[Hiring] Sourcing and Category Manager @Microsoft

Role Description

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day. The CO+I Supply Chain and Learning Excellence (“SCALE”) procurement team is responsible for establishing a flexible, efficient and reliable supply chain that can support a portfolio of complex datacenter operations. We are looking to fill a critical role of Category Manager for data center operations Supply Chain.

You’ll:

• Define and execute a sourcing strategy for one or more complex purchasing categories within datacenter critical environment equipment maintenance and services.
• Share industry and category expertise across stakeholder teams to develop and execute sourcing strategies.
• Integrate business specifications into sourcing events.
• Define and manage supplier scorecard criteria, coordinate performance reviews, and drive corrective actions.
• Manage contract and pricing negotiations for a single purchasing category.
• Influence experienced managers, adopt practices, and apply market intelligence to enable quality execution.
• Educate stakeholders to ensure compliance, adapting policy as needed to mitigate risk.
• Drive consistency, timeliness, and quality of deliverables, ensuring stakeholders are aware of Service Level Agreements.
• Process or support stakeholder procurement requests for CE equipment maintenance and services via engagement.
• Execute contracts and comply with established control processes, identifying roadblocks and taking action to resolve them as needed.
• Develop pricing and negotiation strategies, gaining executive support and mitigating contract disagreements.
• Drive early business engagements for complex business areas and collaborate with suppliers and leads on onboarding processes.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND experience in Data Science/Analytics, Finance, Project Management, Supply Chain, and/or Operations
• OR Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND experience in Data Science/Analytics, Finance, Project Management, Supply Chain, and/or Operations
• OR equivalent experience.
• Category Management experience in one or more key categories including General Contractors, Mechanical & Electrical Equipment, Construction Services, Operations Services.
• Skilled project management experience plus communication and influencing skills.
• Experience with Global and regional planning and development.

Requirements

• Master's Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance OR related field AND 4+ years experience in Data Science/Analytics, Finance, Project Management, Supply Chain, and/or Operations
• OR Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Computer Science, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance OR equivalent experience.
• Demonstrable commercial understanding and experience driving and developing contracts on key categories (General Contractors, Mechanical & Electrical Equipment, Power Generation, Construction Services, Operations Services).
• Experience of collaborating with key stakeholders to jointly develop and implement category strategies to drive efficiencies, improve performance delivery and reduce costs.
• Experience of developing and enhancing supplier relationships.
• Data driven mindset to support continuous improvement and accurate reporting.
• Growth mindset to explore new technologies, new ways of working and new contracting methods.
• Knowledge of data center industry and experience managing a variety of project delivery methods.
• Technical ability to write contracts, ability to set up sourcing plans and negotiation strategies and execute them.
• Familiarity with common process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six-Sigma, etc.) and ability to facilitate change management.
• Ability to implement new processes and get buy in from a cross functional team.

Background Check Requirements

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role.
• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Benefits

• The typical base pay range for this role across Ireland is € 69,000.00 - € 118,200.00 per year.
• Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.