Requisition ID: 271456
Purpose
The Category Management Practice Lead (Centre of Excellence) reporting to VPs Strategic Sourcing and Vendor Management is responsible for defining, standardizing, and continuously improving the category management framework, tools, and practices across the organization. This role drives consistency, capability uplift, and value realization by embedding leading practices in strategic sourcing, supplier management, and category strategy execution.
The Practice Lead partners closely with Category Leads, Risk, Finance, and Business stakeholders to ensure category strategies are data-driven, compliant, and aligned to enterprise objectives including cost optimization, resilience, sustainability and innovation.
Reporting Relationships
Reports to: VP, Strategic Sourcing and Vendor Management, Technology, VP, Strategic Sourcing and Vendor Management Corporate Services.
Direct Reports: Approximately 1-2
Major Accountabilities:
1. Category Management Framework & Governance
• Develop and maintain the enterprise category management methodology, standards, and templates
• Establish governance processes to ensure consistent application across all categories
• Align category practices with regulatory expectations (e.g., OSFI B-10), internal policies, and risk frameworks
• Define category segmentation models (strategic, critical, transactional, tail spend)
2. Strategy Enablement & Execution Excellence
• Enable development of robust category strategies (3-5 year horizon) aligned to business objectives
• Provide guidance on demand management, should-cost modelling, and commercial strategies
• Ensure consistent integration of:
o Supplier risk and resilience
o Innovation and digital enablement
• Review and challenge category strategies to ensure quality and value creation
• Facilitate category vendor optimization discussions, including supplier consolidation, challenger strategies, competitive tension, and enterprise leverage opportunities to improve value, service, risk, and commercial outcomes for the bank
3. Data, Insights & Performance Management
• Define category KPIs and performance frameworks, including:
o Cost savings and cost avoidance
o Value beyond savings (revenue generation, innovation,)
o Supplier performance and concentration risk
• Partner with analytics teams to deliver spend analytics, market intelligence, and benchmarking
• Drive adoption of data-driven decision-making across procurement
4. Capability Building & Change Leadership
• Lead capability uplift initiatives across Procurement, including:
o Category management training programs
o Playbooks and knowledge repositories
o Best-practice sharing forums
o Targeted coaching, practical skill-building, and peer learning focused on stakeholder management, commercial acumen, executive influence, and cross-business-line planning
• Coach Category Managers and senior stakeholders on advanced category practices
• Coach Category Managers on how to shape strategic category plans, build stakeholder confidence, and influence adoption of category priorities across business lines
• Drive change management to embed consistent category behaviours enterprise-wide
5. Stakeholder Engagement & Business Partnership
• Act as a strategic advisor to senior procurement and business leaders
• Facilitate alignment between procurement and business units on category priorities
• Equip category teams with stakeholder engagement approaches, discussion guides, and escalation strategies to navigate competing business priorities and secure alignment on enterprise category plans
• Support executive reporting and communications on category performance and outcomes
6. Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Monitor external market trends and benchmark against leading organizations
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives in processes, tools, and digital procurement capabilities
• Champion use of AI, automation, and advanced analytics in category management
Education/Work Experience/Designations
• 10+ years of progressive procurement experience, including category management leadership
• Demonstrated experience in building and leading a Category Management Centre of Excellence
• Strong understanding of:
o Strategic sourcing and supplier relationship management
o Category vendor optimization, supplier leverage strategies, and commercial negotiation approaches that use competitive tension appropriately to deliver value for the bank
o Risk management and regulatory requirements (financial services experience preferred)
• Experience operating in large, complex, and regulated organizations
Dimensions:
• Strategic thinking with ability to translate into actionable frameworks
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills at senior levels
• Ability to coach, challenge, and uplift category talent in stakeholder management, strategic influence, and enterprise-wide category plan adoption
• Advanced analytical and problem-solving capabilities
• Excellent communication and executive presentation skills
• Change leadership and capability development expertise
• Highly collaborative with an enterprise mindset
• Ability to link own team goals and objectives to the broader organization
• Ability to utilize and leverage various forms of related software and technology
• Building and maintaining strategic relationships and networks with internal and external professionals to continually improve upon the effectiveness of practice management
• Maintaining a detailed understanding of overall bank goals, strategies, objectives and priorities, and business line strategies, issues, and objectives.
Working Conditions:
• Work in a standard office-based environment; Hybrid
Location(s): Canada : Ontario : Toronto
