Global Category Leader - Congresses & Events

The Global Category Leader - Congresses & Events is responsible for defining and deploying global and regional procurement strategies for congresses, external events, and internal meetings, enabling business impact, value delivery, and consistent execution across markets.

The role is responsible for designing and deploying a high-performing, scalable, and compliant supplier ecosystem across event management, congress participation, meeting logistics, venue sourcing, production, and related services, ensuring strong affiliate-level adoption while balancing global consistency with local relevance.

Reporting to the Global Strategic Sourcing Director, Business Excellence, the role acts as a strategic partner to Commercial, Medical, Corporate Functions, and affiliate stakeholders, while ensuring strong collaboration with regional procurement teams and the broader business network, including North America.

WHAT - Main Responsibilities & Technical Competencies

• Be accountable for end-to-end Category Management for Congresses & Events services, including strategy, sourcing, supplier performance, governance, and value delivery across congresses, commercial and medical events, and internal meetings at global and regional levels.
• Define and lead global and regional sourcing strategies supporting congresses, external events, and internal meetings, in close partnership with Commercial, Medical, Corporate Functions, and affiliate stakeholders, including North America.
• Determine the most relevant level of strategy (global vs. regional) to best support business priorities, event typologies, stakeholder requirements, and market needs.
• Ensure strategies deliver tangible value at affiliate level (including North America), are scalable across markets, and balance global consistency with local relevancy for different event formats and business needs.
• Align strategies with business cycles, launch milestones, medical congress calendars, and internal governance needs, ensuring fit-for-purpose event delivery across commercial, medical, and corporate contexts.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the external landscape, key market trends, and emerging innovations, and translate these into recommendations to continuously evolve the category strategy.
• Lead strategic sourcing and negotiations for major event-related engagements (>€300k), including global framework agreements, rate cards/pricing models, venue and agency negotiations, and performance-based contracts.

Value Delivery & Deployment Across Event Types and Affiliates

• Define and monitor category KPIs and dashboards covering spend visibility, sourcing compliance, supplier adoption, value delivery, and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Design and continuously improve the events supplier ecosystem (agencies, venue partners, logistics providers, production, digital/hybrid event services), including service models and commercial frameworks that enable compliance, innovation, speed, and consistency across markets.
• Ensure effective deployment and adoption of global and regional frameworks across affiliates.
• Monitor value realization and performance across regions (North America, EMEA, JAPAC, and LATAM).
• Leverage spend analytics, supplier benchmarking, and market intelligence to identify value creation, innovation, and risk mitigation opportunities across the Congresses & Events category.
• Animate and enable the International and NA Procurement Business Partner community through regular category updates, best-practice sharing, and structured communication to support consistent execution and continuous improvement.
• Act as a strategic partner to Commercial, Medical, and Corporate Functions leaders, influencing event investment strategies, supplier ecosystems, and ways of working across global, regional, and local teams.
• Build and lead a global Congresses & Events Procurement Affiliate Network, anchored at affiliate level across North America, EMEA, JAPAC & LATAM, to influence supplier selection, event delivery models, and adoption of category strategies.
• Drive affiliate impact and network engagement by capturing feedback, sharing best practices, and supporting resolution of key affiliate challenges related to congresses, events, and internal meetings.
• Define and lead a high-performing global Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and ecosystem strategy across Congresses & Events.
• Establish strategic supplier partnerships supported by clear performance management, innovation roadmaps, and continuous improvement in service quality, cost efficiency, and innovation.
• Design and deploy industrialized, scalable supplier models, including standard service packages, rate cards, venue and production benchmarks, and volume-based commercial frameworks, ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery across regions and sustainable value creation.
• Lead category transformation initiatives focused on process simplification, automation and innovation, operating model optimization, and enhancement of the end-user experience.
• Ensure global category strategies are fully aligned with Shared Service Center (SSC) execution models.
• Enable efficient and consistent execution through the deployment of standard playbooks, RFP templates, and clear sourcing frameworks.
• Continuously improve execution efficiency and end‑user experience to support scalable and reliable delivery across markets.
• Lead the continuous evolution of the Meetings & Events governance framework, including guidelines, sourcing thresholds, preferred supplier strategies, exception management, and governance reporting.
• Ensure strong governance and compliance through enforcement of supplier panel usage, standardized processes (sourcing thresholds), and contract adherence.
• Ensure compliance with procurement policies, sourcing thresholds, governance frameworks, and ESG commitments, embedding responsible sourcing and sustainability principles into category strategies and execution.
• Define and negotiate global framework agreements, rate cards, and performance-based contracts across venue, agency, logistics, production, and related event services.
• Monitor performance and value delivery, including savings realization, SLA compliance, and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Act as the escalation point for supplier issues, adoption challenges, and service delivery risks, ensuring timely resolution and continuity of service.

Strategic thinking & commercial acumen: links procurement choices to business outcomes; anticipates changes in event models, supplier markets, and stakeholder expectations.

Influence & stakeholder management: builds credibility with brand leaders and drives alignment in a complex matrix.

Collaboration & matrix leadership: partners effectively across global, regional and affiliate teams to enable adoption and execution.

Supplier partnership mindset: develops long-term, value-creating relationships with event-related suppliers and promotes innovation and continuous improvement.

Change & adoption leadership: drives new ways of working and manages resistance to standardization, new event delivery models, and broader meeting governance requirements.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels heard, valued and supported, where we embody "The Real Us*". The value we place on different perspectives and experiences drives our commitment to inclusion and equal opportunity. When we integrate diverse ways of thinking, we make more thoughtful decisions and discover more innovative solutions. Together, we strive to better understand the communities we serve. This means we also want to help you be your best when applying for a position with us. If you require any accommodations or assistance during the application process, please inform the recruitment team. This information will be handled with care and will have no impact on the outcome of your application. *Let's be ourselves