Manager Category Mgmt & Strategic Sourcing

City of Toronto • Union, NJ

2d • Onsite

About The Position

Reporting to the Senior Manager, Category Management & Strategic Sourcing within the Purchasing & Materials Management Division, the Manager, Category Management & Strategic Sourcing (CMSS) provides leadership, expertise, and strategic direction to coach, mentor, and lead a team of procurement professionals. This team is responsible for developing and executing sourcing strategies that drive measurable business value, operational excellence, and financial benefits. The Manager oversees complex, high-value procurement initiatives and leads cross-functional teams through the full strategic sourcing lifecycle. This includes developing and executing competitive procurement processes (RFX) and category strategies aligned with organizational priorities. The successful candidate is an accomplished procurement and category management leader with a proven ability to build strong collaborative relationships, influence diverse stakeholders, and deliver strategic business outcomes. You bring deep procurement expertise, a customer-focused approach, and a strong commitment to innovation and continuous improvement. Through your leadership, you will advance the goals of the Purchasing & Materials Management Division while delivering value across the City of Toronto and select City Agencies and Corporations.

Requirements

• Post-secondary education in Technology (IT), Business Administration (MBA), Technology or an equivalent combination of education and/or relevant experience.
• Extensive managerial experience in Technology procurement (software, hardware, SaaS, cloud, IT services, systems implementation).
• Extensive experience leading and supporting procurement operations within a large public or private sector organization, including procurement planning, sourcing strategies, competitive procurement processes, contract management, vendor and stakeholder relationships, risk management, and ensuring compliance with applicable legislation, policies, procedures, and organizational standards.
• Experience supporting and leading the development and execution of category and sourcing strategies, negotiation strategies, analyzing spend, identifying cost benefits.
• Experience leading complex contract negotiations and managing the full contract lifecycle.
• Advanced knowledge around the development and executing various competitive RFXs.
• Advanced knowledge of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis to assess the full lifecycle costs and value of goods, services, and contracts, including identifying cost drivers, evaluating alternatives, assessing financial and operational impacts, and providing recommendations to support strategic procurement and business decisions.
• Strong ability to develop and implement Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) strategies to manage and optimize supplier performance, strengthen strategic supplier relationships, mitigate risks, monitor contractual obligations and performance measures.
• Demonstrated knowledge of demand management and spend optimization strategies, including spend analysis, demand forecasting, specification and requirement optimization, category management, and identification of cost-saving opportunities while balancing service delivery requirements.
• Advanced knowledge of financial savings and cost reduction initiatives, including analyzing expenditures, identifying cost-saving opportunities, evaluating alternatives, and implementing strategies that achieve measurable financial savings while maintaining quality and service requirements.
• Extensive experience, leading, coaching, and mentoring procurement teams.
• Strong ability to drive and influence change in a complex multi-divisional environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to lead and manage cross-functional stakeholder relationships and to establish effective working relationships with staff, client divisions, outside agencies and/or politicians and other levels of government.
• Knowledge of change management principles and practices within complex organizations, including assessing the impacts of change, engaging stakeholders, developing and implementing change strategies, addressing resistance, communicating effectively, and supporting the successful adoption of new processes, systems, policies, or ways of working.
• Demonstrated knowledge of strategic planning initiatives including execution and assessing organizational priorities, developing strategic objectives, identifying risks and opportunities, establishing performance measures, and implementing initiatives.
• Strong understanding of performance management and continuous improvement principles.
• Superior analytical, problem-solving and conflict resolution skills.
• Excellent organization skills and the ability to meet deadlines.
• Ability to respond to challenging situations while organizing, prioritizing and managing workload under strict time constraints.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment and discretion in dealing with confidential matters.
• Ability to perform duties with minimal supervision and work independently.
• Familiarity with Collective Agreements, Ontario Statues, including Occupational Health and Safety Act, employment standards, labour and human rights and other applicable government legislation.

Nice To Haves

• Supply chain SCMP designation and/or equivalent will be considered an asset.

