category sourcing manager, Technology/Hardware (Nashville, TN)
About The Position
The Category Sourcing Manager, Technology is a senior individual contributor and enterprise category leader responsible for setting the vision and commercial direction for a broad portfolio of technology categories, including software, SaaS, cloud-based solutions, maintenance, support, and related technology services, with a primary focus on hardware. The role combines technology-category expertise with enterprise leadership in sourcing, negotiation, contracting, supplier governance, and value creation. The position advises Starbucks Technology, Finance, Legal, Information Security, Privacy, and other business leaders, translating business priorities into multi-year category strategies that improve cost, agility, resilience, innovation, and risk outcomes. The successful candidate will lead complex, high-value technology categories and negotiations with major hardware manufacturers and value-added resellers. The role involves influencing senior executives, leading cross-functional teams through ambiguous and high-stakes decisions, shaping demand and supplier strategy, and overseeing initiatives from market analysis and strategy development through negotiation, contracting, implementation, and ongoing supplier performance management.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, finance, technology, engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
- 8+ years of progressive strategic sourcing, category management, procurement, or supplier-management experience, including significant technology-category responsibility.
- Demonstrated success developing and leading multi-year category strategies for complex enterprise technology products and services, including hardware, software, SaaS, cloud, maintenance, and support.
- Experience leading high-value, high-risk competitive sourcing events and complex negotiations with major technology suppliers, software publishers, cloud providers, and value-added resellers.
- Deep working knowledge of enterprise software licensing, subscription, consumption, maintenance, support, renewal, and technology-channel commercial models.
- Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders, align cross-functional stakeholders, challenge demand, and guide decisions involving complex priorities, risks, and commercial trade-offs.
- Experience developing category strategies, market and supplier analyses, negotiation plans, financial models, business cases, supplier evaluations, and executive award recommendations.
- Experience negotiating complex commercial agreements in partnership with Legal, Information Security, Privacy, Finance, and other risk or control functions.
- Advanced analytical and financial acumen, including evaluating complex pricing proposals, licensing and consumption models, total cost of ownership, benchmarks, and business scenarios.
- Strong program and portfolio-management skills, including setting priorities, leading multiple cross-functional initiatives, and delivering results across extended timelines.
- Executive-level written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to translate technical and commercial complexity into clear recommendations and decisions.
- Demonstrated ability to coach others, provide thought leadership, and elevate sourcing and category-management capability across teams.
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and other tools used for sourcing analysis, portfolio management, and executive communication.
Responsibilities
- Develop, own, and continuously refresh multi-year enterprise category strategies across hardware and related technology services, aligned with business and technology roadmaps.
- Provide strategic category leadership across complex, high-value spend, setting priorities, governance, value targets, market intelligence, and executive decision points.
- Lead complex and business-critical sourcing initiatives, including demand shaping, requirements development, competitive events, proposal analysis, supplier selection, negotiations, contracting, transition planning, and implementation.
- Create and execute negotiation strategies for technology suppliers, including software publishers, cloud providers, hardware manufacturers, distributors, and value-added resellers.
- Evaluate and optimize licensing structures, consumption and subscription models, renewals, support terms, total cost of ownership, and commercial benchmarks.
- Partner with senior leaders across Technology, Finance, Legal, Information Security, Privacy, and the business to challenge requirements, evaluate trade-offs, and align on sourcing and supplier decisions.
- Build and govern a multi-year value pipeline through competitive sourcing, demand management, supplier consolidation, license and consumption optimization, specification changes, improved terms, and supplier-enabled innovation.
- Establish executive supplier governance for strategic and critical suppliers; lead business reviews and escalations, monitor contractual commitments and performance, and drive corrective action and continuous improvement.
- Identify, quantify, and mitigate supplier, commercial, licensing, information-security, privacy, service-continuity, concentration, transition, and renewal risks across the category portfolio.
- Develop business cases, financial models, category recommendations, and executive-level presentations that enable timely, fact-based decisions.
- Provide category expertise, negotiation leadership, and coaching to sourcing partners and cross-functional teams, raising capability and consistency across the organization.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Basic and supplemental life insurance and other voluntary insurance benefits
- Short-term and long-term disability
- Paid parental leave
- Family expansion reimbursement
- Paid vacation from date of hire
- Sick time
- Eight paid holidays
- Two personal days per year
- 401(k) retirement plan with employer match for eligible partners
- Discounted company stock program (S.I.P.)
- Starbucks equity program (Bean Stock)
- Incentivized emergency savings and financial well-being tools
- 100% upfront tuition coverage for a first-time bachelor's degree through Arizona State University's online program via the Starbucks College Achievement Plan
- Student loan management resources and access to other educational opportunities
- Backup care
- DACA reimbursement
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
