IT Category Manager - Hardware / IT professional services

National Grid • Permanent • Warwick, GB • £52k / year • 5m ago

About the Roles

We are looking for two Global IT & Digital Category Managers to join our Global Procurement team on a permanent, hybrid working basis, working in the UK or US.

There’s never been a more exciting time to join National Grid’s Global Procurement function & their Global team. The Procurement team spans across the UK and US with a dedicated team focused on leveraging global opportunities in Indirect, Direct and IT. We are currently looking for individuals to join both the Global Indirect and Direct Procurement teams. The global team is made up of 30 talented professionals with a clear mission: to enable a clean, fair, and affordable energy future through commercial, responsible, and innovative supply chain leadership, specifically focused on leveraging global opportunities across the entire span of National Grids business.

There are two roles. Global Category Manager for Hardware and Global Category Manager for IT Professional Services.

These positions will also play a pivotal role in shaping and executing our Supply Chain Transformation program and how National Grid partner more closely with the supply chain and further harness our scale as a group.

There are some key accountabilities that we need these roles to deliver:

Category Management

•   Accountable for Global Category Management for the assigned Category within IT & Digital Procurement
•   Expert Category and market experience of your Category areas in both the UK and US markets. Typical portfolios include spend c.£200m plus
•   Design and implement cost savings strategies across Hardware or IT Professional Services
•   Provide leadership, direction, and support across the regional function
•   Develop and deliver all aspects of end-to-end category management for your portfolio to meet the needs of the business, and the Supply Chain Transformation program.
•   Drive our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through continuous development, modelling inclusive behaviours, and proactively managing bias
•   Motivate for performance and drive innovation and improvement in ways of working
•   Grow and develop the team’s technical and behavioural capabilities
•   Build collaborative and purposeful relationships with existing and potential supply chain partners
•   Develop & maintain effective stakeholder relationships with internal customers to become a trusted business partner
•   Provide strategic Sourcing oversight of Sourcing events for the Category
•   Manage, coach, and develop Category team members in their professional development
•   Able to execute complex sourcing activities implementing more than one option: RFX, e-sourcing and reverse auctions
•   Analyse forecast trends and track category savings targets in support of Procurement and category team commitment and goals.
•   Evaluate and apply the concept of total cost of ownership (TCO) and switching costs to support decision making
•   Potential line management of 4 to 6 people reports

Commercial Negotiation and Management
•   In depth and solid experience and understanding of contractual terms & conditions and able to craft structured agreements with legal and stakeholder input
•   Establish structured negotiation plans with clarity of desired outcomes, leveraging stakeholder input and support where appropriate
•   Understanding of supplier’s position, desired outcomes, and leverage points
•   Proven experience in commercial contract management

Supplier Relationship Management
• Identifies critical suppliers and creates appropriate engagement plans to ensure our Supply Chain risk profile and inputs to continuous improvement are proactively managed
• Demonstrates a collaborative approach with supply base and develops integrated plans to drive appropriate value for business and customer requirements
You will need to demonstrate strategic thought, creativity, and commercial acumen, to identify opportunities to drive value and deliver the net zero ambition. This will include partnering with the business to secure supply, manage risk and demand, working with the supply chain to drive innovation, exploring new markets and technologies, and driving sustainability and social value

About You

We invest in our people and harness the potential from a diverse range of backgrounds.

We are looking for people who have the following attributes:

•   Ideally 3 years’ experience in leading and developing high performing Global Category teams
•   Comprehensive and in-depth experience of managing and delivering IT and Digital Category strategies and complex Strategic Tender events, and Contract negotiations
•   Strong interpersonal and communication skills, specifically working cross-functionally to support critical business objectives at all levels of the organisation
•   Results orientated with a passion for driving improvement and innovation
•   Demonstrate strong role model behaviours by evidencing ‘finding a better way’, ‘doing the right thing’ and ‘making it happen’ values.
•   MBA, MS or achievement of a CIPS qualification or working towards is advantageous

At National Grid we value difference and therefore encourage applicants who demonstrate the above to apply.

If you can help us deliver new solutions that work for our customers and support the energy transition, then this is the perfect opportunity for you!

What you'll get

•   A competitive salary, dependent on capability and experience.
•   As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus based on personal and company performance and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%.
•   28 days annual leave
•   Company electric car
•   Access to a number of flexible benefits such as Share Incentive Plan, salary sacrifice car and technology schemes, support via employee assistance lines and matched charity giving to name a few.

About National Grid

National Grid is an energy company driven by a clear purpose: We Bring Energy to Life. Every day we play a vital role for society by connecting millions of people to the energy they use safely, reliably, and efficiently. But more than that - we are also part of delivering a clean energy revolution desperately needed to tackle climate change. So, every day we strive towards our vision of being at the heart of a clean, fair, and affordable energy future.

As a critical and influential organisation with energy infrastructure in the UK and US, operating responsibly and ethically is vitally important to us, and how we deliver for customers, stakeholders and communities is guided by our core values of Doing the Right Thing, Finding a Better Way and Making it Happen.

We are committed to being a diverse, equitable, inclusive organisation that is representative of the communities we serve and where each person can contribute and feel valued, reach their full potential and where inclusion is everyone’s responsibility.
Best of all, our people say they are proud to work for National Grid and that it is a great place to work. They know what they do matters for society and they can make a difference. We have a strong focus on personal development, wellbeing, inclusion and belonging. And it's not all work… we have fun, care for and look out for each other whilst forming strong friendships and affinities through active social networks & employee resource groups.

Find out more about National Grid, what goods and services we procure and the commitments we have made about how we operate.

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Further information

Location: As part of our hybrid working approach where colleagues work flexibly, these roles offer a mix of office working in Warwick, UK, or MA, US or NY, US and home working.

Travel: As this is a global role, there is some requirement for travel to be agreed with line management.

Role: This is a full-time position, but we will consider flexible working arrangements.

Closing date: 08 October 2023

We are keen to have great people join our team and will be progressing to interviews quickly for those that meet the requirements of the role. Therefore, we encourage candidates to submit their applications as early as possible and not to wait until the published closing date. We reserve the right to remove this advert or close it to further applications at any point during the recruitment process.

We are committed to being a diverse, equitable, inclusive organization that is representative of the communities we serve and where each person can contribute and feel valued, reach their full potential and where inclusion is everyone’s responsibility.

Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At National Grid we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace for everyone. So, if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right person for our growing business in this role or another one!

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