Strategic Sourcing Category Lead

Company Description
**Te Tākinatanga | Our Story**

At Te Mata Hiko (Contact Energy), we believe home is the most important place in the world. It's all part of our vision to leave Aotearoa better than we found it. We’re a power and broadband company, but we’re so much more than that. We are transforming the ways we mahi, and how Aotearoa is powered, leading the charge on renewable energy and digitising customer journeys in ways not yet seen here. A team of 1000+ from all walks of life who love what we do, look out for each other, and learn from one another every day, we’re stoked to be guided by our tikanga: we touch lives to make life better.

Part of that transformation is to build the best Procurement team in Aotearoa. If that sounds bold, it’s because it is.

We created a new role last year for a Head of Strategic Contracting & Procurement to introduce an enterprise-wide strategic focus across C&P. Initially, we wanted the role to act like a consultant, assessing our C&P maturity and ability before making a recommendation on how to manage over the longer term. That upfront mahi has been done and found what we knew would be the case**:we need change.** As part of our Procurement transformation, we’ve created seven** **new roles, including these two as Strategic Sourcing Category Leads.

**Job Description**:
**Kōrero mō te tūranga | About the role***

Reporting to the Strategic Sourcing Manager (who we’re recruiting now), as Strategic Sourcing Category Lead, you’ll identify categories, get cross functional sourcing teams together who are close to that category, develop a procurement strategy, go to market, then hard-code that spend in through a contract and catalogue. Leveraging technology to automate purchasing processes and e-procurement opportunities, you’ll engage deeply with the business to ensure the value from contracts is delivered, providing sound commercial advice to improve on-contract spend, driving purchasing decisions based on cost and scenario analysis, as well as market trends. You’ll negotiate contracts with key suppliers, collaborate across the business to identify and pursue new supplier opportunities, and use a Total Cost of Ownership approach to engage suppliers and create long-term strategic value for Contact.

We want to contract and automate all our spending through e-procurement, making supplier engagement easy for our internal customers. You’ll help bring this to life by building eProcurement catalogues for goods and services in our Modern Procurement System. Of course, you won’t do this alone. Included in those seven new roles we mentioned are one other Strategic Sourcing Category Lead and an eProcurement Catalogue Administrator who’ll help bring this vision to life, joining our wonderful Procurement Analyst (who’s been here since 2021).

There’ll possibly be a bit of travel, too - it would be awesome if you could get out and about to develop, promote, and maintain Strategic Sourcing relationships.

**Qualifications**:
**Ko wai koe | About you**

With plenty of mahi under your belt in procurement, including a good chunk of time in category management, you have a robust understanding of how this stuff works. We’re at the beginning of our transformation journey, so you’ll need to be that way inclined - ready to start from scratch and roll your sleeves up on everything from system implementation to influencing culture change. You’re comfortable using sourcing software like Ariba / Coupa already and happy to take others on the journey; a superb communicator who’s strategically minded, analytical by nature, and above all else a team player.

You’ll also need a deep understanding of the New Zealand market. Most of our addressable spend is within Generation & Trading (the power stations), so it would be great if you’ve cut your teeth in an industrial space like Automotive, Energy, Heavy Industry, or Oil & Gas.

Capital Procurement experience would also be a big tick.

Additional Information

There are a bunch of perks to being a permanent Contact kaimahi. Along with great people, development, and growth and progression opportunities, you’ll enjoy flexible working (where, when and how works best for you), free health insurance cover, better-than-your-average leave, access to Contact Shares, a ‘Good to be Home’ annual payment toward your home set up & wellbeing, a trail-blazing parental leave policy, discounts on Contact Energy products_, _and more.