Category Manager - Hardware and Infrastructure

Mott Mac Donald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices.

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual.

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you’re surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued.

Whatever your ambition, Mott Mac Donald is where people come to be brilliant.

Overview of the role
The role will manage procurement activities within a range of technology areas with spend across the organization. This includes acquiring goods and services within budget and facilitating communication between the Business and suppliers to deliver products and services as planned. The IT Category Manager will also work on master agreements with our suppliers to ensure streamlined procurement activities globally. All activities will be in line with Group IT procurement guidelines and principles, ethics and sustainability objectives to deliver lowest total cost of ownership for solutions.

You will report to the IT Manager – Procurement and will work alongside a team of IT Category Managers and Purchasing Specialists.

Key duties and responsibilities include:

• Strategy and Planning
  • Monitor and analyse trends in company spending and inventory control to make recommendations for the future, and to identify areas for savings
  • Develop, establish, implement, and enforce supplier and outsourcer guidelines, obligations, and service level agreements to the organisation
  • Comply with all IT purchasing policies and procedures, including those for equipment, hardware, software, and service provision, in conjunction with department leads and department-specific requirements
  • Analyse market trends and conditions for present and future pricing, availability, lead-time, and capacity of goods and services
  • Interview, identify, and qualify potential new vendors or suppliers to secure more cost-effective sources of products and services
  • Develop and deliver purchasing and inventory reports, bid proposals, requirements documentation, and tender documents
  • Review and maintain the global supplier/contract base for the IT category, and update annual IT category plans to re-tender, consolidate, expand or change suppliers, as appropriate to leverage optimum service and value
• Operational Management
  • Direct and manage sourcing strategies from beginning to end
  • Define purchasing recommendations that support business goals, in collaboration with management and stakeholders
  • Negotiate pricing, terms and conditions of sale, and warranties of goods and products with key suppliers and vendors
  • Negotiate pricing, terms and conditions of contracts with contractors and/or service providers
  • Monitor vendor, service provider, outsourcer, and/or contractor performance to ensure quality of service
  • Provide periodic oversight and execution of vendor requalification
  • Establish and maintain regular written and in-person communications with the organisation’s executives, department heads, and end users regarding pertinent sourcing activities
  • Effectively communicate procurement strategies to team members and stakeholders in a timely and clear way
  • Manage escalated issues between vendor and the company and coordinate key mitigation actions
  • Where possible, standardise equipment to lower total costs
• Experience / Knowledge of category, supplier, and contract management
• Experience of procuring and negotiating contracts
• Experience running end-to-end RFPs for senior stakeholders
• Experience of implementing procurement policy,…