Senior Procurement Category Manager

Imc International Bv•Chicago, IL

About The Position

IMC is seeking a highly skilled and driven Senior Procurement Category Manager to support our rapidly expanding hardware deployments. As IMC grows this role will be central to sourcing the hardware, infrastructure components, and fostering supplier relationships that enable high-performance computing at scale. You will partner, on a daily basis with the local data center, research cluster, and cross functional teams—including Platform, Network, Engineering, and Finance—to ensure IMC is equipped with the right hardware, at the right time, and with the right commercial terms. The ideal candidate brings deep experience in data centers and enterprise hardware sourcing, strong negotiation skills, and an ability to operate in highly technical domains such as GPU deployments, liquid cooling systems, and high-density compute environments.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Finance, Supply Chain, or related field.
7+ years of experience in procurement, sourcing, or category management, with significant focus on data center hardware, HPC environments, or enterprise compute.
Extensive experience sourcing data center buildout hardware, including: GPU servers and high-density compute Network switches and storage Power and cooling infrastructure components Liquid cooling systems, cold plates, manifolds, and related thermal management systems
Proven ability to negotiate complex enterprise hardware agreements, including pricing, allocation, terms, lifecycle support, and VAR channel structures.
Experience collaborating closely with technical teams to translate requirements into sourcing plans.
Strong project management skills supporting concurrent deployments across multiple data centers.
Exceptional attention to detail, strong analytical capabilities, and experience with sourcing tools, contract systems, and spend analytics.
Proven communication and collaboration skills, especially when working across engineering, procurement, and vendor ecosystems.
Up-to-date knowledge of global compute, GPU, and data center infrastructure market trends, including supply chain constraints, OEM roadmaps, and emerging cooling technologies.
Familiarity with structured sourcing methodologies (e.g., 7-step sourcing) and commitment to process improvement.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute category strategies for data center-related hardware, including GPU hosts, high-density compute systems, networking gear, storage, power delivery systems, and (liquid) cooling components.
Work daily with the Data Center teams to understand upcoming buildout requirements, expansion timelines, cooling and power needs, and hardware deployment schedules.
Conduct RFI/RFP/RFx processes for data center buildout hardware, GPU solutions, liquid cooling systems, and ancillary infrastructure.
Negotiate OEM and VAR agreements, enterprise pricing, channel incentives, lead-time structures, and service-level requirements.
Coordinate closely with Legal, Risk, Finance, and Engineering teams to finalize commercial and contractual terms.
Build and maintain strategic relationships with GPU manufacturers, system integrators, liquid cooling providers, server OEMs, and DC infrastructure vendors.
Oversee supplier performance, pricing changes, allocation updates, and roadmap communication.
Coordinate with Procurement Operations and Data Center PM on purchase order timing, delivery logistics, and inventory expectations.
Right-size contracts through competitive bidding, market analysis, negotiation, and supplier performance management.
Monitor trends in GPU supply constraints, liquid cooling adoption, data center thermal management, power density requirements, and HPC ecosystem developments.
Provide guidance to engineering and operations teams on market dynamics influencing cost, availability, and technology selection.
Analyze spend, usage patterns, and supplier KPIs to inform sourcing decisions.
Build and maintain long-term, strategic relationships with key OEMs, VARs, and emerging technology vendors.
Meet regularly with suppliers to review SLAs, delivery performance, pricing structures, and upcoming product changes.
Collaborate with global teams to identify opportunities for consolidated purchasing, global leverage, and shared sourcing strategies across compute and infrastructure categories.
Serve as a trusted advisor to Engineering and Operations across the full hardware sourcing lifecycle.