Procurement Category Manager

At WPP we are undergoing a company wide transformation programme that will enable us to work together in a more coordinated, connected, and efficient way across the group.

As part of the transformation, we are building out a Global Procurement function to support and assist us in meeting our ambition, and our vision is.

‘To be the best commercial Procurement organisation to work for and work with, delivering value and managing risk for the benefit of our businesses, our planet, our clients, and our communities

To be the creative transformation company, we need the best minds who are keen to join a company that is open, optimistic, and committed to extraordinary work.

Why we’re hiring:

We are looking for an ambitious and motivated individual to join our software category within the IT & Telco Procurement team which provides services to a global footprint of more than 120,000 end users. The individual should be keen to embrace change and tackle challenges within a fast evolving global team and organization. You should be passionate about approaching things differently, whilst providing knowledge, enthusiasm and the right attitude to deliver change and be part of our journey to meet our ambitious vision.

You will report to WPP’s Procurement Category Director – Software 

What you’ll be doing: 

• Provide deep category knowledge and strategic insight in the software category, managing our vendors, and overseeing a spend of $300m per annum across a federated organisation
• Develop and deliver a robust and executable category plan that is forward-thinking and delivers enduring value to the business in the short and long term
• Develop effective relationships with stakeholders including at leadership level, championing commerciality throughout engagement
• Support stakeholders with software related procurement activities, demonstrating customer centricity and an agile approach to ways of working
• Drive the development, structuring and negotiation of third-party software agreements to achieve the optimum outcome for the group
• Identify, influence and deliver spend optimisation opportunities in the software category, proposing initiatives, and lead creation of continuous improvement plans
• Demonstrate and champion a culture of diversity and inclusion consistent with WPP’s policies

What you’ll need:

• Software procurement experience in a similar sized, global organisation
• Experience in running large / complex sourcing activities
• Demonstrable experience and ownership of complex global software negotiations and contracting and can articulate key strategies for maximising the value proposition  
• Senior stakeholder management experience in a complex organisation
• Evidence of responsible / sustainable procurement initiatives

Who you are:

You’re open: We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diverse views. We are accepting: of new ideas, new partnerships, new ways of working.

You’re optimistic: We believe in the power of creativity, technology and talent to create brighter futures or our people, our clients and our communities. We approach all that we do with conviction: to try the new and to seek the unexpected.

You’re extraordinary: we are stronger together: through collaboration we achieve the amazing. We are creative leaders and pioneers of our industry; we provide extraordinary every day.

What we’ll give you:

Passionate, inspired people – We promote a culture of people that do extraordinary work.

Scale and opportunity – We offer the opportunity to create, influence and complete projects at a scale that is unparalleled in the industry.

Challenging and stimulating work – Unique work and the opportunity to join a group of creative problem solvers. Are you up for the challenge?