Head of Category - Internal Opportunity Open to Ucl Employees Only

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)

• Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme

• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)

• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan

• Immigration loan

• Relocation scheme for certain posts

• On-Site nursery

• On-site gym

• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay

• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service

• Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

About us

UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, bringing together more than 13,000 staff and 42,000 students from over 150 countries. Renowned for excellence in teaching and world-leading research, UCL is committed to delivering an ambitious strategic vision for 2034.

Our Commercial & Procurement function plays a vital role in supporting this vision, managing over £600 million in annual third-party expenditure. We aim to deliver an outstanding procurement service that achieves value for money, drives commercial excellence and supports UCL's Sustainable Procurement Strategy.

We are looking for an experienced commercial leader who shares our commitment to innovation, sustainability and continuous improvement, and who can help transform our procurement approach to deliver lasting value for the university.

About the role

As Senior Category Manager, you will lead the Travel, Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE), Contingent Labour, and External Engagement categories, including communications and marketing. You will develop and deliver category strategies that meet stakeholder needs, generate targeted savings and improve commercial and operational performance.

Working closely with senior stakeholders across UCL, you will provide expert commercial advice, lead complex sourcing and negotiation activities, and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, manage demand and strengthen supplier relationships. You will also support the Director of Corporate Services in delivering the wider strategic roadmap.

Key responsibilities include:

• Developing and implementing category strategies aligned with UCL's commercial objectives, stakeholder priorities and sustainability commitments.
• Building strong relationships with senior stakeholders and acting as the principal point of contact for your categories.
• Leading strategic sourcing, complex negotiations, contract development, supplier frameworks and preferred supplier lists.
• Identifying and delivering cost savings, efficiencies and innovative commercial solutions.
• Providing expert advice on commercial, contractual and procurement compliance matters.
• Using spend analytics and commercial data to identify opportunities, build business cases and support evidence-based decisions.
• Driving transformation, continuous improvement and new ways of working across procurement and stakeholder teams.
• Leading, coaching and developing team members, fostering a high-performing and collaborative culture.
• Supporting the delivery of UCL's wider Corporate Services strategic objectives.

This is an opportunity to influence strategic decision-making, deliver measurable commercial benefits and contribute to the long-term success of a world-leading university.

About you

You are a commercially astute procurement professional with significant senior-level experience in category management, strategic sourcing and commercial transformation. You can translate complex business needs into effective procurement strategies, deliver successful negotiations and build credible business cases that achieve measurable results.

You will bring:

• Significant commercial and procurement experience, including leadership, transformation and change management.
• Experience across Corporate Services categories, ideally including contingent labour, travel, MICE and marketing.
• A proven track record of developing and implementing robust sourcing strategies and contracts, including complex, large-scale commercial solutions.
• Strong negotiation, influencing and stakeholder-management skills, with the confidence to engage effectively with senior leaders.
• Experience working within large, complex and decentralised organisations with diverse stakeholder groups.
• Strong commercial data literacy, including the ability to interpret spend analytics and use tools such as Excel and Power BI to inform decisions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and persuasively.
• Strong organisational skills, sound judgement and the ability to manage competing priorities.
• A collaborative, innovative and evidence-based approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement.

You will also be passionate about developing people, building high-performing teams and embedding sustainable, value-driven procurement practices. A relevant degree or equivalent professional experience is essential. Further professional development and membership of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) would be advantageous.

If you are ready to lead strategic procurement initiatives, influence senior stakeholders and deliver meaningful commercial impact, we welcome your application to join UCL and help shape the future of our university.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent.We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.