Category Manager

About The Job Salary: £60,379 - £63,721 a year plus £3,203 car benefit allowanceHours per week: 37Contract type: Permanent Are you a skilled procurement professional with a passion for driving value, innovation, and strategic impact? Do you have the leadership experience to shape procurement strategies within the Health & Social Care sector? If so, we want to hear from you. We are seeking a Category Manager – Health & Social Care to provide strategic direction for procurement across a key portfolio. You will work closely with directors and senior commissioning managers, acting as the single point of contact for all procurement and contract management advice within your area. This is a leadership role where you will guide and manage a sourcing and contract management team, delivering savings and value for the Council through innovative sourcing approaches, best practice, and category strategies tailored to your portfolio. Your work will be central to ensuring that procurement underpins the delivery of high-quality services that meet the needs of our community. Key Responsibilities Include Providing strategic leadership and direction across the Health & Social Care procurement portfolio. Acting as a trusted advisor for directors, senior commissioning managers, and stakeholders on all procurement and contract management matters. Leading and developing a team to deliver measurable savings, improved efficiency, and sustainable outcomes. Supporting the implementation of the Council’s new procurement target operating model, including culture change initiatives. Driving innovative sourcing and category strategies, embedding best practice, and ensuring procurement adds strategic value. Maintaining and enhancing the reputation of the procurement service as a professional, enabling, and strategic function. About You You will bring substantial experience in delivering measurable savings through effective category and contract management, underpinned by a strong understanding of procurement, markets, and commercial principles. You will have in-depth experience of service delivery specification development, working collaboratively with departments as part of commissioning and procurement processes, and a proven track record of leading teams and supporting staff career development. Strategic thinking and planning come naturally to you, with the ability to develop clear category strategies to achieve outcomes over a medium-term horizon, typically 3–5 years. You are confident acting on your own initiative while fostering positive relationships across the organisation, providing leadership to ensure consistent best practice and escalating issues appropriately. You will be highly skilled in preparing and presenting complex reports to Senior Management teams, using data and insight to support effective decision-making. Your ability to lead, motivate, inform, and develop colleagues, both directly and across departments, is matched by excellent negotiation skills, enabling you to influence and engage effectively with major suppliers and partners on complex strategic issues. You will possess up-to-date knowledge of UK procurement legislation and EU directives and be capable of training others in these areas. You will be Procurement Practitioner-qualified and ideally working towards, or holding, membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), or able to demonstrate equivalent professional knowledge through experience. About Us Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision – that no‑one in Luton will have to live in poverty – is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents. The people of Luton depend heavily on this council – and that means our workforce Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision? We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough. Application Process On occasions, we may close a vacancy early due to a very high number of applications being received. Benefits From 25 to 32 days’ annual leave: linked to length of service and grade Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility) Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part‑time hours and alternative working patterns Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel How To Apply We understand that job applications take time and effort, but a high‑quality application shows that you are professional with a good attention to detail. The recruiting manager may receive a number of applications for each job advertised so you want yours to stand out Our ‘How to apply' page has more tips to help with your application: How to apply #J-18808-Ljbffr