£65K/yr to £80K/yr
Chester, England
Permanent, Variable

Category Manager - Global Procurement - Direct

Posted by Pod Talent.

CATEGORY MANAGER - PHARMACEUTIAL - LONDON/ CHESTER - £65,000 - 80,000 + BONUS + PACKAGE

Pod Talent have partnered with a pioneering and trusted pharmaceutical company to recruit a number of category managers across the direct procurement function. The company is FTSE100 global pharma & technology company, focused on solutions for the management of chronic conditions. Operating across 100+ countries, this is a truly global role for a strategic category manager to put their own stamp on.

This is a exciting time to join as they continue through their transformation which includes a newly created ESG & procurement excellence team - the successful candidate will be right at the start of the transformation!

Category Manager - Direct role profile:

This is a key role within the Global Procurement function, driving a high-performance culture and setting the standard for Procurement Excellence. They're looking for a Category Manager who will bring a strategic and innovative approach to continue the transformation journey.

  • You will develop fully integrated and customer/business-aligned category strategy for a range of directs, raw materials, packaging, tubes, packaging, with spends ranging between £50-100m.
  • Leading long term, complex projects across the above categories - using both single source and dual sourcing approach.
  • You will manage critical relationships (stakeholder and supplier) to ensure that Category Strategies are highly aligned to current and future business needs and that the supply base can support these strategies.
  • You will be accountable for the Source to Contract (S2C) process, including identification of opportunities, sourcing strategy (e.g. RFP or E-Auction), evaluation, recommendation, and award.
  • You will be accountable through Supplier Relationship Management for ensuring that the supplier base supporting your category(s) is continually assessed and developed to meet changing business/customer demands. This will include identifying and driving continuous improvement/innovation initiatives that will generate value through increased supplier performance and/or capabilities.

The Ideal Category Manager will have:

  • 5+ years' experience working within a strategic procurement/ sourcing environment, employing a formal category/sourcing management process.
  • Strong understanding of regulated industries including but not limited to medical, pharma, aviation/aerospace, automotive, oil & gas.

If this sounds like you, or you'd like to hear more, please reach out with a copy of your CV to

Keywords: procurement, sourcing, category manager, direct, raw materials, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, SRM, stakeholder management, direct procurement, London, Liverpool, Chester

Pod Talent are independent specialist recruiters in the Supply Chain, Procurement, Logistics, Manufacturing and R&D space covering roles internationally from entry to board level. We recruit for roles including Supply Chain, Demand Planning, Inventory Management, Direct and Indirect Procurement, Category Management, Logistics, Distribution, Warehousing, Production, Packaging, NPD and Quality Assurance. Please visit our website for all of our vacancies.