Sr. Manager, Category Manager, Labor & Professional Services

Position Overview

• Establishes governance frameworks and sourcing standards for major professional services firms, and in contingent labor engagements across the enterprise.
• Drives supplier rationalization and preferred supplier strategies for consulting firms, staffing agencies, and outsourced labor providers.
• Evaluates and creates fit-for-purpose workforce operating models, including direct supplier management, VMS-enabled programs, or scaled MSP partnerships based on organizational size and spend profile.
• Owns a complex, high‑spend category (or portfolio) with global scope and enterprise impact.
• Leads cross‑functional project teams and external partners to deliver multi‑year roadmaps and operating model changes.
• Primary procurement voice with senior/executive stakeholders; presents at executive committees.
• Shapes policy, standards, and governance; mentors and develops the category talent bench.
• Ensures category plans reflect stakeholder goals, market dynamics, and supplier capabilities

• Influences functional leaders; presents recommendations and status at leadership forums.

• Champions adoption of preferred suppliers, standards, and policies across the business.
• Leverages analysis to shape strategic insights and market intelligence frameworks that inform category strategy, RFx prioritization, supplier negotiations, and contract terms
• Scrutinizes variable and complex data to identify and prioritize sourcing and planning opportunities that drive competitive advantage and long-term value
• Leads sourcing waves and supplier business reviews; accountable for savings and value realization.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Strategy & Value Creation

• Craft and socialize a bold, evidence‑based multi‑year category strategy tied to enterprise goals (growth, productivity, risk, ESG). Possible areas of opportunity:
  • Management consulting
  • Temporary staffing
  • Statement-of-work (SOW) services
  • Independent contractor engagements
  • Workforce solutions/MSP programs
• Develop labor rate benchmarking frameworks and market intelligence to improve rate competitiveness, geographic alignment, and workforce planning decisions.
• Identify opportunities to reduce unmanaged spend, rogue staffing engagements, mark-up inconsistencies, and duplicate supplier utilization.
• Identify and deliver step‑change value levers (portfolio simplification, demand challenge, supplier ecosystem redesign, digital automation).
• Stand up structured value tracking with Finance; validate and publish results to executives.

• Build and maintain a living category strategy (demand, market, supplier, risk, and should-cost).
• Translate strategy into an annual sourcing wave plan and prioritized contract pipeline with mitigation actions for expirations/renewals.
• Owns data quality across procurement systems (e.g., sourcing, CLM, P2P) and audit readiness records
• Reviews and performs analytics and market research that inform strategic planning decisions, RFx, negotiation prep, and category direction

• Manage intake queue; validate requirements; set expectations on timelines and next steps
• Maintain project trackers, savings logs, contract records, and supplier profiles for audit readiness
• Create, refresh, publish, and communicate preferred supplier lists and engagement playbooks

Critical Sourcing & Complex Negotiation

• Lead negotiations involving:
  • SOW commercial structures
  • Rate card & labor mix structures
  • Volume discounts
  • Delivery accountability
  • Staffing markups & conversion fees
  • Supplier tiering models
• Evaluate and negotiate VMS platform solutions and workforce operating models appropriate for organizational scale, complexity, and spend maturity in the labor space.
• Conduct in-depth market analysis to inform RFx development, supplier negotiations, and contract terms
• Identify and prioritize sourcing opportunities that drive competitive advantage and long-term value
• Own and drive marquee RFx/sole‑source events and renewals with enterprise‑wide implications; negotiate creative commercial constructs (risk‑share, outcome‑based, gainshare).

• Oversee and/or perform total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis to sourcing decisions and supplier evaluations
• Set deal architectures and negotiation plays; coach deal teams; engage executive sponsors and legal counsel to closure.
• Establish playbooks and guardrails for rebid/renewal strategies, indexation, benchmarking, and continuous improvement.

Supplier Partnership, Innovation, & Risk Management

• Chair executive governance with strategic consultancy partnerships; sponsor joint innovation roadmaps and transformation programs.
• Collaborate with HR and other governance areas to manage labor supplier performance across metrics such as fill rates, cycle times, attrition, quality of talent, compliance adherence, and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Partner with HR Legal and Finance/Accounting to mitigate worker misclassification risks and ensure contingent workforce governance aligns with applicable labor regulations globally.
• Oversee risk management for the portfolio (cyber, supply continuity, financial, regulatory, ESG) with proactive mitigation and incident response.
• Segment suppliers (Tier 1/2) and implement governance (QBRs/ABRs, scorecards, corrective actions).
• Perform AQSCIR assessments for key suppliers

• Lead supplier steering committees to drive collaboration, performance improvement, and risk mitigation

• Facilitate supplier-led innovation and continuous improvement initiatives aligned to business outcomes.
• Hold quarterly and annual business reviews (QBRs/ABRs) with suppliers and relevant stakeholders
• Drive adoption of preferred suppliers and manage change communication effectively

