[Hiring] IT Category Specialist @Cushman & Wakefield

Role Description

This position is part of the C&W Procurement team supporting Technology & Data Solutions (TDS), working alongside Category Managers on IT sourcing and procurement activities spanning technology services, software, hardware, data, and related supplier relationships. The IT Category Specialist will assist with:

• Strategic sourcing
• Contract administration
• Supplier relationship management
• Spend analysis
• Negotiations
• Procurement operations

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Information Technology, Finance, or a related field preferred; advanced degree or relevant procurement certification is a plus.
• 2-4 years of related procurement, sourcing, vendor management, IT category, or equivalent business experience.
• Working knowledge of IT procurement categories, including software/SaaS, hardware, cloud, telecom, data, professional services, and technology supplier commercial models.
• Familiarity with legal and commercial contracting concepts, including statements of work, renewals, amendments, service levels, licensing, confidentiality, data security, and supplier compliance requirements.
• Strong analytical, reporting, and presentation skills, including proficiency with Smartsheet, Excel, and PowerPoint; experience with procurement, supplier administration, and contract management systems preferred.
• Strong relationship management, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to collaborate across IT, Legal, Finance, business partners, and suppliers.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and self-motivated with the ability to prioritize multiple requests, manage competing deadlines, and work independently to resolve issues.
• Understanding of strategic sourcing processes, supplier relationship management, procurement policy compliance, and preferred supplier program adoption.

Requirements

• Contribute to category strategies for TDS, including software, hardware, telecommunications, professional services, data, and related IT supplier categories.
• Assist Category Managers with sourcing events, supplier research, intake review, order form management, statement of work review, and invoice follow-up for IT procurement requests.
• Help coordinate supplier selection, onboarding, administration, and relationship management for preferred IT suppliers and strategic technology partners.
• Track supplier performance, service levels, contract compliance, renewal timelines, and key metrics to help drive supplier governance and business adoption.
• Escalate supplier performance, quality, risk, or commercial issues to Category Managers and business stakeholders as appropriate.
• Analyze spend, pricing, usage, benchmarks, and supplier proposals to identify savings, cost avoidance, consolidation, and value improvement opportunities.
• Assist with RFPs, RFQs, renewals, and supplier negotiations for IT goods and services, including proposal evaluation, commercial analysis, and stakeholder recommendation materials.
• Collaborate with Procurement leadership to improve intake processes, sourcing workflows, supplier governance tools, contract tracking, and reporting for IT procurement activity.
• Generate metrics, dashboards, and analysis to enable stakeholder visibility, compliance monitoring, supplier performance reviews, and category planning.
• Prepare, review, and facilitate supplier contracts, statements of work, amendments, renewals, extensions, and terminations using approved templates, tools, and processes.
• Maintain accurate records in the contract repository and coordinate with Legal, Finance, IT, and business stakeholders to ensure compliance and timely execution.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with IT, business units, Category Managers, suppliers, and cross-functional partners to enable effective procurement execution and preferred supplier adoption.
• Conduct meetings with internal and external stakeholders in a professional manner using strong communication, sound judgment, tact, and diplomacy.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Health, vision, and dental insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• Health savings accounts
• Retirement savings plans
• Life and disability insurance programs
• Paid and unpaid time away from work
• Competitive pay based on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, total hours worked, job type, business line, and applicability of collective bargaining agreements.