About the Role

The Procurement Category Manager is responsible for developing the global sourcing strategy for the IT category. The person in this position would be recognized as the sourcing expert for Technology-related categories, would liaison with legal, act as Procurement ambassador to the business and integrate into the business to ensure a complete alignment and deep understanding of the business goals and partner in developing sourcing strategies. The goal is to be a value-added sourcing partner to the business. Additional responsibilities include negotiating information technology contracts for software licensing, cloud hosting, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, telecom, co-location services, computer and networking hardware, server products, and related maintenance, AMS and support services to be used across the entire company globally. The Procurement Category Manager position involves developing negotiation strategies, advising requestors on contract terms and conditions, monitoring cost and scope of assigned contracts to assure compliance, best value and validate/improve pricing. The Procurement Category Manager will recommend cost saving proposals including alternative sourcing and will exercise independent judgment within defined practices and procedures to determine appropriate action.

Remote US role within a reasonable commuting distance to one of the following offices: Sunnyvale, CA; Irvine, CA; El Segundo, CA; Austin, TX; Seattle, WA; Kirkland, WA; St. Louis, MO; Arlington, VA; Minneapolis, MN, Columbia Maryland

Additional Responsibilities

Strategic Sourcing

• Develop global sourcing strategies for the Technology Category

• Work with various business stakeholder groups to identify and qualify new or existing capable suppliers, initiate requests for proposals/quotations (RFPs/RFQs), advise requestors with respect to contract terms and conditions

• Conduct RFP and lead cross functional teams through the selection process of preferred suppliers with effective scoring criteria to critically evaluate supplier proposals in accordance within company policies

• Lead negotiations on commercial procurement agreements, including, but not limited to, Master Agreements, Statements of Work, Change Orders balancing business deliverables, legal interests and pricing

• Conduct analysis on proposals for supply of software licensing, computer hardware, servers, data center and telecom services in support of various business functions

• Analyze total costs, assist business functions with ROI analysis, price and rate benchmarking and negotiate favorable business terms to leverage company purchasing power

• Provide global contract expertise for sourcing of Information Technology products and services for various business units

• Evaluate single sourcing requests and ensure competitiveness

• Research market intelligence to understand cost drivers and market trends

Category Management

• Develop, refine and implement category strategies and tactics that enable the procurement of technology products and services at the highest value benefit to the company

• Add value by being the subject matter expert on Technology categories/commodities and consulting internal clients on industry trends, benchmarking, and best practices

• Assist the asset management team in lifecycle management of various software assets

• Lead cross-functional meetings with various business functions and develop a communication strategy to keep internal clients informed about procurement processes, supplier strategy, and procurement policies

Supplier Management

• Manage supplier relationships with focus on supply risk management, contract risk management and cost management

• Mediate supplier issues and resolve customer / supplier contract disputes if necessary

• Lead and participate in quarterly business reviews with vendors to review performance and support mutually agreed upon improvement programs as required

• Support ad-hoc reporting needs including supplier scorecards and other reporting

• Develop supplier rationalization entitlements for each category

Contract Management

• Evaluate processes and recommend improvements to standardize lifecycle contract management

• Ensure pricing & deliverables as negotiated are included in the contract; coordinate comparison of proposals and final contract terms

• Act as liaison between Legal team, Suppliers and the business

• Ensure contract execution & retention, through electronic signature process

• Provide timely updates, support management reporting of quarterly reports and address any issues quickly 

What You’ll Need 

• Bachelor’s degree required with 5+ years of experience in category management and/or strategic sourcing of software, hardware, telecom purchases

• MBA degree a plus, or equivalent experience

• Subject matter expertise in sourcing & contracting tools (Coupa, SAP, Oracle)

• Certified Purchasing Manager - desirable

• Contract Negotiation / Vendor Mgmt. / Influencing Skills

• Demonstrated advanced skills in negotiating and formulating technology contracts, understanding cost models and various price structures, management of contractual, IP and labor law risks

• Ability to work well in a high-pace dynamic environment, handle multiple projects simultaneously, and ensure task completion and deadlines are met as required

• Proficient with Microsoft Office applications: Excel, Word, PowerPoint

Communication Skills

• Communicate well in English both in verbal and written form

• Strong project management, organizational, and analytical skills required

• Excellent team facilitation and presentation skills required

• Ability to present to C-level executives / stakeholders and articulate strategies and performance metrics

Bonus Points 

• Experience developing strategies for multiple categories of spend

• High-tech, start-up, rapid growth and/or publicly traded company experience.

• You must love our business. CrowdStrike is a leader in cybersecurity. We don’t have a mission statement. We are on a mission to protect our customers from breaches. You must be genuinely committed to our mission and eager to learn the details of our business 

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