Description
This role is responsible for developing and executing category and sourcing strategies for Customer Field Services, including install, move, add, change, and decommission (IMACD) services, on-site customer support, break-fix repair, and related field-service capabilities.
The Category Manager partners with business, operations, finance, legal, and regional stakeholders to translate service requirements into sourcing plans, supplier strategies, competitive commercial models, and executable contracts.
Responsibilities
- Develops and executes regional or global category strategies for Customer Field Services, including IMACD, on-site customer support, break-fix services, deskside support, dispatch services, and associated parts or logistics requirements.
- Maintains knowledge of field-service market trends, supplier capabilities, labor models, geographic coverage, emerging technologies, cost drivers, and applicable regulatory or workforce considerations.
- Partners with operations and business stakeholders to understand service requirements, demand forecasts, geographic coverage, service-level expectations, customer commitments, and planned business changes.
- Proactively manages stakeholder expectations by establishing clear objectives, timelines, decision points, dependencies, escalation paths, and communication routines.
- Participates in annual and quarterly planning, demand and capacity reviews, business reviews, project meetings, sourcing councils, and recurring stakeholder governance forums.
- Develops category plans, sourcing strategies, supplier segmentation models, competitive bid events, business cases, and supplier recommendations supported by market, operational, and financial analysis.
- Leads or supports requests for information, requests for proposal, supplier evaluations, negotiations, contracting, renewals, and supplier transitions.
- Evaluates commercial models such as fixed fee, per-dispatch, per-device, per-site, time-and-materials, dedicated staffing, and outcome- or performance-based arrangements.
- Negotiates pricing, service levels, performance measures, governance requirements, transition obligations, risk protections, and continuous-improvement commitments.
- Monitors supplier performance against contractual commitments, service-level agreements, key performance indicators, financial targets, customer-experience measures, and corrective-action plans.
- Identifies and mitigates risks related to service continuity, supplier dependency, geographic coverage, workforce availability, subcontracting, information security, compliance, transition readiness, and business continuity.
- Works with internal partners and suppliers to resolve performance issues, manage escalations, implement recovery plans, and maintain uninterrupted customer support.
- Develops productive supplier relationships while maintaining appropriate commercial discipline, accountability, and adherence to procurement policies.
- Identifies savings, cost avoidance, demand-management, standardization, automation, and productivity opportunities without compromising service quality or customer outcomes.
- Supports implementation and transition activities following sourcing decisions, including stakeholder communications, supplier onboarding, knowledge transfer, readiness reviews, and stabilization governance.
- Maintains category documentation, market intelligence, sourcing records, contract data, performance reporting, and a forward-looking pipeline of sourcing and renewal activities.
- Uses procurement, contract-lifecycle, sourcing, and reporting systems to maintain accurate data, support sourcing events and approvals, monitor obligations and milestones, and produce actionable category and supplier insights.
Education & Experience Recommended
- Four-year or graduate degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, Operations, Information Technology, or a related discipline, or commensurate work experience and demonstrated competence.
- Typically, 4–7 years of experience in category management, strategic sourcing, procurement, supplier management, IT services, field-service operations, or a related discipline.
Preferred Certifications
- Professional procurement, supply chain, project management, or IT service management certification is preferred but not required.
Knowledge & Skills
- Category management and strategic sourcing
- Customer Field Services and IT support delivery models
- IMACD, on-site support, deskside support, dispatch, and break-fix service operations
- Supplier selection, competitive bidding, and commercial evaluation
- Contract negotiation and service-level agreement development
- Supplier performance and governance management
- Stakeholder engagement and expectation management
- Financial analysis, should-cost modeling, and total cost of ownership
- Demand, capacity, and sourcing pipeline planning
- Risk assessment, business continuity, and supplier transition management
- Executive communication, facilitation, and presentation skills
- Ability to work effectively across business, technical, legal, finance, operations, and procurement organizations
- Familiarity with or prior use of procurement, strategic sourcing, and contract-lifecycle management platforms such as SAP Ariba, Icertis, Jaggaer, or comparable enterprise systems
- Significant experience and expertise in Microsoft Excel, including advanced formulas, pivot tables, data validation, large-data-set analysis, financial modeling, and dashboard development
- Strong proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint, including development of concise executive presentations, sourcing recommendations, business cases, and supplier-performance reviews
- Proficiency with data collection, visualization, reporting, and collaboration tools used to consolidate information, track performance, identify trends, and communicate actionable insights
- Ability to maintain data quality, reconcile information across systems, and translate market, financial, operational, and supplier data into clear recommendations