IT Procurement Category Lead

Role Summary:

The Category Lead is a position within the Holman Corporate Assets group. Corporate Assets supports the Holman global business by providing procurement and vendor management expertise that controls customer costs and quality of service while maximizing income for Holman. The Category Lead works with the business team to identify high performing suppliers and negotiate favorable commercial terms in line with business strategy. A successful candidate is a self-motivated, strong communicator, with the ability to pull different ideas together and challenge status quo.

Principal Purpose of Position:

• Develop and execute category strategies across enterprise technology spend areas, ensuring alignment with business objectives, technology roadmaps, and procurement goals.
• Partner with IT leadership, Finance, Legal, Information Security, and business stakeholders to understand requirements and develop sourcing strategies that balance cost, risk, performance, and innovation.
• Lead complex strategy sourcing initiatives, including market assessments, supplier discovery, RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, supplier evaluations, and commercial negotiations.
• Manage technology procurement activities across multiple categories including software, Saas, cloud services, cybersecurity, telecommunications, infrastructure, hardware, professional services, and managed services.
• Negotiate commercial agreements, master service agreements (MSAs), software license agreements, cloud contracts, statements of work (SOWs), renewals, and related contractual documents, frequently involving contract values exceeding $1M.
• Conduct supplier and market analysis to identify competitive alternatives, benchmark pricing, evaluate emerging technologies, and drive continuous improvement in sourcing strategies
• Perform financial analysis, total cost of ownership (TCO) assessments, business case development, and spend analytics to support sourcing decisions and executive recommendations.
• Lead contract renewal and renegotiation efforts to optimize pricing, commercial protections, service levels, and contractual flexibility.
• Collaborate with Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Information Security teams to negotiate risk, cyber security, data protection, regulatory, and contractual requirements.
• Establish and manage supplier governance programs, including performance reviews, service-level agreements (SLAs), monitoring, scorecards, key performance indicators (KPIs), and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Build and maintain executive-level relationships with strategic suppliers to drive innovation, performance, and long-term value creation.
• Provide procurement leadership for enterprise technology initiatives, digital transformation projects, software implementations, cloud migrations, and other strategic business programs.
• Identify and execute cost savings, cost avoidance, supplier consolidation, and value engineering opportunities across assigned technology categories.
• Assess supplier financial stability, operational capabilities, business continuity plans, and risk exposure to support informed sourcing decisions.
• Support merger, acquisition, divestiture, and integration activities involving supplier contracts, technology services, and vendor transitions.
• Develop and present sourcing recommendations, negotiation strategies, and supplier selection decisions to senior leadership and business stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with procurement policies, sourcing governance requirements, delegated authority limits, and regulatory obligations.
• Maintain awareness of industry trends, technology innovations, supplier market dynamics, and procurement best practices to continuously enhance category performance.
• Mentor internal stakeholders on sourcing processes, supplier engagement strategies, and commercial best practices to increase procurement involvement in strategic purchasing decisions.
• Lead cross-functional project teams and drive sourcing initiatives from opportunity identification through contract execution and supplier implementation.

Education and/or Training:

• Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Supply Chain Management, Information Technology, Finance, Engineering, or related disciple preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field required.
• Professional certifications such as Certified Professional in Supply Chain Management (CPSM), Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), Certified Technology Procurement Executive (CTPE), Certified Outsourcing Professional (COP), Project Management Professional (PMP), ITIL, FinOps Certified Practitioner, or equivalent.

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