Procurement Category Manager - IT Software, London

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients, and communities.

Working at WPP means being part of a global network of more than 109,000 accomplished people in 110 countries. WPP has headquarters in New York, London and Singapore and a corporate presence in major markets worldwide.

We create transformative ideas and outcomes for our clients through an integrated offer of communications, experience, commerce, and technology.

WPP and our award-winning agencies work with most of the world's biggest companies and organisations - from Ford, Unilever and P&G to Google, HSBC, and the UN. Our clients include 61 of the FTSE 100, 317 of the Fortune Global 500, all 30 of the Dow Jones 30 and 62 of the NASDAQ 100. WPP are the leader in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and 8th in the FTSE 100 rankings for Women on Boards.

Why we're hiring:

At WPP we are undergoing a companywide transformation programme that will enable us to work together in a more coordinated, connected, and efficient way across the group.

As part of the transformation, we are building out a Global Procurement function to support and assist us in meeting our ambition, and our vision is.

' To be the best commercial Procurement organisation to work for and work with, delivering value and managing risk for the benefit of our businesses, our planet, our clients, and our communities

To be the creative transformation company, we need the best minds who are keen to join a company that is open, optimistic, and committed to extraordinary work.

Why we're hiring:

We are looking for an ambitious and motivated individual to join our software category within the IT & Telco Procurement team which provides services to a global footprint of more than 120,000 end users. The individual should be keen to embrace change and tackle challenges within a fast evolving global team and organization. You should be passionate about approaching things differently, whilst providing knowledge, enthusiasm and the right attitude to deliver change and be part of our journey to meet our ambitious vision.

What you'll be doing:

Key responsibilities include:

• Provide deep category knowledge and strategic insight in the software category, effectively managing our vendors, and overseeing a spend of $300m per annum across a federated organisation
• Develop and deliver a robust and executable category plan that is forward-thinking and delivers enduring value to the business in the short and long term
• Centrally manage and lead software category sourcing events, initiatives and commercial contract management globally across WPP, including with our related agency networks, to maximise our scale, and deliver the best commercial deals for the group
• Work with the Category Director - Software to deliver against the identified portfolio of initiatives within the category
• Develop effective relationships with stakeholders including at leadership level, championing commerciality throughout engagement
• Support adoption of the commercial and procurement ways of working, policies and processes and best practice
• Support stakeholders with software related procurement activities, demonstrating customer centricity and an agile approach to ways of working
• Drive the development, structuring and negotiation of third-party software agreements to achieve the optimum outcome for the group
• Identify, influence and deliver spend optimisation opportunities in the software category, proposing initiatives, and lead creation of continuous improvement plans
• Build constructive, collaborative relationships with colleagues
• Identify, mitigate/remediate and control risks with third-party software vendors
• Implement processes to effectively manage and coordinate contract renewals with our third-party software vendors
• Demonstrate and champion a culture of diversity and inclusion consistent with WPP's policies

This role will report to WPP's Procurement Category Director - Software

Who you will be doing it with:

Key External Relationships:

• Suppliers
• Professional and Industry Groups

Key Internal Relationships:

• Procurement Operations
• Business stakeholders globally across all business units and Operating Companies, including at Leadership level
• Responsible Procurement
• Procurement Regional

What you'll need:

• Software procurement experience
• Demonstrable experience and ownership of complex global software negotiations and contracting and can articulate key strategies for maximising the value proposition
• Senior stakeholder management experience in a complex organisation
• Ability to influence and manage stakeholders, ensuring Procurement best practice is followed
• Ability to influence and articulate changes to working practices to stakeholders
• Experience in running large / complex sourcing activities
• Evidence of responsible / sustainable procurement initiatives

Who you are:

You're open : We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diverse views. We are open-minded: to new ideas, new partnerships, new ways of working.

You're optimistic : We believe in the power of creativity, technology and talent to create brighter futures or our people, our clients and our communities. We approach all that we do with confidence: to try the new and to seek the unexpected.

You're extraordinary: we are stronger together: through collaboration we achieve the amazing. We are creative leaders and pioneers of our industry; we deliver extraordinary every day.

What we'll give you:

Passionate, driven people - We champion a culture of people who do extraordinary work.

Scale and opportunity - We offer the opportunity to create, influence and deliver projects at a scale that is unparalleled in the industry.

Challenging and stimulating work - Unique work and the opportunity to join a group of creative problem-solvers. Are you up for the challenge?

WPP is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, military/veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability. We believe in creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion and strives to recruit a diverse slate of candidates to help us achieve that goal.

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