Operational Excellence & Governance

• Establish enterprise-wide standards for services usage such as:
  • Rate card management
  • SOW approvals
  • Supplier onboarding
  • Headcount visibility
  • Contractor tenure monitoring
• Partner cross-functionally to design scalable contingent labor intake, approval, and tracking processes that balance governance with business agility.
• Elevate standards, templates, and systems; automate analytics and reporting; ensure data fidelity and audit readiness.
• Continuously improve ways of working across Legal, Security/Privacy, Finance/AP, and business units.
• Track cost savings and avoidance progress against targets and pipeline forecasts
• Coordinate cross-functional approvals (Security/IT, Privacy, Compliance, Finance, AP, Legal) and drive issue resolution.
• Coach and assign work to sourcing resources (analysts/specialists) aligned to the wave plan.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner closely with HR, Talent Acquisition, Finance, Legal, and critical functional business leaders to assure governance and align workforce sourcing strategies with organizational priorities.
• Map stakeholder ecosystems and develop engagement strategies based on influence, impact, and business needs
• Act as a strategic advisor helping stakeholders determine the most appropriate engagement model for external advisory and/or labor needs.
• Engage stakeholders to understand business requirements, pain points, and future needs
• Maintain a cadence of meetings and communications with key stakeholders and their leadership teams
• Act as a trusted advisor and liaison between procurement and business units
• Communicate clearly and professionally across all channels (in-person meetings, email, video calls), tailoring messages to diverse audiences
• Represent procurement in steering committees, executive briefings, and supplier governance forums
• Support stakeholder projects with high responsiveness, strategic input, and proactive problem-solving
• Craft compelling storylines and materials

Financial Performance

• Deliver measurable value through enterprise professional services governance/negotiation, labor rate and markup optimization, supplier consolidation, etc.
• Analyze labor spend trends, rate inflation, utilization patterns, and supplier concentration risks to support budgeting and workforce planning decisions.
• Engage consistently with Finance and stakeholders in the budgeting process, aligning procurement plans with financial goals.
• Coordinate with Finance for savings tracking and bottom-line impact protection.
• Deliver measurable cost savings and avoidance, tracking progress against targets and pipeline forecasts
• Apply Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis to sourcing decisions and supplier evaluations
• Optimize contract value through improved terms, pricing structures, and performance incentives

Leadership & Change

• Mentor and support a matrixed and cross-functional team of procurement professionals and governance partners to build skills and succession; promote a high‑performance, inclusive culture.
• Design and execute change management and communications for enterprise rollouts; craft executive narratives and decision memos.

Qualifications

Required:

· Bachelor’s degree required in supply chain, finance, project management, or related field.

· 8-10+ years of experience , heavy in managing large/complex Professional Services and/or Contingent Labor categories in a strategic sourcing or category management environment.

· Strong understanding of “Big Four” service provider ecosystem and workforce operating models including supplier-direct programs, VMS tools, and MSP solutions.

· Demonstrated executive communication and storytelling skills; track record influencing VP/C‑suite decisions.

· Expert fluency in benchmarking, TCO, complex contracting, commercial strategy, and supplier performance governance at scale.

· Expert analytical skills with working knowledge of procure-to-pay, RFx processes, and contract basics/playbooks.

Preferred:

· Advanced degree (MBA or Master’s) strongly preferred in supply chain, finance, project management, or related field.

· 10-12+ years of experience in progressive category management/strategic sourcing experience, including leadership of large, complex negotiations and cross‑enterprise programs.

· Experience building or maturing contingent workforce programs, VMS models, and MSP structures; including experience with platforms such as: Beeline, SAP Fieldglass, etc.

· Experience leading transformation (operating model, digital S2P, supplier ecosystem) across multiple regions.

· Certifications: CPSM/CIPS; PMP/Prosci or equivalent change credentials; Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

· Domain depth in one or more enterprise functions (e.g., HR, IT, Finance, Professional Services, Facilities/CRE).

· Experience in large, global enterprise with exposure to both indirect (corporate) and direct (client-facing) procurement models.

· Recent/current experience working across time zones.

· Strong grasp of software licensing models (SaaS/PaaS/IaaS, subscription vs. perpetual) and associated services

Skills & Competencies

Core:

· Composure in high-visibility and executive environments.

· Strategic thinking and structured problem solving; ability think upstream and downstream to frame choices and drive decisions.

· Executive presence; concise narrative building; board‑quality materials.

· Proven ability to build strong stakeholder relationships and influence at all levels

· Influencing without authority; stakeholder alignment and change management.

· Financial acumen (budget alignment, forecasting, value realization).

Technical:

· Deep understanding of contingent labor pricing models, staffing markups, blended rate structures, and consulting commercial models.

· Ability to discern workforce data such as fill rates, time-to-fill, geographic benchmarking, attrition, etc.

· Sophisticated financial modeling (TCO/NPV, scenario analysis, indexation, benchmarking).

· Design of KPIs, supplier incentives, and performance regimes; SRM maturity models.

· Category strategy toolkits; RFx design; commercial modeling (price ladders, indices, incentives).

· Deep fluency in complex contracting (MSAs, SOWs, data protection, service levels, audit/benchmarking clauses).

Leadership:

· Builds capability; mentors; leads through influence; navigates ambiguity, complexity, pressure, multiple priorities, and change at scale.

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