IT Category Manager

IT Category ManagerLocation: Onsite 3 days/week - 3333 Finley Rd, Ste 700, Downers Grove, IL, 60515Duration: Contract – 3 months with potential to extendInterview Process: 30-minute technical interview with Manager, 30-minute interview with DirectorOverview: Grant Thornton's Global Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management team is looking for a Category Manager to lead the global commercial discussions, negotiations for goods/services and assist in enabling suppliers in Ariba tool. The category manager will be responsible for sourcing strategic services by identifying the most relevant and competitive acceptable supply sources, facilitating and coordinating RFx process, and working with legal to negotiate and finalize agreements. Working with the Grant Thornton business stakeholders, Category Manager will establish best in class procurement practices when third party products and services are negotiated and contracted as well as ensuring suppliers are enabled in Ariba. The ideal candidate will have deep domain expertise with Managed Services, Professional Services and Software on a global scale supporting renewals, and true-ups. The candidate will have demonstrated knowledge in at least several of the categories such as professional services, marketing and HR. The candidate will have experience with source to pay platforms, with SAP Ariba experience a plus.Responsibilities: Ensure all business, functional, and technical requirements for all goods or services are properly vetted, market ready, and commercially executed. Provide expert strategic sourcing support and leadership for all aspects of procurement projects with a specific focus on global products and services. Achieve savings by improving internal processes and procedures, implementing supply chain efficiencies, understanding and reducing total cost of ownership, and balancing the overall cost, quality, and effectiveness for purchased products and services. Provide market insight, benchmarking, and commodity expertise to the firm for decision making. Generate annual category plans which incorporate sourcing project waves to meet business goals and business savings objectives. Support and/or lead the analysis, selection, implementation, management and use of process automation, including eProcurement, Contract Lifecycle Management and eSourcing as applicable to add efficiencies, increase effectiveness, and contain costs for the firm's expenditures as well as supplier enablement. Coordinate with business stakeholders to ensure supplier sourcing strategies are aligned with enterprise goals and objectives. Evaluate, analyze, and score supplier proposals with stakeholders and recommend strategic path forward. Review contracts with technology SMEs, business stakeholders, and legal while ensuring proper contract terminology. Develop service provider evaluation metrics to allow for fair and equitable scoring of suppliers. Leverage Ariba, ADO, and Power BI for processing transactions, analysis, and tracking of work. Negotiate contracts expiring on an annual basis and new deals/supplier deals. Other duties as assigned. Improve supplier Ariba adoptionQualifications: Degree(s) (e.g. Bachelor's degree in Information Technology or a related field is required). Bachelor Degree in Business, Strategic Sourcing/Procurement, Technology or equivalent business experience. Minimum of 8-10 years of experience in working in with technology based strategic sourcing / IT supplier management. Proven abilities and experience in services procurement, and contract negotiations. Expert and demonstrable knowledge of sourcing and procurement best practices and issues. Ability to simultaneously and efficiently manage and communicate on multiple changing priorities with a variety of stakeholders. Proven ability to lead all phases of the acquisition process for high dollar, high impact procurement projects. Outstanding verbal and written communication, including proven ability to comfortably interact with all levels of leadership, including one-on-one interaction with CIO, CFO, and firm partners. Must possess analytical and technical skills required to understand business practices and recommend automation opportunities. A highly motivated self-starter with the ability to plan, create, and execute own ideas. Awareness of benchmarking tools/options (Gartner//ISM, etc.) to support best practices and supplier recommendations. Experience in applying risk management within procurement. Expert knowledge of supplier evaluation and contract design and legal elements. Ability to work independently as well as in a team environment. Ability to both manage and prioritize fluctuation of work levels to achieve results.