Procurement Category Lead - IT

Exciting Category Lead – IT/Technology opportunity ~ Take ownership of a broad and strategically important range of Indirect spend portfolio for a major Financial Services Group.

We're working wiith a Financial Services group who are currently unergoing a procurement transformation, to build a more strategic function across the group.

This is a great opportunity for a commercially minded IT procurement professional who enjoys operating at both strategic and operational levels, developing category strategies, leading complex sourcing activity and delivering measurable value across a technology estate.

You’ll be responsible for developing and delivering sourcing strategies across software, hardware, cloud and IT services, ensuring technology investment is cost-effective, scalable, secure and aligned with wider business and digital transformation objectives.

You’ll lead the end-to-end procurement lifecycle across IT and Technology categories, managing significant spend and working closely with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Leading the end-to-end procurement lifecycle across IT and Technology categories.
• Developing and implementing effective IT category and sourcing strategies.
• Managing procurement across SaaS, PaaS, IaaS and enterprise applications, with a focus on licence optimisation and value.
• Leading sourcing activity for IT hardware, devices, networks and infrastructure.
• Managing procurement of managed services, consultancy and IT support services.
• Negotiating complex commercial agreements, contracts and SLAs with key technology suppliers.
• Identifying opportunities for cost optimisation, supplier consolidation and improved commercial value.
• Supporting the adoption of procurement technology and automation to improve efficiency, visibility and governance.
• Ensuring procurement activity aligns with data security, regulatory and cyber-risk requirements.
• Building strong relationships with stakeholders across Technology, Finance, Legal, Risk and the wider business.
• Driving continuous improvement and bringing innovation into the IT procurement function.

We’re looking for an experienced IT/Technology procurement professional with a strong commercial mindset and a proven track record of delivering value.

• Strong procurement experience across IT or Technology categories.
• A good understanding of software, cloud, hardware and IT services markets.
• Proven experience delivering cost savings, cost optimisation and wider value creation.
• Experience using procurement platforms such as SAP Ariba, Coupa or Oracle.
• Strong negotiation, commercial and contract management skills.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence both technical and non-technical audiences.
• A data-driven approach with a genuine focus on continuous improvement and innovation.
• Experience working within a complex or regulated environment would be advantageous.
• A professional procurement qualification such as CIPS, CPSM or equivalent is preferred.
• A degree in Business, IT, Supply Chain or a related discipline would be advantageous.