Responsibilities

• Leads the development and execution of enterprise-wide Technology and other assigned category strategies in partnership with divisional leadership to optimize procurement outcomes, mitigate risk, and maximize organizational value.
• Provides strategic leadership and support in the development of divisional procurement plans, ensuring alignment with corporate priorities, category strategies, and long-term business objectives.
• Oversees strategic sourcing initiatives across multiple Technology categories, ensuring compliance with municipal by-laws, procurement policies, governance frameworks, and applicable legislation.
• Leads the development of sourcing strategies, project scopes, business requirements, project plans, budgets, resource allocation, risk mitigation strategies, and implementation schedules for complex procurement initiatives.
• Partners with business leaders and cross-functional stakeholders to align procurement strategies, drive process improvements, enhance procurement policies, and support organizational change initiatives.
• Provides governance, strategic guidance, training, and advisory services on sourcing strategies, go-to-market approaches, evaluation methodologies, negotiation strategies, and contract award processes to ensure compliant, efficient, and value-driven procurement outcomes.
• Fosters a high-performing, innovative, and continuous improvement culture by coaching, mentoring, and developing procurement professionals while promoting collaboration and accountability.
• Directs the day-to-day operations of the assigned procurement team, including workload management, workforce planning, performance management, budget oversight, resource allocation, and employee development.
• Supervises the day-to-day operation of all assigned staff including the scheduling, assigning and reviewing of work.
• Authorizes and controls vacation and overtime requests.
• Monitors and evaluates staff performance, approves salary increments and recommends disciplinary action when necessary.
• Develops, implements, and continuously improves Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to support evolving business, operational, and customer service requirements.
• Leads complex business transformation initiatives related to Category Management and Strategic Sourcing, ensuring successful delivery within approved scope, budget, timelines, and quality expectations.
• Oversees the full strategic sourcing lifecycle, including project governance, business case development, project charters, budget management, quality assurance, risk management, change management, and stakeholder engagement.
• Prepares and review business cases, feasibility studies, cost-benefit analyses, sole-source justifications, procurement recommendations, and contract negotiation strategies to support executive decision-making.
• Leads the development, review, and approval of complex procurement documentation, including Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Negotiable RFPs (nRFPs), Requests for Expressions of Interest (REOIs), Requests for Information (RFIs), Requests for Quotations (RFQs), Statements of Work (SOWs), Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Negotiates high-value commercial agreements with suppliers, including pricing, service levels, key performance indicators (KPIs), service credits, performance guarantees, and other commercial terms to achieve optimal value and mitigate organizational risk.
• Collaborates with Legal Services and business stakeholders to negotiate contractual terms and conditions that balance organizational objectives, stakeholder priorities, regulatory requirements, and supplier relationships.
• Influences stakeholders to achieve consensus on strategic procurement decisions, sourcing initiatives, and enterprise-wide category management strategies.
• Leads the implementation of procurement strategies and sourcing initiatives that enable the efficient, effective, and compliant acquisition of goods and services while maximizing value for the organization.
• Conducts business needs assessments, market intelligence, spend analysis, supplier analysis, and benchmarking activities; develop key performance indicators (KPIs); and obtain required approvals to support strategic sourcing initiatives.
• Establishes project performance metrics and monitor progress against approved timelines, budgets, risks, and strategic objectives to ensure successful project delivery and alignment with organizational priorities.
• Builds and maintains strong collaborative relationships with internal clients, suppliers, and external partners by delivering responsive, customer-focused procurement services throughout the procurement lifecycle.
• Develops and manages strategic supplier relationships by establishing approved vendor rosters, leading supplier negotiations, overseeing contract implementation, and driving supplier performance and continuous improvement.
• Leads and facilitates competitive procurement processes by directing the development of RFx documentation, managing solicitation activities, overseeing evaluation committees, leading vendor negotiations, recommending contract awards, and supporting contract administration and supplier performance management.

Benefits

• The City is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to creating a workplace culture of inclusiveness that reflects the diverse residents that we serve.
• The City of Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization.
• We are committed to providing barrier-free and accessible employment practices in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
• Should you require Code-protected accommodation through any stage of the recruitment process, please make them known when contacted and we will work with you to meet your needs.
• Disability-related accommodation during the application process is available upon request.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: Associate degree