Global Category Director, IT, Data and Digital
Global category Director - IT
Leisure Industry | London
A leading business in the leisure industry is seeking a dynamic and commercially‑astute Global Category Director, IT to shape, elevate and future‑proof their global technology procurement capability.
This is a high‑impact leadership role, driving strategic sourcing, supplier optimisation and best‑in-class procurement excellence across all technology-related spend. You'll play a central role in maximising commercial value, accelerating digital transformation, and embedding procurement as a strategic advisor to the organisation's technology leaders.
The Opportunity
As Procurement Director, you will set the vision and direction for IT & Technology procurement, creating and executing a multi‑year category strategy that enhances value, strengthens supplier partnerships, and supports major digital and operational initiatives across the business.
You will work closely with the CTO, Technology Leadership Team, Finance and Legal to ensure every technology investment is commercially optimised and aligned to the business's long‑term innovation agenda.
Key Accountabilities
Category Strategy & Planning
- Define and deliver a global IT & Technology category strategy spanning software, cloud, infrastructure, cybersecurity, hardware, and digital platforms.
- Build a forward‑looking sourcing roadmap aligned to the company's digital transformation priorities.
- Conduct deep spend analysis to identify opportunities for consolidation, value creation and service enhancement.
- Establish robust category management frameworks including supplier segmentation and KPI‑driven performance measures.
- Maintain market intelligence to leverage technological advancements and supplier innovation.
Strategic Sourcing & Commercial Leadership
- Lead complex, high-value sourcing initiatives across SaaS, managed services, infrastructure and enterprise technology.
- Negotiate commercially strong contracts that deliver measurable savings, efficiencies and risk mitigation.
- Provide commercial leadership for major digital programmes and transformation projects.
- Leverage global scale to unlock better pricing, improved service models and strategic supplier partnerships.
Supplier Relationship & Performance Management
- Build and manage strategic partnerships with key technology vendors.
- Introduce performance frameworks incorporating KPIs, service reviews and improvement plans.
- Drive supplier-led innovation and continuous improvement.
- Oversee supplier governance, ensuring compliance with security, data protection and risk requirements.
- Support operational teams in resolving performance issues through strong contract and service management.
Procurement Transformation & Governance
- Elevate procurement capability within the technology category through structured frameworks and best‑practice methodologies.
- Implement consistent sourcing processes, governance standards and procurement policies.
- Embed category management tools, supplier performance mechanisms and contract lifecycle management.
- Champion digital procurement tools, spend analytics and smarter ways of working.
- Strengthen visibility, compliance and commercial discipline across all technology spend.
Stakeholder Engagement & Business Partnership
- Act as a trusted advisor to the CTO and wider technology leadership.
- Provide strategic commercial insight on sourcing strategy, supplier selection and commercial modelling.
- Partner with Finance, Legal and Risk to ensure strong governance and well‑controlled contracting.
- Support strategic investment decisions with commercial analysis and business case input.
- Build strong relationships across global teams to align category priorities and sourcing initiatives.
Qualifications & Experience
- Extensive experience leading IT & Technology procurement within a complex, global organisation.
- Proven success developing and implementing category strategies and multi‑year sourcing roadmaps.
- Demonstrated ability to drive procurement transformation and uplift organisational maturity.
- Expertise across SaaS, enterprise software, cloud services, IT services and digital platforms.
- Strong commercial negotiation and contract management skills with major technology vendors.
- Professional procurement accreditation (MCIPS/CIPS or equivalent) is advantageous.
FAQs
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