Asia Category Director

You are as unique as your background, experience and point of view. Here, you’ll be encouraged, empowered and challenged to be your best self. You'll work with dynamic colleagues - experts in their fields - who are eager to share their knowledge with you. Your leaders will inspire and help you reach your potential and soar to new heights. Every day, you'll have new and exciting opportunities to make life brighter for our Clients - who are at the heart of everything we do. Discover how you can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities around the world.

Job Description:

The Role | Asia Category Strategy Director

Location: Hong Kong

Why We Have This Role

The Global Procurement team is undergoing a major transformation to enhance our operating model by adopting industry best practices and optimizing third-party spending. As we implement these changes, exciting opportunities have emerged to join our global category management team at the Director level based in Asia. The Director of Asia Category Strategy is responsible for moving upstream procurmenet from transaction execution to enterprise value enablement. The role will focus on developing and executing category strategies aligned to Sun Life’s enterprise goals, manage complex regional spend portfolio, and drive total cost of ownership (TCO) reductions through category strategy levers.
 

How You’ll Find Success

• Applying in-depth knowledge of procurement best practices consistently across the entire spending portfolio.
• Identifying and addressing global business needs within a complex organizational landscape.
• Collaborating effectively across all executive levels and partnering with business units and functional teams.
• Actively listening to stakeholder feedback and addressing concerns related to user experience and program operations.
• Using strong influencing skills to ensure leaders across Sun Life understand procurements role and the value created
• Demonstrating effective people leadership by creating an environment where teams feel inspired, supported, and motivated.

How You’ll Grow

• Lead with Influence

Strengthen your leadership skills to inspire and motivate your team, achieving outstanding results together.

• Self Starter

Showing proactive leadership ability within a new team including an ability to innovate and develop solutions to complex business requirements

• Expand Your Horizons

Experience diverse work cultures and global business practices to broaden your perspective.

• Become a Strategic Partner

Build strong relationships with senior leaders and contribute to Sun Life's success.

• Make a Lasting Impact

Create positive change and shape the future of work for Sun Life employees worldwide.

What you will do

• Be an independent leader managing major categories in Asia, responsible for delivery on category strategies and mentoring team members
• Responsible for connecting with the global Category Management organization to ensure strategy alignment, and building a trust-based collaboration with stakeholders in Asia to execute Asia category strategy
• Build strong relationships with Asia senior leaders to secure buy-in and raise awareness of strategic category initiatives.
• Directly manage and guide Sourcing (Renewal) team and junior team members to ensure alignment with the category plan.
• Utilize internal and external resources to remain informed about industry and category developments.
• Apply competitive commercial strategies to optimize savings and enhance business value, including identifying and onboarding new vendors.
• Build and implement annual category plans to strategically manage related spending, including pipeline planning and execution.
• Conduct regular spend analyses to uncover trends and opportunities across categories, subcategories, business units, and geographies.
• Manage all procurement-related documentation, such as RFx, project budgets, and status reports.
• Provide mentorship and clear guidance to junior team members, fostering their professional growth.

What We’re looking For On Your Resume

• 7+ years of experience in Procurement or Supply Chain.
• Experience in Asia markets, specifically Hong Kong and/or Marketing/Branding category is a plus
• Proven expertise in designing and implementing category planning and savings initiatives.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to influence teams and stakeholders effectively.
• Demonstrated success in managing complex projects, including stakeholder engagement and change management.
• Experience in developing and executing global category strategies.
• Proven track record of delivering category savings through sourcing, demand management, and policy compliance.
• Advanced negotiation skills.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred; MBA, JD, or advanced degree in a procurement-related field is highly desirable.
• Fluency in both written and spoken English. Cantonese and Mandarin

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