Thames Water has embarked on an exciting Turnaround Plan to deliver life’s essential service for years to come and to the millions of people who rely on us every day, the environment and our community. A key pillar of the turnaround plan is to live within our means and therefore we require skilled strategic procurement individuals with strong commercial acumen to make a real difference in these challenging times.As a Category Manager, you should be a commercial expert for the category that you lead. You should be able to utilise this market expertise to develop and deliver strategies, ensuring that Thames is market-leading in their commercial arrangements. What you’ll be doing as a Category Manager: Creating and delivering end-to-end strategic category management Providing extensive category knowledge and market insight including identifying/managing category-level risk Responsible for managing a portfolio of suppliers to ensure contracted expectations continue to be improved throughout the contract life cycle and to support these suppliers in delivering added value to Thames Water Lead and evaluate competitive tenders and proposals for the supply of goods and services. Ensure timely and accurate reporting on projects using available reporting tools Base Location: Reading - Hybrid.Working Pattern or hours: 36 Hours. What you should bring to the role: Experience of end-to-end strategic category management Ability to Influence, engage and inspire internal and external stakeholders to drive meaningful change Ability to challenge industry norms and proactively seek out opportunities to deliver sustained improvements in performance Capable of leading complex supplier negotiations up to £100m in value Some understanding and experience of operating in complex supply chain environments Skilled in prioritisation and managing risk and complexity effectively What’s in it for you? Competitive salary from £45,000 to £58,000 per annum depending on experience Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service. (Plus bank holidays) Contributory pension – Defined Contribution - Maximum of 12% -2x employee contribution. Personal Medical Assessments – Open to all once a year Wider benefits scheme including our benefits hub, which is packed full of offers and information to save you money and support your wellbeing Who are we? At Thames Water, our purpose is crystal clear - to deliver life’s essential service so our customers, communities and planet can thrive. Water is life’s great leveller. Every living thing needs it, every single day. From people to plants, birds to bees, farms to factories, we all need it to thrive, and we’re committed to taking care of it. But keeping water flowing is becoming harder. From scorching summers to wetter winters, extreme weather affects everything from our pipes to our local rivers. We need to keep millions more kettles boiling, public services operating, washing machines spinning, showers running and more, so every drop is more precious than ever. Are you ready to play your part? Working at Thames Water At Thames Water, we recognise that people are at the heart of our business. To help us succeed in providing life's essential service, we need a range of skills and capabilities, representative of society throughout our business.We seek to attract and retain a cultural mix of people who can offer different but complementary attitudes, values, talents, and knowledge. We understand the importance of appreciating and harnessing the unique skills, experiences, backgrounds, and differences that each individual brings.Our over-arching diversity and inclusion aim is to ensure Thames Water is a diverse and inclusive great place to work. We encourage applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process. Find out more about?working at Thames Water.When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business, meet colleagues and earn some extra money along the way. Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.