The Company

Redde Northgate plc, a FTSE 250 company, came together as a merged entity in February 2020. The merger brought together Northgate plc, a leading light commercial vehicle rental business and Redde plc, a leading provider of incident and accident management, legal and other mobility services. This merger enabled the combined business to provide a comprehensive suite of mobility services, with the combined offering now spanning the lifecycle of a vehicle, from vehicle supply through repair, incident management and disposal. In September 2020 the Group also acquired Nationwide, a network of bodyshop repair sites, which further bolstered the proposition.
The Group’s strategic aim is to become the leading integrated mobility solutions provider, with the purpose to keep customers mobile through meeting their mobility requirements.

Nigel Wright is working exclusively with Redde Northgate plc to recruit a Category Manager - IT and Telecoms upon a 12 month fixed term contract, covering a period of maternity.

 The Category Manager - IT and Telecoms role offers a permanent agile working week supporting a mix of home and office-based working - ideally travelling to an office location in Darlington or Peterlee 1-2 days per week, with additional travel needed to other locations across the Group on an ad hoc basis.

The Opportunity

Working within a Team of Procurement Specialists and Buyers, the Category Manager will be responsible for IT-, Telecomms hardware and software procurement activity, supporting multiple sites and functions.

Key responsibilities will include the following:

• Strategic procurement responsibility of IT hardware/software including telephony, other associated systems, bolt-ons and licences 
• Procurement Lead upon key strategic project activity including WAN upgrades, new system implementation etc
• Supplier rationalisation/consolidation 
• Building relationships with and becoming a Procurement support extension to the IT Team
• Attending IT Departmental Meetings – around budgets/management etc.
• Sourcing new vendors, vendor performance management
• Contract management
• Supporting more junior Procurement Team members

About You

The successful candidate will have/be:

• Strong strategic Procurement track record and understanding of Category Management best practice/process – good base understanding of IT and IT terminology – OR operational IT contract management experience 
• Proven track record in leading software/network upgrade- and implementation projects from a Procurement Lead perspective
• Strong communicator and negotiator - able to challenge issues with- and manage vendor performance
• Personable, engaging – excellent relationship building and stakeholder management skills
• Self-sufficient and assertive – able to gather data, seek information and operate independently in a fast-paced everchanging environment 
• Detailed and data-driven
• Positive, enthusiastic team player