Senior Category Manager

Oldham, Lancashire
Reed
Senior Category Manager

• Location: Oldham
• Salary: Negotiable: Guideline £350 – £400 per day
• Job Type: Full-time

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Category Manager to join our team. The successful candidate will lead and deliver high-quality, innovative, and intelligence-led category management across various spend areas. This role is pivotal in supporting the transformation of Procurement to a category management approach within the council.

Day to Day of the Role:

• Manage complex procurements with significant impact on individuals, communities, and stakeholders.
• Influence and shape policy decision-making by providing innovative business insight and category expertise.
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date pipeline of procurement projects.
• Design and deliver innovative procurement category strategies that challenge existing delivery models.
• Analyse service provision, consult, and ensure financial analysis and contract monitoring are consistently high standard.
• Build relationships with other councils and public sector bodies to create opportunities for collaboration.
• Lead negotiations with suppliers on commercial elements of contracts.
• Engage with the local business community to support their bidding readiness.
• Provide training to raise commercial awareness and embed best practice procurement.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Full membership of CIPS or a similar related professional body.
• Track record of designing and implementing innovative category strategies.
• Experience in procurement management information analysis and reporting.
• Ability to develop positive working relationships and influence policy decisions.
• Team management experience with a focus on aligning team objectives with organisational vision.
• Significant experience in contract formation and procurement strategy development.
• Ability to represent the procurement function authoritatively and credibly.
• Excellent knowledge of strategic procurement processes and UK procurement legislation.

Benefits:

• Opportunity to work within a dynamic team and contribute to significant projects.
• Engage in continuous professional development.
• Work in an organisation that values fairness, openness, responsibility, and collaboration.

To apply for the Senior Category Manager position, please submit your CV and a consultant will be in touch to discuss the next steps.