Senior IT Category Manager

Wood is recruiting a Senior IT Category Manager to own the leadership and management of the IT category function across the group. You will drive and shape category strategies that deliver tangible and sustainable savings across the business as well as delivering value and exceptional service to internal customers., In the role you will have responsibility for an annual spend in the region of $250M across the Group. You will sit as part of the Group Procurement leadership team and work closely with senior business and functional leaders, to develop and deliver category strategies, lead key strategic supplier relationships, and drive procurement excellence across the business.

You will lead the IT procurement team in delivering value, reducing risk, and simplifying procurement processes across a complex technology environment. Working closely with strategic IT suppliers, you will manage diverse procurement requirements, drive sourcing and contract management activities, and develop strong commercial partnerships that support the organisation’s technology objectives.

Our Clients and Projects

Designing the future. Transforming the world.

Wood delivers solutions across more than 60 countries with local offices covering all major energy and materials hubs globally.

For more than 160 years, we have partnered with clients to deliver engineering, advisory and operational solutions to some of the world’s most complex and critical challenges in energy and materials.

What we can offer

• Meaningful and interesting projects we support green hydrogen and fuel switching, as well as supporting local clients with energy transition
• Flexible working arrangements that balance client, team and individual needs offering hybrid working arrangements
• Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion ; we are an organisation actively committed to diversity and inclusion across our business with employee networks committed to giving all employees a voice, * Manage the strategic direction of function and delivery of both near and long term business objectives for IT procurement across but not limited to:
• Software (SaaS, Enterprise Applications, Licensing), Cloud Services, Infrastructure and Data Centres, Hardware and End User Computing, Telecommunications and Networks, IT professional services, CyberSecurity Solutions
• Analysis of spend, market trends, supplier landscapes and technology developments to identify opportunities for cost optimisation and value creation
• Establish category governance, performance metrics and continuous improvement initiatives
• Lead complex sourcing projects, RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, and competitive negotiations
• Deliver measurable savings, cost avoidance, and commercial benefits while balancing quality, risk and innovation
• Negotiate enterprise-wide agreements, software licensing structures, cloud consumption models, and strategic supplier contracts while ensuring Commercial terms support the business objectives
• Be a core member of the Group procurement leadership team supporting broader business strategy and delivery of business objectives
• Act as role model and champion Woods vision, values and behaviours
• Act as a role model to embed the IT procurement and wider compliance frameworks into the business
• Develop and implement Group procurement across BUs with responsibility for embedding category principles and techniques that deliver tangible and sustainable value
• Development of the IT Procurement team including coaching, mentoring of existing and any future recruitment of new personnel to ensure a highly skilled and effective team

• Educated to degree level or equivalent commercial experience in Supply Chain
• Experience negotiating with providers such as;
• Autodesk, AspenTech, Hexagon, AVEVA, and Bentley, alongside enterprise platforms like Oracle and Microsoft, and managed service / staff augmentation partners such as Wissen
• Extensive experience in IT category management, strategic sourcing, and procurement leadership, with the ability to develop category strategies, lead high-performing teams, and deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience managing annual IT spend in excess of $150M
• Proven success negotiating complex technology agreements with global suppliers

Personal attributes:

• Exceptional communication, influencing, and presentation skills, with the ability to engage and build credibility at all levels of the organisation
• Strong relationship-builder with a well-established professional network across procurement, technology, and the wider business environment
• Proven ability to develop and maintain effective partnerships with suppliers, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams
• Strategic and commercially minded, with the ability to shape category direction and identify opportunities for continuous improvement and value creation
• Highly organised, with strong planning and prioritisation skills and the ability to manage competing demands in a fast-paced environment
• Proactive and collaborative leader who inspires high performance, drives engagement, and champions continuous development.
• Well-developed commercial acumen, with a strong understanding of market dynamics, supplier management, and value delivery

• Competitive salary with regular salary reviews to ensure we are rewarding at the right level in line with the market
• Flexible benefits package ; inclusive of 33 days annual leave (including public holidays), generous contributory pension scheme, private medical cover, 4x base salary life insurance; all of these and more that can be adapted to suit your own lifestyle
• Commitment to continued professional development; development plans that are tailored to your individual needs and interests
• Global connections ; join experts around the world who are at the leading edge of our industry, shaping the standards of our profession

At Wood, we are committed to equal opportunities and welcome all talented individuals to consider joining our team. So even if you don’t match every statement below but feel you have some of the experience, knowledge or skills needed for this role, we encourage you to apply. It will take all of us working together to deliver solutions to the world’s most critical challenges., Wood is a global leader in consulting, engineering and operations for the energy and materials sectors. With 33,000 people in around 50 countries, Wood supports clients across the full asset lifecycle, delivering safe, predictable outcomes while enabling resilient operations and a lower carbon future. Wood forms the Energy & Materials pillar of Sidara - a global partnership uniting leading multidisciplinary engineering, design, and project management companies. www.woodgroup.com