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About the Role

The Category Manager will serve as the commercial owner for the Enterprise Software category, acting as an internal commercial consultant. This role requires deep category knowledge, strategic sourcing capabilities, and negotiation expertise to build and own the category strategy and savings plan, compete with vendors on commercial strategy, and influence business purchasing decisions. Success is measured by cost reduction and the value placed on Procurement's advice.

Responsibilities

Build, own, and execute the category strategy for Enterprise Software based on supply market structure, vendor commercial models, cost drivers, and market trends.
Maintain living category plans covering market analysis, supply base segmentation, demand profiling, route to market, and savings opportunities.
Develop commercial strategies for key vendors well ahead of renewal to ensure M&G negotiates from a position of insight with credible alternatives.
Lead high-value sourcing events and negotiations, including setting negotiation strategy, BATNA, walk-away position, managing concessions, and holding positions with incumbents.
Manage senior supplier relationships under commercial pressure.
Design sourcing events and evaluation criteria, determining the necessary process based on value, risk, and complexity.
Introduce competitive tension into renewals and new commitments, moving towards structured market engagement, preferred supplier frameworks, and normalized rate cards.
Build and own the category savings plan against an agreed share of the group cost reduction target, sizing and prioritizing opportunities by value and deliverability.
Agree baselines and savings methodology with Finance before work commences and track savings until they are reflected in budgets and run rates.
Build total cost of ownership and should-cost models, model the budget impact of sourcing options, and how savings will be recognized in departmental P&L cost reports, making sourcing recommendations accordingly.
Utilize price, volume, and demand levers, including rate reduction, volume aggregation, supplier consolidation, and specification change.
Challenge demand and specification using category and industry knowledge, questioning the necessity, volume, service level, specification, and term of requirements; identify over-specification, duplicate purchasing, and avoidable demand; and propose options like lower service tiers, shorter terms, or reuse of existing contracts, outlining commercial tradeoffs.
Report savings and cost avoidance separately and accurately, maintaining a forward pipeline for Finance and business visibility of upcoming activity.
Act as a trusted commercial advisor to senior business owners within the Enterprise Software spend area, engaging early in their planning process.
Influence stakeholder decisions on sourcing, demand, and specification without formal authority, and present category insight, evaluation, and commercial recommendations to governance forums.
Serve as the Procurement relationship lead for nominated senior stakeholders, involving other category colleagues as needed.
Seek and act on stakeholder feedback to improve the business's experience with Procurement.
Set the commercial direction for key suppliers in the category and lead the commercial input to vendor strategy.
Influence and partner with in-business vendor management and vendor performance teams to secure the strongest commercial outcome for M&G during supplier reviews, contract changes, and renewals.
Identify value within the existing supply base through rate review, supplier consolidation, and contract optimization.
Direct category execution work performed by the M&G India Procurement Team, providing clear briefs, priorities, and commercial context.
Review the quality of execution outputs and collaborate with India leads to maintain a responsive and consistent service to the business.
Shape commercial terms, including pricing mechanisms, indexation, service credits, and exit provisions, in collaboration with Legal.
Apply third-party risk management, outsourcing, and regulatory requirements relevant to Enterprise Software, and identify regulatory risks such as material outsourcing.
Apply procurement standards and governance proportionately, and record activity in the system of record and eSourcing tooling.
Utilize spend data, Power BI dashboards, and AI tools to analyze trends and anomalies, identify future sourcing opportunities, and present a clear commercial account of management information.
Question data rather than accepting it at face value, and work with India colleagues to ensure category data accuracy.
Coach and develop Category Specialists and India colleagues working in the category, reviewing their work and building category capability across the UK and India.
Plan the utilization of onshore and offshore capacity across the category to direct effort towards the highest value work.
Share category intelligence across the Procurement team and support cross-category opportunities.

Requirements

Experience sourcing and negotiating complex enterprise software and enterprise SaaS agreements with major vendors.
Working knowledge of vendor licensing and commercial models (subscription, consumption, and enterprise agreements).
Familiarity with license compliance, audit and true-up exposure, cloud commitments, price protection, and renewal and exit strategy.
Substantial category management or strategic sourcing experience with a proven track record of delivering measurable savings in a complex organization.
Demonstrable experience planning and leading negotiations on high-value contracts with major vendors, including setting negotiation strategy and BATNA.
Credibility with senior stakeholders, evidence of influencing business decisions without formal authority, and experience presenting commercial recommendations to senior governance forums.
Strong commercial and financial judgment, including total cost of ownership and should-cost analysis, with the ability to explain budget and P&L impact to stakeholders.
Proficiency in using spend data and management information to identify trends, anomalies, and sourcing opportunities.
Experience in a regulated environment such as financial services or insurance (desirable).
Experience with eSourcing platforms such as Market Dojo, and with Power BI or similar analytical tools (desirable).
Experience directing offshore or nearshore teams as an extension of the UK operation (desirable).
CIPS or an equivalent professional qualification (desirable).

Skills

Category Management
Strategic Sourcing
Negotiation
Commercial Strategy
Vendor Management
Spend Analysis
Data Analysis
Stakeholder Management
Financial Acumen
Risk Management
Contract Management
Power BI
eSourcing Platforms

Location

London
Kildean (Stirling)

Work Type

Hybrid
Full-time

Experience Level

Senior

Education Level

CIPS or equivalent professional qualification (desirable)

Benefits

Pension scheme of up to 18% (13% employer, 5% employee contributions)
Share Save and Share Incentive Plan
Financial wellbeing and support services
38 days annual leave (including bank holidays)
Opportunity to purchase up to five extra days of annual leave
Time Off When You Need It policy
Market-leading Inspiring Families policy with comprehensive support and paid parental leave (maternity, adoption, surrogacy, paternity)
Private Healthcare
Critical Illness cover
Life Assurance
Additional family options for Health & Protection cover

About the Company

M&G has a heritage dating back more than 175 years with a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise.
The company offers a wide range of solutions through two distinct operating segments: Asset Management and Life.
M&G aims to create an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent by fostering a culture of telling it like it is, owning it now, and moving it forward together with care and integrity.
The company is committed to supporting employee wellbeing and helping them thrive both at work and beyond.

Equal Opportunity

M&G strives to have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture, supported by policies and employee-led networks.
Applications are welcomed from people of all backgrounds, including individuals with disabilities, neurodivergent individuals, career returners, and those with military service experience.
M&G is a Level 3: Disability Confident Leader under the UK Government Disability Confident employer scheme.
The company is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and offers reasonable adjustments for candidates.
Candidates can request reasonable adjustments when applying and can indicate their interest in participating in the Disability Confident initiative.