Manager, Category Strategy Telecom, Network and Contact Center

at  Liberty Mutual

Pay Philosophy
The typical starting salary range for this role is determined by a number of factors including skills, experience, education, certifications and location. The full salary range for this role reflects the competitive labor market value for all employees in these positions across the national market and provides an opportunity to progress as employees grow and develop within the role. Some roles at Liberty Mutual have a corresponding compensation plan which may include commission and/or bonus earnings at rates that vary based on multiple factors set forth in the compensation plan for the role.
Description
This position will offer a hybrid work structure out of either our Boston MA or Portsmouth NH office, 2 days in office, 3 days from home.
Compensation dependent on candidate’s geographic location, overall experience, and skill level.
We currently have an opening for an experienced Category Strategy Manager who will be responsible for support, development and advancement of Telecom, Network and Contact Center supplier spend management strategies that support key business objectives, resulting service/quality and process improvements as well as cost savings.
This role is responsible for development and advancement of one or more categories and supplier spend management strategies that support key business objectives/ priorities and result in significant cost savings, service/quality and process improvements within categories. The Category Strategist will be the category leader and key stakeholder relationship manager for assigned categories. This position will act as an advocate and change-manager for the value of procurement throughout assigned functional areas and business groups by demonstrating category knowledge, adding value and educating stakeholders on the strategic sourcing process. The role will work closely with key stakeholders to develop effective cost reduction strategies and implement plans. This is an individual contributor role that will lead cross-functional, non-reporting teams.

• Develop relationships and work with key business partners to understand strategic direction, supply requirements and corporate business objectives and priorities.
• Work collaboratively with stakeholders to conduct opportunity identification and prioritization.
• Develop and execute multi -year category planning process to develop opportunity pipelines.
• Identify and prioritize sourcing initiatives within the categories through Category planning process for annual plan.
• Develop category/ sourcing strategies and lead/coordinate negotiation for a variety of assigned product and service areas. Build reputation as a subject matter expert for assigned product and service areas.
• Lead cross-functional teams in the development of sourcing strategies. Steps in the process include:
• internal assessments of Company current and future needs, assessments of market trends and supply base
• understanding of supplier economics, agreement on optimal relationship between Company and prospective suppliers
• assessment of total cost of ownership and opportunities to leverage changes in process, systems and products to lower that cost,
• working closely with the stakeholders to establish and execute the sourcing strategy, which will include development and implementation of communication strategies for key stakeholders on overall process
• develop TCO reduction strategy into a business case, obtain stakeholder consensus and create execution plan.
• Drive early engagement of Procurement organization drive expanded scope of influence and increase spend under management. Proactively manage supplier performance through disciplined and collaborative feedback channels.
• Provide guidance on monitoring supplier performance against contractual terms and conditions, assess supplier financial health and develop risk mitigation plans for critical and preferred suppliers.
• Drive and measure annual productivity improvements in the category through establishment of key performance metrics and tracking of results.