IT Category Manager


Company:	Hays Specialist Recruitment
Salary:	£75,000 to £85,000 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	City of London, EC2V 6DN
Working pattern:	Hybrid - 2 days remote
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	23 Oct 2026
Closing date:	30 Oct 2026

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Summary

IT Category Manager

Up to £85,000 + 15% discretionary bonus

London | Hybrid - 3 days per week in the office

Your new company

You will be joining a growing procurement and supplier management function within a large, international organisation operating across a complex and regulated environment. Procurement has strong access to senior technology stakeholders and plays an important role in supporting technology investment and commercial decision-making across the business.

Your new role

As IT Category Manager, you will take ownership of an international IT category portfolio, with a particular focus on Software, SaaS and IT Professional Services.You will lead complex end-to-end sourcing activity, contract negotiations and renewals, while developing category plans and building strong relationships with senior technology stakeholders. The role has significant exposure across the technology leadership team and requires someone comfortable acting as a genuine procurement business partner.Key areas will include:

Software, SaaS and Cloud sourcing

IT Professional Services, including application development, testing and managed services

Outsourced and offshore/nearshore technology services

Complex RFP/RFx activity and supplier negotiations

Contract and commercial negotiations

Category planning and market analysis

Supplier management and contract ownership

Working across multiple sourcing projects and stakeholder groups simultaneously

What you'll need to succeed

You will have strong experience within IT procurement, sourcing or category management, with demonstrable depth across Software/SaaS and ideally IT Professional Services.You will be comfortable handling complex technology contracts and commercial terms, with enough contractual knowledge to challenge terms and take ownership of negotiations rather than relying entirely on Legal.

You will also need:

Experience leading end-to-end strategic sourcing projects

Strong Software/SaaS procurement knowledge

Experience developing and implementing category plans

Excellent commercial and contractual negotiation skills

Confidence partnering with CIO-level and senior technology stakeholders

Experience working within complex organisations

The ability to manage multiple priorities and sourcing projects concurrently

A proactive, curious and high-energy approach, with a willingness to take ownership

Experience within insurance, financial services or another regulated environment would be beneficial but is not essential.

What you'll get in return

This is an opportunity to take genuine ownership of a broad, international IT category within a well-established procurement function, with direct exposure to senior technology leadership and significant business-critical technology spend.You'll work across complex Software, SaaS and Professional Services requirements, with the opportunity to shape category strategy rather than simply execute individual sourcing exercises.The organisation will also support continued professional development, including CIPS, alongside a hybrid working pattern of three days per week in the London office.

What you need to do now

If you're interested in this role, please contact me directly via email at or apply now for a confidential discussion.

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