Senior Category Manager

Senior Category Manager - Corporate Services Overview Our client is one of the UK's leading financial services and insurance organisations, serving millions of customers and operating as part of a global group. With a strong focus on innovation, sustainability and customer outcomes, the business is investing in its procurement function to ensure it remains a strategic driver of value, risk management and operational excellence. An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior Category Manager to join the Procurement Leadership Team. This role will take ownership of category strategies across People & Culture (HR), Professional Services, Travel, Fleet and Engineering-related spend, while leading a team of procurement professionals to deliver best-in-class sourcing outcomes across the business. Role & Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies that align with corporate objectives and deliver measurable value
• Act as a trusted business partner to senior stakeholders, influencing decision-making and supporting strategic initiatives
• Lead a team of Sourcing Managers and Specialists, fostering a high-performance culture and supporting professional development
• Drive sourcing, tendering and contract management activities across multiple indirect spend categories
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships to enhance innovation, performance and long-term value creation
• Collaborate with supplier relationship management teams to improve supplier performance, manage risk and identify opportunities for innovation
• Monitor and deliver against savings targets, procurement KPIs and business objectives
• Ensure robust procurement governance, compliance and adherence to best practice sourcing standards
• Identify, assess and mitigate supply chain risks while supporting business continuity objectives
• Champion sustainability, ethical sourcing and continuous improvement throughout procurement activities
• Keep abreast of market trends, emerging technologies and industry best practice to inform category strategies and commercial decisions Skills & Experience
• Significant experience within strategic sourcing, category management and procurement leadership roles
• Proven track record managing complex indirect spend categories, ideally including HR, Professional Services, Travel and Fleet
• Experience leading and developing procurement teams within a large, complex organisation
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to deliver value through strategic supplier management and negotiation
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with experience engaging and influencing senior executives and board-level stakeholders
• Strong analytical capabilities, including data interpretation and performance management
• Experience using modern procurement and sourcing technologies
• Demonstrable success driving procurement transformation, innovation and continuous improvement initiatives
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Knowledge of responsible AI practices within a procurement environment would be advantageous Benefits
• Salary circa £80,000 plus 10% bonus
• 30 Days Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays
• PMI and much more
• Hybrid - 2 days in office - Surrey, Birmingham or London (please note multi site travel will be required)