Category Manager

As a Category Manager, you should be a commercial expert for the category that you lead. You should be able to utilise this market expertise to develop and deliver strategies, ensuring that Thames is market-leading in their commercial arrangements.
What you’ll be doing as a Category Manager

• Responsible for managing a portfolio of suppliers to ensure contracted expectations continue to be improved throughout the contract life cycle and to support these suppliers in delivering additional value to Thames Water.
• Providing extensive category knowledge and supplying market insight to internal stakeholders. Delivering category strategies and sourcing events, providing SME support and identifying/managing category-level risk.
• Becoming the commercial expert for the category enables Thames to quickly adapt to market changes.
• Engage proactively with internal stakeholders to shape category approach, business needs, spend and suppliers.
• Lead and evaluate competitive tenders and proposals for the supply of goods and services.
• Be a key interface with the supplier on a particular category.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting on the sourcing projects using available reporting tools
• Understand and adhere to the company and department standards, policies, and procedures.
• Base Location: Reading - Hybrid.
• Working Pattern or hours: 36 Hours.

What you should bring to the role 

• A good networker with the ability to build productive relationships across all areas of the team and collaborate with colleagues to build flexible solutions which work for them and the organisation as a whole.
• Ability to challenge industry norms and proactively seek out opportunities to deliver sustained improvements in performance.
• Capable of leading complex supplier negotiations up to £100m in value.
• Good understanding of pre and post deal processes and how better information and improvements in process can deliver value to the organisation.
• Evidence of being able to influence internal stakeholders and suppliers to drive meaningful change.
• Some understanding and experience of operating in complex supply chain environments.
• Ability to prioritise and manage risk and complexity effectively.

What’s in it for you? 

• Competitive salary from £45,000 per annum to £55,000 per annum depending on experience.
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service. (Plus bank holidays)
• Contributory pension – Defined Contribution - Maximum of 12% -2x employee contribution.
• Personal Medical Assessments – Open to all once a year.
• Wider benefits scheme including our benefits hub, which is packed full of offers and information to save you money and support your wellbeing.

Who are we? 
At Thames Water, our purpose is crystal clear - to deliver life’s essential service so our customers, communities and planet can thrive. 
 
Water is life’s great leveller. Every living thing needs it, every single day. From people to plants, birds to bees, farms to factories, we all need it to thrive, and we’re committed to taking care of it for us all. 
 
But keeping water flowing is becoming harder. From scorching summers to wetter winters, extreme weather affects everything from our pipes to our local rivers. We need to keep millions more kettles boiling, public services operating, washing machines spinning, showers running and more, so every drop is more precious than ever. Are you ready to play your part? 
Working at Thames Water 
At Thames Water, we recognise that people are at the heart of our business. To help us succeed in providing life's essential service, we need a range of skills and capabilities, representative of society throughout our business. 
We seek to attract and retain a cultural mix of people who can offer different but complementary attitudes, values, talents, and knowledge. We understand the importance of appreciating and harnessing the unique skills, experiences, backgrounds, and differences that each individual brings. 
Our over-arching diversity and inclusion aim is to ensure Thames Water is a diverse and inclusive great place to work. We encourage applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process. 
Find out more about working at Thames Water. 
When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business, meet colleagues and earn some extra money along the way. 
Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.