Category Manager – Professional Services
Category Manager will drive end-to-end sourcing execution and category management for Professional Services spend, including consulting, advisory, IT services, legal, staffing, and BPO. The role combines hands-on sourcing delivery with category strategy & execution, commercial structuring, and stakeholder engagement to deliver cost, quality, and business outcomes.
Responsibilities:
- Support development and execution of category strategies for professional services spend
- Identify opportunities for rate optimization, vendor consolidation, and scope rationalization
- Manage demand pipelines and align sourcing with organizational priorities
- Execute sourcing engagements across consulting firms, system integrators, staffing vendors, legal firms, and BPO providers
- Develop and manage rate cards, benchmarking, and pricing frameworks across service providers
- Negotiate resource mix, utilization assumptions, and delivery models (onshore/offshore)
- Managed end-to-end sourcing cycle, understand business needs, perform vendor research to identify potential participants to getting the contract signed
- Develop and published RFP in Ariba
- Conduct market research and analysis to identify potential suppliers, evaluate their capabilities, and gather market intelligence to support decision-making
- Lead supplier selection and qualification processes, including issuing RFIs, RFPs, and conducting supplier evaluations and negotiations
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders to understand their requirements and ensure the sourcing strategy meets their needs
- Negotiate contracts, terms, and pricing with suppliers to secure favorable agreements that optimize value while mitigating risks
- Manage project plan for all assigned sourcing requests from requirement gathering to contracting
- Negotiate contracts, terms, and pricing with suppliers to secure favorable agreements (MSA/SOW) that optimize value while mitigating risks
- Liaise with legal, business and supplier to finalize contracts
- Document and analyze supplier responses to ensure it contains valid and detailed information
- Co-ordination with various stakeholders (business, procurement, suppliers) for setting up meetings, presentations and other sessions
- Liaising with business stakeholders, procurement team and suppliers to ensure timely and successful completions of tasks and activities (related to RFx events, NDA management and contracting)
- Partner with business stakeholders, Finance, Legal, and delivery teams to understand requirements and drive sourcing outcomes
- Maintaining project plans/ tracker for all requests and sourcing events, including timely reporting to all stakeholders
- Track and report savings, cost avoidance, and spend visibility across professional services categories
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree
- 5+ years of sourcing/procurement experience with a focus on professional services, consulting, advisory, BPO etc
- Proven experience as a Sourcing Specialist, Procurement Specialist, or similar role
- Strong knowledge of strategic sourcing methodologies, procurement best practices, and supplier management
- Must possess excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Good project management/ business analysis/ process analysis skills
- Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities
- Professional certifications such as Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) or Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certification will be a plus
About
In the perfect storm of technology forces shaping the business world, the question is not whether companies need to adapt to stay competitive but which tech partner to trust for long-term business improvement and transformation needs.
That’s why iShare was founded: to be that credible IT partner that cuts through the buzzword clutter to deliver real value by real people. And that starts with doing the basics right.
Who We Are
Based in New Jersey, iShare is a boutique IT consulting firm with strategic advisory, development, and staffing services designed for specific industry verticals. iShare was founded to fill a real market need – with so much noise about cloud, big data, and information security, companies today are adopting software product after product and losing sight of which they need and why, while what they really need is credible consulting that takes the time to understand their company’s unique scenario and requirement, and then architect a solution accordingly.
Recognizing this gap, senior industry executives put their credibility on the line to form iShare and ensure they create a fulfilling experience with lasting value for all stakeholders – customers, employees and partners. iShare leadership team has 20+ years average IT experience and is well-rounded in technology, operations, account and customer management. Our experience spans C-Suite positions with Fortune 100 firms as well as mid-tier firms. Our background includes stints at multibillion-dollar ITO / BPO firms as well as startups.