Senior Director, Category Management and Sourcing – Information Technology

Marriott Hotels Resorts•Bethesda, MD

About The Position

JOB SUMMARY The Senior Director, Category Management and Sourcing – Information Technology leads a team responsible for managing category management and strategic sourcing needs for Marriott’s Global Procurement Department, with a specific focus on the Information Technology (IT) category.  This role will be responsible for leading a team to drive best-in-class category management and strategic sourcing across multiple IT verticals, including enterprise software, hardware, cloud services (SaaS, Paas, IaaS), infrastructure, cybersecurity, digital platforms, telecommunications, and IT professional and managed services. The Senior Director drives adherence to and communication of Marriott procurement policies and processes, leads a team of procurement professionals, serves as the primary point of escalation for issues, delivers effective communications at all levels (including to executive leadership), and leads cross-functional teams on IT procurement initiatives.  As a key member of the Global Procurement team, this leader will partner closely with Global Technology, Information Security, Digital, Finance, Legal and other corporate and continent, leaders to enable Marriott’s technology roadmap while driving commercial value, managing risk, ensuring regulatory compliance, and strengthening supplier governance. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in Information Technology category management, strategic sourcing, risk management and regulatory compliance, including data privacy and information security considerations.  The Sr. Director sets data-driven category strategies, leads complex technology negotiations, serves as a point of escalation for critical supplier and risk issues, and delivers clear communications to executive leadership This leader must demonstrate exceptional leadership skills and have a proven track record of managing geographically dispersed teams in a highly matrixed environment. This role offers the opportunity to drive and execute Information Technology category strategies and strategic sourcing and contribute to the success of Marriott’s 30+ brands across 10,000+ hotels in 138+ countries. The global team has a presence in 9 offices worldwide (Eschborn, London, Dubai, Cape Town, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Bethesda MD, Plantation FL) and over 60 clusters representing 200 associates. This role will maximize Marriott’s global purchasing power of $20B+ while supporting strategic IT supplier relationships.

Requirements

BA/BS
15 years of business, legal, and/or procurement experience.
Deep technical knowledge of Information Technology category management and strategic sourcing at large, complex Fortune 500 companies.
Deep technical knowledge of the Information Technology domain, including software, cloud services, infrastructure, and IT services.
Demonstrated ability to create strategy and implement change while managing a geographically dispersed team in a highly matrixed cross-discipline environment.

Nice To Haves

Masters in Business Administration or Juris Doctor.
Proven ability to lead and develop a high-performing team.
Experience partnering with CIO, CISO, and Digital leadership and teams.
Hospitality or adjacent sector experience.
Experience with implementing and utilizing Coupa Source to Pay or other cloud based procurement software to efficiently run sourcing events, contract with, and pay selected providers.

Responsibilities

Act as a procurement business partner to Global Technology, Digital, and Information Security leadership and other IT stakeholders, providing guidance on IT category management, strategic sourcing, policy and risk management.
Establish, execute and refine multi-year IT category strategies aligned to Marriott’s technology roadmap and company objectives.
Create data-driven category plan annually that is grounded in spend analytics and aligned to the IT category strategy.
Lead and implement enterprise sourcing strategies across software, cloud, infrastructure, telecom, cybersecurity and IT services.
Identify and present all cost take-out levers for stakeholder consideration, including competitive sourcing, demand management, insourcing vs outsourcing, specification change, process change, and governance improvement.
Analyze IT spend, supplier performance, etc. to identify opportunities for consolidation and rationalization of IT suppliers; create supplier panels and implement governance to ensure adherence to panels by stakeholders
Stay abreast of IT demand patterns and category spend, cost benchmarks, licensing models, and technology market trends to identify potential suppliers, advise on competitive dynamics, and proactively work with stakeholders to modify strategies to meet enterprise-wide requirements, manage risk and optimize costs.
Identify and develop strategies to mitigate potential technology, cybersecurity, data privacy, and third‑party risks within the IT supply base risks within the IT supply base, ensuring business continuity and stability.
Develop strategies to manage and optimize IT supplier relationships, ensuring quality and cost-effectiveness.
Recommend new IT sourcing strategies, process improvements, and supplier relationships for the enterprise.
Develop timelines and organize teams to implement IT sourcing strategies and initiatives.
Provide thought leadership and end-to-end ownership of sourcing events and negotiations for major IT initiatives.
Develop and implement effective internal tracking mechanisms and measurements to monitor the competitive bidding processes within the IT category.
Leverage strong analytical and communication skills to lead and assist others in managing all aspects of competitive IT bids, including analyzing and scoring multiple proposals, creating corresponding business cases (including financial reports), and presenting clear and concise summaries of recommended options.
Develop IT category playbooks and governance.
Develop training programs and awareness initiatives to ensure procurement teams and IT stakeholders understand and adhere to policies and governance frameworks.
Implement and oversee governance mechanisms for IT supplier onboarding, performance management, and contract compliance.
Work collaboratively with cross-functional teams across the enterprise and within Global Procurement to achieve shared goals.
Ensure IT procurement strategies align with corporate sustainability goals, ethical sourcing standards, and supplier diversity initiatives.