Senior Category Manager

Job Summary by the careerbalance.co.uk Team:

111Job Description:We are looking for talented Senior Category Managers who can challenge, engage, influence and drive change within an ever-moving market to join us. We’re looking for individuals to bring a fresh approach and a curious mindset. 

As a Senior 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 Senior Category Manager

• You will ensure that a strategic and innovative Category Management approach is consistently embedded within the way that Commercial, and Thames Water delivers it’s service.
• Actively lead, develop and manage end to end category plans for the short, medium and long term. Identify a pipeline of initiatives to maximise value and outcomes for Thames water, balancing commercial risk and value opportunities. 
• Lead major category projects and sourcing events adhering to the required process/approval steps.
• 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.
• Negotiating with suppliers on all commercial and contractual matters and applying judgement as to what constitutes an acceptable level of contractual risk and supply resilience.
• Identify any operational and regulatory risks, escalating as appropriate.
• Providing extensive category knowledge and supply market insight to internal stakeholders. Delivering category strategies and sourcing events, providing SME support and identifying/managing category level risks.

Base Location: Reading – Hybrid
Working Pattern or hours: 36 Hours

What you should bring to the role 

• Experience of working in a Senior Category Manager role in a complex environment.
• Have a detailed knowledge of the external supply market including suppliers, trends, innovation, market changes and dynamics that enable the identification of new suppliers of value to Thames.
• Experience of negotiating with suppliers on all commercial and contractual matters and applying judgement as to what constitutes an acceptable level of contractual risk and supply resilience.
• Have strong engagement skills which allow you to support, influence and constructively challenge stakeholders to deliver the best commercial outcomes for Thames.
• A clear understanding of Category Management principles with a track record of delivering results across a number of different category areas, building fantastic supplier and stakeholder relationships.
• Good understanding of pre and post deal processes and how better information and improvements in process can deliver value to the organisation.
• Ability to analyse data, bringing insight to identify new 3rd Party opportunities.
• Ability to lead and provide insight for the business on all aspects of supply market dynamics, regulatory and internal frameworks, suppliers, and technical innovations.

What’s in it for you? 

• Competitive salary from £62,000 per annum depending on experience
• Annual Leave – 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (Plus bank holidays) 
• Car Allowance
• Annual Bonus
• Private Medical Health Care
• 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. 

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. Location: South East, Reading