Work as Travel Subject Matter Advisor to develop and implement client specific category planning and management for the Travel categories.
Develop and maintain category-specific knowledge assets and market intelligence that capture expertise / best practices.
Provide strategic sourcing oversight and category knowledge in support of the Sourcing Project Management function on projects within categories of expertise.
Infuse market insights into the sourcing process on projects within categories of expertise.
Engage with customers senior management team members to provide perspective on current market trends to inform client strategic decisions/sourcing initiatives in line with business goals and objectives.
Leverage category expertise to support new sales and drive significant client business value.
Establish, grow, and leverage network of suppliers, industry practitioners, and procurement professionals within categories of expertise.
Work collaboratively with suppliers and customer stakeholders to identify continuous cost and performance improvement strategies.
Provide educational and learning opportunities to internal colleagues and external clients (ex. Webinar, Spend Trends publications) on industry trends, supplier landscape changes, and market intel within categories of expertise.
Coach and develop sourcing project managers in their professional development and pursuit of building category knowledge within area of expertise.
Minimum Requirements:
Bachelors Degree or equivalent work experience.
Minimum of 7 years of procurement/consulting or category-related industry or supplier experience.
Minimum of 3 years of strategic sourcing, category management, and/or professional industry experience related to Corporate Travel (including Airlines, Hotels, TMCs, Meetings & Events plus Corporate T&E card solutions).
Additional knowledge of Fleet and other CPS sub-categories is an advantage but not mandatory.
Thorough understanding of the supplier landscape and interpretation of market trends within the identified categories.
Demonstrated success with key clients or stakeholders.
Ability to develop and frequently refresh category market intelligence and insight tools to support internal sourcing teams and educate external client stakeholders.
Ability to apply insights to customer situations for meaningful impact.
Ability to influence and persuade senior level client stakeholders.
Ability to adapt to the varied corporate cultures and organizational structures of our customers.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Existing positive relationships within industries related to the identified categories.
Strong sourcing knowledge to translate category to sourcing strategy.
Well-developed, solution-oriented selling skills.
Proven ability to work creatively and analytically in a problem-solving environment.
Ability to drive transformational change.
Strong ability to effectively manage in a matrix organizational structure working with multiple internal stakeholders.
Ambition to drive the category forwards, innovating internally and with ecosystem partners to drive incremental value for clients.
Ability to effectively lead strategic sourcing efforts related to Travel Fleet categories within the context of integrated Plan, Source, Make and Deliver supply chain processes.
