You will have an opportunity to lead an at-scale critical $800M+ IT portfolio of the firm across hundreds of suppliers. Your performance will be evaluated against key metrics, including the realization of an IT category strategy supporting the business strategy (i.e., innovation), financial impact, adherence to sustainable procurement & risk standards, and the strategic growth of the category.
As a Category Director, you will steer the long-term direction of IT procurement and category management, aligning initiatives with the firm's strategic goals. Your role will involve developing strategic plans, leading cross-functional teams, fostering high-impact supplier partnerships, and driving innovation and efficiency across the procurement process.
As the inaugural leader of the IT Category, you will be charged with developing a robust business plan to establish the team's structure and secure approval for its growth. Initially operating without direct reports, you will lay the groundwork for a scalable department.
You will act as a CoE for colleagues/practices to strategically source, host, deploy and manage a best-in-class IT portfolio for client service and innovation enablement, aligning with the IT Function and firm's overall business strategy and aspiration.
You will also keep a risk first view and safeguard our firm by governing and managing third party risks. Your stewardship will extend to resource allocation and expenditure, ensuring optimal utilization, cost minimization, and strategic investment management. Additionally, you will be instrumental in embedding sustainable procurement practices to promote responsible sourcing and long-term value creation.
You will communicate vision and strategy to firm leaders to increase awareness of services and priorities; recommend innovative solutions and improvement opportunities to firm leadership based on analysis of Technology trends, key metrics, including colleague satisfaction, policy compliance, spend and vendor performance.
You will develop and oversees strategic relationships both internally and with key external parties (e.g., vendors, industry experts, peers in other organizations) to build/maintain cutting-edge industry knowledge and leverage best practices to shape innovative strategies and solutions.
You will maintain strong links with stakeholders to ensure Optimize is strongly integrated with firm's/practice's agenda including offerings, integrated client approaches, recipes, assets and delivery of knowledge to Client Service Teams (CSTs).
You will serve as thought partner to Category Management team, cell leadership and other senior leaders providing expert guidance to resolve highly complex and sensitive escalation issues. You will orchestrate the resources to deliver priorities, set organizational structure and performance expectations for an engaged, participative category.
You will have a growth mindset and demonstrate leadership that meets the Function and firm's needs, deliver as 'One Optimize', driving integration and collaboration within Optimize, operates as role model for developing talent in/outside of Category Management through coaching, feedback and providing growth opportunities.