Senior Manager - Category Management, Network Construction

Lumen Technologies

16h • Remote

About The Position

Lumen is transforming how businesses connect, secure, and scale in an AI-driven world by providing a trusted network for AI. The company's culture emphasizes teamwork, trust, and transparency, offering flexibility, support, and opportunities for impact. This role involves managing and leading an organization of 5-6 Procurement professionals. These professionals are responsible for developing and executing strategies for services and products related to the engineering, construction, splicing, maintenance, repair, and overbuild of the Lumen fiber network. The Senior Manager will partner with internal stakeholders to understand business strategies, communicate the Procurement process, and ensure Procurement's early involvement in initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent education or relevant experience.
• Minimum 8 plus years of related experience.
• Demonstrated communication and project management skills working with cross-functional teams.
• Experience managing supplier relationships for an assigned set of products and/or services including regular supplier performance reviews and discussions.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment; self-motivated; strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to process large amounts of often complex data; detail oriented.
• Intermediate to advanced professional experience in sourcing and/or contracting (negotiations, drafting and administration).
• Strong to expert knowledge of procurement systems such as SAP, Ariba and Oracle.
• Excellent time management and organizational skills.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high visibility environment with frequently shifting priorities.
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills, intermediate to advanced Excel.

Nice To Haves

• Preferred 5 plus years of managing and leading teams.

Responsibilities

• Manages and leads a team of category management professionals focused on project pipeline development, RFx strategy, commercial negotiations, and strategic supplier relationships.
• Responsible for category strategy and developing process improvement efforts aimed at reducing the total cost of ownership and driving overall savings objectives.
• Improves on time/quality performance, settles vendor disputes, and builds alliances and relationships with strategic vendors.
• Identifies cross functional savings opportunities, develops the corresponding strategies and executes against those strategies.
• Builds strong relationships with internal stakeholders and Finance to understand strategies / roadmaps and the corresponding budgets.
• Partners with key suppliers to understand capabilities, market trends, and identify new approaches that have not been identified by internal stakeholders.
• Manages strategic, high-visibility negotiations to achieve cost savings goals and objectives.
• Develops category playbooks that outlines the background and strategy for the category.
• Continually identify and implement new opportunities for cost savings, cost avoidance and proactively tracks these objectives.
• Delivers against targets related to cost reduction / avoidance, supplier rationalization and internal customer satisfaction.
• Fosters an environment of continuous improvement and Partners with Procurement Center of Excellence and Systems teams to drive process and systems improvements.
• Excellent abilities in negotiation and contract management.

Benefits

• A comprehensive package featuring a broad range of Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle benefits and other perks that enhance your physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing.
• Bonus structure (short-term incentives, long-term incentives and/or sales compensation).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior