Category Lead

Category Lead
London/Hybrid
Contract Type: Interim
Salary: £350 - £550 per day (Umbrella) Flexible


About Us:
We are a dynamic and forward-thinking Commercial Hub, committed to delivering excellence in procurement and contract management across a range of business services. We are seeking an exceptionally talented interim procurement professional to join a local authority team as a Category Lead. This role offers an exciting opportunity to lead procurement across various categories including ICT, Finance, HR, Professional Services, and Social Care.

Role Overview:
As the Category Lead, you will be instrumental in the procurement of contracts across diverse categories of spend. You will oversee the entire procurement lifecycle, ensuring that our approach to commercial activities—spanning commissioning, procurement, and contract management—is efficient, effective, and compliant with regulations. You will design and implement long-term category strategies to deliver best value for money and drive transformational change.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage the procurement process for multiple categories, including ICT, Finance, HR, Professional Services, and Social Care.
• Develop and implement category strategies, ensuring they align with business objectives and deliver efficiencies.
• Ensure compliance with Public Contracts Regulations and all relevant procurement legislation.
• Foster and maintain effective partnerships with multi-disciplinary teams, driving consultation and negotiation to achieve successful outcomes.
• Utilise your commercial expertise to handle complex, large-scale, and high-value public procurement projects.
• Apply and manage various procurement frameworks, Dynamic Purchasing Systems, and traditional procedures.
• Actively manage strategic commercial relationships and delivery arrangements to ensure ongoing value for money.
• Conduct strategic analysis of suppliers and supply markets to inform category management plans and identify potential risks.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

1. Proven leadership skills with the ability to motivate and guide teams towards achieving ambitious goals.
2. In-depth knowledge of commissioning, category management, market shaping, supplier relationship and contract management, and financial budgeting.
3. Demonstrated ability to develop business cases for change and design and deliver effective commercial and category strategies.
4. Expertise in managing strategic commercial relationships to ensure value for money.
5. Experience in strategic analysis of suppliers and supply markets, with the capability to develop and implement informed category management plans.
6. Familiarity with Atamis e-procurement system is preferred.

Please contact me for more information