Sr. Category Manager – IT

Owens & Minor • Remote - Virginia, VA

2d • $115,000 - $150,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Indirect Category Management leads category strategies, sourcing programs, supplier management activities, and complex procurement initiatives for assigned Indirect spend categories. This role partners with business leaders to understand requirements, improve supplier value, deliver cost savings, and strengthen procurement process discipline. The Senior Manager provides direct leadership to assigned procurement resources, including coaching, prioritization, work allocation, performance feedback, and professional development. The ideal candidate is a strategic procurement leader capable of operating independently with executive stakeholders, leading complex technology negotiations, delivering measurable financial results, and developing high-performing teams. They possess deep expertise in software licensing, SaaS negotiations, cloud economics, AI and IT services procurement while balancing commercial value, business requirements, and risk management.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of procurement, sourcing, supply chain, category management, finance, or related business experience.
• 3+ years of direct people leadership experience preferred or required based on organizational need.
• Strong knowledge of indirect procurement, category management, strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, contract negotiations, and procurement best practices across multiple spend categories.
• Expertise in leading complex sourcing events, supplier negotiations, and cross-functional procurement initiatives that drive cost optimization, operational efficiency, supplier performance, and measurable business value.
• Experience managing business stakeholders and indirect supplier relationships and delivering measurable savings or value outcomes.

Nice To Haves

• advanced degree preferred
• 3+ years of direct people leadership experience preferred

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute multiyear category strategies that support business objectives and procurement value targets. Responsible for development and actionable opportunity pipelines.
• Develop actionable strategic sourcing plans, initiative pipelines, and category roadmaps for assigned Indirect categories.
• Monitor and utilize market intelligence, supplier segmentation, and business demand patterns, and risk mitigation plans to inform sourcing strategy.
• The robust category strategies should demonstrate category ownership for Software, SaaS, Cloud, IaaS, Hardware, Telecom, evolution of AI and IT services categories.
• Lead end-to-end sourcing events, including stakeholder alignment, supplier selection, RFP/RFQ execution, analysis, negotiations, and award recommendations.
• Lead large impact targeted negotiations specifically the ones with Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, AWS, Azure and other strategic technology negotiations
• Develop negotiation strategies that address commercial value, service expectations, risk, contract flexibility, and supplier performance.
• Partner with Legal, Finance, Compliance, and business stakeholders to support contract review and business decision-making.
• Manage key supplier relationships and support supplier performance reviews, issue resolution, and continuous improvement efforts.
• Deliver annual P&L Reduction and P&L Protection targets through sourcing, negotiation, demand management, supplier optimization, working capital, savings pipeline, benefit validation, and budget impact.
• Track sourcing results, validate benefits with Finance as appropriate, and support leadership reporting.
• Directly supervise Category Managers, Analysts, Specialists, or other assigned procurement team members.
• Provide coaching, feedback, talent development planning, workload prioritization, governance and performance management.
• Mentor team members on category strategy, sourcing discipline, stakeholder engagement, and negotiation preparation.
• Promote collaboration, accountability, process alignment, and consistent procurement standards within the team.
• Develop executive stakeholder relationships and drive organizational alignment to position Procurement as a strategic business partner.
• Partner with CIO and IT leadership on technology roadmap decisions that influence sourcing strategies and long term roadmap of initiatives.
• Develop strong partnerships to ensure early engagement of Procurement in all IT initiatives
• Collaborate effectively with IT leadership to drive software asset optimization, cloud cost governance and AI procurement standards.
• Lead complex cross-functional initiatives, influencing senior leaders to achieve enterprise objectives and maximize value.
• Champion change management efforts to ensure adoption of procurement strategies, processes, and technologies.
• Balance stakeholder priorities with governance, risk management, and business requirements to support informed decision-making.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement across Procurement and business functions.
• Demonstrates a strong ability to leverage digital procurement technologies, data analytics, and process automation to drive business value to improve decision-making and enhance stakeholder outcomes.
• Possess hands-on experience utilizing procurement platforms and analytical tools to support category strategy, sourcing execution, supplier management, and performance reporting.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Healthcare Plan - Medical, dental, and vision plans start on day one of employment for full-time teammates.
• Educational Assistance - We offer educational assistance to all eligible teammates enrolled in an approved, accredited collegiate program.
• Employer-Paid Life Insurance and Disability - We offer employer-paid life insurance and disability coverage.
• Voluntary Supplemental Programs – We offer additional options to secure your financial future including supplemental life, hospitalization, critical illness, and other insurance programs.
• Support for your Growing Family – Adoption assistance, fertility benefits (in medical plan) and parental leave are available for teammates planning for a family.
• Health Savings Account (HSA) and 401(k) - We offer these voluntary financial programs to help teammates prepare for their future, as well as other voluntary benefits.
• Paid Leave - In addition to sick days and short-term leave, we offer holidays, vacation days, personal days, and additional types of leave – including parental leave.
• Well-Being – Also included in our offering is a Teammate Assistance Program (TAP), Calm Health, Cancer Resources Services, and discount programs – all at no cost to you.

What This Job Offers

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