Category Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Required Skills & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business Administration, Healthcare, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 6+ years of progressive experience within strategic sourcing, category management, procurement, or supply chain.
• Demonstrated experience owning and developing category strategies, not simply executing sourcing activities or following an established process.
• Experience managing complex categories with multiple projects and sourcing initiatives simultaneously.
• Strong experience with strategic sourcing, supplier negotiations, contracting, terms and conditions, benchmarking, and data analysis.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills with the ability to influence across different levels of an organization.
• Ability to work effectively in an ambiguous or “gray” environment without needing significant day-to-day direction.
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to use data, benchmarks, dashboards, and market intelligence to drive decisions.
• Demonstrated ownership, initiative, curiosity, and sound judgment.
• Ability to recognize when leadership needs to be engaged to remove barriers while still maintaining ownership of the initiative.

Nice to Have Skills & Experience

• Healthcare, hospital, or clinical product/service sourcing experience is preferred, but not required.
• Candidates from other industries with strong strategic sourcing/category management backgrounds will be considered.
• Experience quickly learning unfamiliar categories by partnering with stakeholders, analyzing data, and understanding the supplier landscape is highly valued.

Job Description

A large healthcare provider is hiring three remote Category Managers to lead complex service-based categories, including capital equipment, EVS, food services, elevators, staffing/outsourcing, and other assigned areas.

This is a senior-level, highly autonomous Category Manager role for someone who can take full ownership of their category, develop the strategy, build and execute a plan, and guide stakeholders through complex sourcing initiatives. This individual should be comfortable operating as the “CEO of their category”, understanding the spend, suppliers, contracts, stakeholder needs, market dynamics, and opportunities within their area.

The ideal candidate is self-directed, strategic, data-driven, and naturally curious. They should not need a highly prescribed environment or constant direction on what to do next. Instead, they will be expected to assess their category, identify priorities and opportunities, develop a strategy, and drive initiatives forward.

Key Responsibilities

• Take end-to-end ownership of assigned categories, including strategy, sourcing, negotiation, contracting, supplier management, and ongoing performance.
• Develop and execute comprehensive category plans and sourcing strategies with minimal oversight.
• Lead multiple complex, project-driven initiatives within assigned categories and independently drive them from strategy through execution.
• Build strong relationships with business leaders and key stakeholders to understand their priorities, challenges, and requirements.
• Navigate a complex, highly matrixed environment where priorities may compete and the path forward is not always clearly defined.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to stakeholders, using expertise and data to guide and steer decision-making rather than simply execute requests.
• Use spend analysis, benchmarking, market intelligence, dashboards, and supplier performance data to identify opportunities and inform category strategy.
• Continuously monitor contract and purchasing compliance, supplier performance, cost, utilization, and overall category health.
• Lead supplier negotiations and contracting efforts, including RFPs, supplier evaluations, pricing negotiations, and terms and conditions.
• Demonstrate curiosity and a willingness to dig into the details, ask questions, understand stakeholder needs, and quickly become knowledgeable within an assigned category.
• Proactively identify risks, roadblocks, and opportunities, knowing when to independently resolve an issue and when to engage leadership for barrier removal.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings, standardization, supplier consolidation, improved compliance, and overall value.