Category Lead, Technology Procurement & Strategic Sourcing

We are seeking a Strategic Category Lead, Technology Procurement & Strategic Sourcing to lead the end-to-end lifecycle of our technology spend. In this influential role, you will serve as the primary architect for our IT category strategy, managing a high-growth portfolio that includes enterprise suppliers such as AWS, Salesforce, Workday, and Snowflake.

This is a mission-critical partnership role requiring deep collaboration with Engineering, InfoSec, Legal, Finance and key stakeholders across business. You will ensure the organization maintains a cutting-edge technology stack at an optimal price point while proactively mitigating risk in an evolving digital landscape.

Key Responsibilities

Multi-Year Category Strategy & Business Alignment

• Strategic Roadmap: Design and execute multi-year category strategies for SaaS, Cloud, and Professional Services that anticipate global business growth and technology shifts.

• Change Management & Adoption: Orchestrate the transition when shifting to new suppliers or licensing models; act as a bridge between technical requirements and procurement outcomes to ensure seamless organizational buy-in.

• Commercial Intelligence: Navigate complex licensing models (per-user, consumption-based, and tiered) with major industry suppliers to drive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) reductions.

• Demand Management: Collaborate with technical leaders and business owners to forecast needs, ensuring our procurement pipeline is driven by business utility rather than supplier-driven sales cycles.

Strategic Sourcing & Lifecycle Execution

• Proactive Lifecycle Management: Own the "Intake-to-Contract" pipeline, maintaining a 24-month renewal look-ahead to maximize negotiation leverage and avoid "emergency" renewals.

• Process Transformation: Drive continuous improvement in procurement workflows; develop Technology Category Playbooks to standardize negotiation strategies and increase organizational agility.

• Supplier Partnership (SRM): Conduct Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) with Top Technology suppliers to ensure roadmap alignment, performance accountability, and value realization.

Contracting, Risk & Governance

• Negotiation Leadership: Partner with Legal to navigate complex agreements; while Legal focuses on indemnity and liability, you will own the commercial architecture, focusing on AI use restrictions, data privacy, SLAs, and exit strategies.

• Financial & Analytical Governance: Manage "True-ups/True-downs" and consumption-based modeling to mitigate overage risks and auto-renewal traps.

• Strategic Reporting: Integrate complex deal structures into concise, data-driven decision memos for senior leadership, highlighting fiscal impact, risk profiles, and strategic trade-offs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field.

• 6+ years of experience in procurement, sourcing, and contract management, preferably in a technology category.

• Direct experience negotiating with Top enterprise technology suppliers (e.g., Oracle, Salesforce, AWS, Google) known for complex and sophisticated commercial models.

• Deep understanding of modern software delivery. You should be fluent in various licensing models, including seat-based, consumption/usage-based, and tiered bundles.

• Demonstrated ability to build consensus across cross-functional teams (Engineering, Finance, Information Security) and lead high-stakes supplier transitions through expert communication.

• Highly proficient in modeling consumption-based spend, performing TCO analysis, and creating "what-if" scenarios to support renewal strategies.