Senior Strategic Sourcing & Category Manager - Concerts, Venues & Festivals

Live Nation Worldwide • Beverly Hills, CA

12h • Hybrid

About The Position

Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, Live Nation Media & Sponsorship and Artist Nation Management. Ticketmaster is the global event ticketing leader with more than 550 million tickets sold and more than 12,500 clients worldwide. Live Nation Concerts is the largest provider of live entertainment in the world promoting more than 44,000 concerts and 100+ festivals annually for more than 4,000 artists in 45+ countries. Artist Nation Management is one of the world’s leading artist management companies, representing more than 350 artists. These businesses power Live Nation Media & Sponsorship to deliver music marketing programs across 1000+ brands enabling advertisers to tap into the over 120 million fans Live Nation Entertainment delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com . Passionate and motivated. Driven, with an entrepreneurial spirit. Resourceful, innovative, forward thinking and committed. At Live Nation Entertainment, our people embrace these qualities. The Global Procurement Senior Strategic Sourcing Category Manager is responsible for the sourcing and procurement of $100M+ in spend in F&B distribution and other direct & indirect venue and event-related products and services. The emphasis is on sourcing and procurement of Food & Beverage, but will also include sourcing of non-foods, disposables, small equipment, and vendor services for Live Nation Entertainment, its corporate offices, concerts, venues, festivals and clients, as needed. The role will also act as the procurement liaison for CrunchTime and other F&B-related systems. This position reports to the Senior Director of Global Procurement.

Requirements

• Typically, 7-10 years of progressively responsible experience in Sourcing & Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Finance, Analytics or Operations Transformation; top-tier consulting experience preferred
• Proven track record in co-developing, with stakeholders and other team members, innovative category-focused solutions and associated negotiation strategies that deliver meaningful incremental value over the status quo; experience sourcing a wide array of direct and indirect spend categories, particularly F&B, Equipment & Supplies, nonfoods, produce and other related products and categories, and services particularly valued
• Proven ability to partner with suppliers in forward-thinking strategic development and relationship building, with demonstrated success in leveraging supplier capabilities to generate incremental value, increased operating efficiency, and/or improved risk mitigation
• Demonstrated project management skills with experience leading multiple concurrent, high-profile procurement projects from identification, planning, and analysis through sourcing, negotiating, and contracting
• Ability to work self-directed in a fast paced, matrixed, collaborative environment; self-motivated, proactive, independent, and responsive, requiring minimal supervision, with excellent multi-tasking and prioritization skills
• Able to navigate decentralized organizational structures; collaborative style, with strong innate client service mindset and natural trust-based relationship-building skills; excellent 360° management of internal and external team members and other stakeholders; proven ability to manage and motivate diverse groups of stakeholders and project team members
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills
• Solid analytical skills
• Excellent overall business acumen and understanding of risk mitigation approaches and contract development
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite required; experience with Business Objects, Smartsheet, SharePoint and similar analytical and collaborative tools preferred; experience with one or more major P2P platforms preferred but not required
• Ability to travel, likely <15%, to meet with stakeholders and suppliers at venues, offices, trade shows, etc.
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA preferred: Associate’s degree may be considered with significant work experience

Responsibilities

• Working in a highly collaborative manner with a decentralized group of stakeholders and Sponsorship team members, devise and execute category strategies and both competitive and direct negotiation strategies that generate material, sustainable value regionally, nationally, or globally, as applicable.
• Lead a portfolio of sourcing, negotiating and contracting projects addressing millions of dollars in annual F&B and related spend across a wide variety of categories for Live Nation's Concerts, Venues and Festivals teams
• Interface with members of legal, sponsorship, financial/revenue recognition, operations, sales, and other stakeholder teams to bring deals to closure and ensure compliance with audit, financial, and system requirements; assist in resolving post-execution nonstandard contract modification requests/disputes and non-compliance concerns (both internal and with suppliers/distributors).
• Facilitate online supplier and catalog enablement with Ed Don, Sysco and other distribution partners to encourage and streamline utilization of LN-negotiated agreements across various stakeholder groups.
• Analyze business, financial, and legal risks and develop and communicate creative solutions and mitigation strategies for key negotiation points; conduct rigorous analysis of spend data and other quantitative metrics to enable stakeholders to make sound, data-driven decisions.
• Develop and execute procurement-related activities associated with the rollout and ongoing success of new concepts and products, including working with divisional F&B leadership on announcements and supporting materials
• Lead/mentor 1-2 specialists and/or analysts in executing F&B-related projects; mentor other team members in sourcing, negotiation, and contracting fundamentals to help upskill the broader Global Procurement team
• Lead supplier qualification efforts and partner with stakeholders in establishing and maintaining quality processes with suppliers; harness supplier expertise to drive supplier innovation, productivity, and performance; conduct due diligence on product trends that provide solutions to meet changing business requirements; track product lifecycles in high-spend and high-risk areas to assist in multi-year budget planning and product forecasting.
• Manage the contract lifecycle in partnership with Legal teams, including redlining, approvals, renewals, and maintaining accurate documentation in contract management systems.
• Consult with all relevant business segments and identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness of policies and procedures
• Develop, validate and maintain various departmental month-end reports, as required
• Other day-to-day operational responsibilities and special projects as assigned by leadership.

Benefits

• HEALTH : Medical, vision, dental and mental health benefits for you and your family, with access to a health care concierge, and Flexible or Health Savings Accounts (FSA or HSA)
• YOURSELF : Free concert tickets, generous paid time off including paid holidays, sick time, and personal days
• WEALTH : 401(k) program with company match, stock reimbursement program
• FAMILY : New parent programs including caregiver leave and baby bonuses, plus fertility, adoption, foster, or surrogacy support
• CAREER : Career and skill development programs with School of Live, tuition reimbursement, and student loan repayment
• OTHERS : Volunteer time off, crowdfunding match

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees