sits under the Finance umbrella with this role reporting to the Head of Procurement. The procurement service model is evolving in 2026 to be centralised for the whole of Wellcome. This is a significant change for the procurement team and for the wider organisation who procurementsupport.

This role is critical in guiding the organisation through this period of change and embedding the new centralised category management service delivery model. We are looking for someone to join us on this journey and who is up for taking on this challenge.

Procurement Category Manager – Digital & Technology

You will partner with the Digital & Technology team and deliver all technology procurement for Wellcome. You will play a critical role in creating and deploying category strategy into this area and delivering their ongoing procurement needs. The Digital & Technology category of spend is similar to most organisations with key sub‑categories of:
Software, Hardware, Services with Data. As part of recruitment, we will be assessing team management capabilities for managing the Procurement Officer’s within the team.

What will I be doing?

As the Procurement Category Manager, you will play a pivotal role in embedding procurement strategy into the organisation to ensure we effectively manage resources and maximise value. You will be responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive procurement strategies and systems, working closely with budget holders to ensure decisions are both commercially sound and aligned with departmental objectives. Your expertise in strategic category management will be essential as you guide stakeholders in adopting category and supplier strategies that support our goals.

As a Procurement Category Manager, you will:

• Drive the strategic procurement agenda by developing and implementing best practice procurement strategies, systems, and procedures, ensuring commercial effectiveness.
• Own and implement strategic category plans, aligning with the department's objectives, and engage stakeholders to build consensus on category and supplier strategies.
• Manage supplier relations to optimise spend, reduce costs, and mitigate commercial and legal risks, including conducting business reviews and performance assessments.
• Lead the end-to-end procurement process for key service contracts, from supplier evaluation to contract implementation, while championing continuous improvement and compliance in procurement practices.
• Support the training and upskilling of Procurement Officers to ensure high standards of delivery and facilitate career progression to Category Manager, fostering an inclusive culture.

Is this job for me?

Are you experienced in building and maintaining strong internal and external relationships across all stakeholder levels, with the ability to facilitate cross‑functional collaboration? Do you have robust communication skills and can adapt to fluctuating priorities using effective problem‑solving? This position is ideal for individuals who have a proven track record in contract development, negotiation, and the creation and implementation of category plans from end to end.

We are looking for professionals with significant procurement experience in the private sector, and capable of delivering high‑quality projects within tight deadlines. Whether working independently or as part of a team, your analytical and negotiation skills will be…