Sr. Manager, Category Manager, Labor & Professional Services

Position Overview

Establishes governance frameworks and sourcing standards for major professional services firms, and in contingent labor engagements across the enterprise.

Drives supplier rationalization and preferred supplier strategies for consulting firms, staffing agencies, and outsourced labor providers.

Evaluates and creates fit-for-purpose workforce operating models, including direct supplier management, VMS-enabled programs, or scaled MSP partnerships based on organizational size and spend profile.

Owns a complex, high‑spend category (or portfolio) with global scope and enterprise impact.

Leads cross‑functional project teams and external partners to deliver multi‑year roadmaps and operating model changes.

Primary procurement voice with senior/executive stakeholders; presents at executive committees.

Shapes policy, standards, and governance; mentors and develops the category talent bench.

Ensures category plans reflect stakeholder goals, market dynamics, and supplier capabilities

Influences functional leaders; presents recommendations and status at leadership forums.

Champions adoption of preferred suppliers, standards, and policies across the business.

Leverages analysis to shape strategic insights and market intelligence frameworks that inform category strategy, RFx prioritization, supplier negotiations, and contract terms

Scrutinizes variable and complex data to identify and prioritize sourcing and planning opportunities that drive competitive advantage and long-term value

Leads sourcing waves and supplier business reviews; accountable for savings and value realization.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Strategy & Value Creation

Craft and socialize a bold, evidence‑based multi‑year category strategy tied to enterprise goals (growth, productivity, risk, ESG). Possible areas of opportunity:

Management consulting

Temporary staffing

Statement-of-work (SOW) services

Independent contractor engagements

Workforce solutions/MSP programs

Develop labor rate benchmarking frameworks and market intelligence to improve rate competitiveness, geographic alignment, and workforce planning decisions.

Identify opportunities to reduce unmanaged spend, rogue staffing engagements, mark-up inconsistencies, and duplicate supplier utilization.

Identify and deliver step‑change value levers (portfolio simplification, demand challenge, supplier ecosystem redesign, digital automation).

Stand up structured value tracking with Finance; validate and publish results to executives.

Build and maintain a living category strategy (demand, market, supplier, risk, and should-cost).

Translate strategy into an annual sourcing wave plan and prioritized contract pipeline with mitigation actions for expirations/renewals.

Owns data quality across procurement systems (e.g., sourcing, CLM, P2P) and audit readiness records

Reviews and performs analytics and market research that inform strategic planning decisions, RFx, negotiation prep, and category direction

Manage intake queue; validate requirements; set expectations on timelines and next steps

Maintain project trackers, savings logs, contract records, and supplier profiles for audit readiness

Create, refresh, publish, and communicate preferred supplier lists and engagement playbooks

Critical Sourcing & Complex Negotiation

Lead negotiations involving:

SOW commercial structures

Rate card & labor mix structures

Volume discounts

Delivery accountability

Staffing markups & conversion fees

Supplier tiering models

Evaluate and negotiate VMS platform solutions and workforce operating models appropriate for organizational scale, complexity, and spend maturity in the labor space.

Conduct in-depth market analysis to inform RFx development, supplier negotiations, and contract terms

Identify and prioritize sourcing opportunities that drive competitive advantage and long-term value

Own and drive marquee RFx/sole‑source events and renewals with enterprise‑wide implications; negotiate creative commercial constructs (risk‑share, outcome‑based, gainshare).

Oversee and/or perform total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis to sourcing decisions and supplier evaluations

Set deal architectures and negotiation plays; coach deal teams; engage executive sponsors and legal counsel to closure.

Establish playbooks and guardrails for rebid/renewal strategies, indexation, benchmarking, and continuous improvement.

Supplier Partnership, Innovation, & Risk Management

Chair executive governance with strategic consultancy partnerships; sponsor joint innovation roadmaps and transformation programs.

Collaborate with HR and other governance areas to manage labor supplier performance across metrics such as fill rates, cycle times, attrition, quality of talent, compliance adherence, and stakeholder satisfaction.

Partner with HR Legal and Finance/Accounting to mitigate worker misclassification risks and ensure contingent workforce governance aligns with applicable labor regulations globally.

Oversee risk management for the portfolio (cyber, supply continuity, financial, regulatory, ESG) with proactive mitigation and incident response.

Segment suppliers (Tier 1/2) and implement governance (QBRs/ABRs, scorecards, corrective actions).

Perform AQSCIR assessments for key suppliers

Lead supplier steering committees to drive collaboration, performance improvement, and risk mitigation

Facilitate supplier-led innovation and continuous improvement initiatives aligned to business outcomes.

Hold quarterly and annual business reviews (QBRs/ABRs) with suppliers and relevant stakeholders

Drive adoption of preferred suppliers and manage change communication effectively

Operational Excellence & Governance

Establish enterprise-wide standards for services usage such as:

Rate card management

SOW approvals

Supplier onboarding

Headcount visibility

Contractor tenure monitoring

Partner cross-functionally to design scalable contingent labor intake, approval, and tracking processes that balance governance with business agility.

Elevate standards, templates, and systems; automate analytics and reporting; ensure data fidelity and audit readiness.

Continuously improve ways of working across Legal, Security/Privacy, Finance/AP, and business units.

Track cost savings and avoidance progress against targets and pipeline forecasts

Coordinate cross-functional approvals (Security/IT, Privacy, Compliance, Finance, AP, Legal) and drive issue resolution.

Coach and assign work to sourcing resources (analysts/specialists) aligned to the wave plan.

Stakeholder Engagement

Partner closely with HR, Talent Acquisition, Finance, Legal, and critical functional business leaders to assure governance and align workforce sourcing strategies with organizational priorities.

Map stakeholder ecosystems and develop engagement strategies based on influence, impact, and business needs

Act as a strategic advisor helping stakeholders determine the most appropriate engagement model for external advisory and/or labor needs.

Engage stakeholders to understand business requirements, pain points, and future needs

Maintain a cadence of meetings and communications with key stakeholders and their leadership teams

Act as a trusted advisor and liaison between procurement and business units

Communicate clearly and professionally across all channels (in-person meetings, email, video calls), tailoring messages to diverse audiences

Represent procurement in steering committees, executive briefings, and supplier governance forums

Support stakeholder projects with high responsiveness, strategic input, and proactive problem-solving

Craft compelling storylines and materials

Financial Performance

Deliver measurable value through enterprise professional services governance/negotiation, labor rate and mark