Category Manager

Closing Date

Job Title: Category & Sourcing Manager (Operations)

Location: Durrington Worthing (Hybrid 2 days per week on site)

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 37 hours per week flexible working options considered

Salary: Up to 60000 per annum commensurate to experience excellent benefits

About the role:

Theres never been a more exciting time to join Southern Water. Were on a mission to create a more sustainable and resilient future tackling climate change reducing our carbon footprint and delivering longterm value for our customers and communities.

As part of this journey we are strengthening our Procurement Division and investing in talent that can influence change at scale. Were now looking for a Category & Sourcing Manager (Operations) to support our operational teams by delivering effective compliant and valuedriven procurement solutions across goods and services critical to our asset base.

In this role youll take ownership of operational procurement categories running multiple sourcing activities in parallel and working closely with internal stakeholders to ensure Southern Water achieves the best possible commercial and sustainability outcomes.

What you will be responsible for:

• Developing and delivering category strategies aligned to operational and organisational objectives
• Managing endtoend sourcing activities including tendering evaluation and contract award across operational goods and services
• Partnering with stakeholders across operations to understand demand challenge requirements and shape effective sourcing solutions
• Driving value through cost optimisation standardisation and demand aggregation while ensuring compliance with procurement regulations
• Managing supplier relationships to support performance resilience and continuous improvement
• Championing best practice innovation and continuous improvement within the procurement function

What youll bring to the role:

Essential

• Proven experience in a Category or Sourcing role within an operational engineering manufacturing construction or assetfocused environment
• Knowledge of public sector procurement regulations including PA23 (experience with UCR is also advantageous)
• Experience running multiple procurement exercises concurrently and managing competing priorities
• Confident stakeholder management and negotiation skills
• A proactive solutionsfocused mindset with strong commercial and analytical capability

Desirable

• CIPS qualification (or working towards)
• Experience procuring operational goods equipment hardware or services within a regulated environment

About Southern Water:

Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britains water industry with 7.8bn of planned investment for to enhance resilience sustainability and service excellence. This is a unique opportunity to join a business committed to making a generational difference in how water services are delivered.

Youll be joining at a time of significant change working alongside experienced leaders with a clear vision for the future. We offer an environment where talented professionals can influence important decisions develop their careers and make a meaningful impact.

At Southern Water we believe diverse perspectives drive innovation. If youre passionate about making a difference and feel you could add value to our team wed love to hear from you even if you dont tick every box.

Our Commitment to Diversity:

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds identities and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race ethnicity gender sexual orientation age disability religion or any other protected characteristic. If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process please let us know.

Additional information:

In line with Southern Waters security requirements successful candidates will be required to undertake preemployment checks including identity verification righttowork checks DBS and employment/education history verification.

Ready to Make a Difference

Join our Procurement team and help us deliver smarter greener solutions for the future. Apply today and see how far your career can go with Southern Waterwhere innovation meets impact.

Does this opportunity excite you but youre not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role Or are you concerned that normal office hours arent possible given your personal circumstances Whilst we cant accommodate every flexible working request well try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role

If this role isnt quite what youre looking for but are keen to be contacted about opportunities at Southern Water you can register your details here: Introduce Yourself ()

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support because when problems appear fixing them is our top priority. Thats why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means youll become part of our incident support team. During your interview your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position.

Privacy Statement:

Please note: If you are an existing Southern Water employee you will need to confirm within your application that your Manager is aware of your application.

All applicants must be eligible to live and work in the UK.

You will need to provide evidence of eligibility (e.g. a passport or long birth certificate and proof of NI) and current proof of address (dated within the last 3 months) will be required as part of the recruitment process.

If you do not meet these criteria your application will not be considered.