Procurement Category Manager

We are PXC, the UK’s largest provider of wholesale connectivity. Our vision is to be the UK’s #1 wholesale platform, a one-stop shop provider of connectivity, voice, cloud and security underpinned by the UK’s most robust, secure, resilient and reliable network.

Born from the combination of Virtual1 and TalkTalk’s wholesale services and national network business, we operate across our 3 core sites (Salford, London and Skopje, North Macedonia).

Our mission is clear, to be the UK’s best company to work for and best to work with. We believe this success is driven by the power of our employees. We empower our people to become true experts in their field who embody our values every day: we care; we challenge; we commit.

About the Role

PXC Procurement and Commercial Operations is an exciting central function managing all of the third party spend. We are a dynamic and focused team, split by key categories of indirect and direct spend and often find the biggest opportunities by working together and working with key stakeholders in the business. We work collaboratively with our stakeholders to really focus on the priorities where we add the most value to meet short term needs as well as deliver on PCX’s overall strategy.

We are now looking for an experienced Category Manager to lead on all sourcing activity for IT as well as supporting other categories as appropriate. 

You will interface with all stakeholders in your strategic, critical business function to source requirements from new and existing vendors. This is via contract renewals, extensions, amendments and/or full detailed competitive, multi-vendor process using our procurement tools. 

You will work autonomously to establish your pipeline of work, agree all routes to market and confirm alignment to the PXC roadmap.

What you will be working on

• Procurement lead – be the Procurement and category lead both internally with stakeholders and externally with vendors 

• Category pipeline and workload prioritisation – build a clear pipeline of existing renewals and new requirements for your category of spend and prioritise the workload based on operational needs and value of opportunities

• Stakeholder engagement – build positive and collaborative relationships with your stakeholder community to identify opportunities and requirements early  

• Budget and spend analysis – conduct a full and detailed third party spend and budget review alongside the category finance business partner

• Deliver results – support and deliver the best commercial outcomes and contribute to PXC savings targets as well as negotiating the best contract terms possible

• Behaviours – delivers results in the right way via PXC’s core values

• Promote and advocate for the Procurement function within PXC – demonstrated through individual delivery and team results

• Tools and systems Using and maintaining procurement tools, for example engagement tracker, contract database and sourcing tools to facilitate reporting of activity and delivery against targets

What will make you successful in your role?

Essential:

• Ability to demonstrate category management experience in similar roles

• Commercially focused and results oriented

• Strong and proven track record of negotiating and influencing

• Adept with contractual terms and contract drafting including the ability to communicate contractual and commercial risks to stakeholders

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively with other teams

• Ability to work effectively under pressure when there are conflicting priorities

• Prioritise workload biased on the goals of the business 

Desirable:

• IT Category expertise

• Financial and Commercial acumen

• Track record of delivering savings and unlocking value in a fast-paced environment

• Industry and supplier knowledge

• Working towards industry recognised certificate such as Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)

How we look after our employees

• Our brand new “PXC Flex” benefit launched in January 2025, which includes Flex30, an additional 30 hours* of leave every year for you to use how you wish

• Our hybrid working policy offers you flexibility to work from home 60% of the time, with the other 40% connecting with your colleagues in one of our accessible and collaborative office spaces

• A starting holiday allowance of 25 days* holiday and up to 10 extra days* leave via our holiday purchase scheme

• Free private healthcare for all employees, competitive pension scheme and the opportunity to earn bonus

• Free broadband for all employees plus gifts for major life events such as marriages and births

• Flexible salary sacrifice scheme including dental, gym, electric car scheme and much more, plus a huge range of shopping and leisure discounts so you can save even more cash

• A range of inclusive employee networks to help integrate employees into life at PXC
   

(* Days and hours are based on a full-time employee’s working pattern and leave is pro-rated for part-time employee)

At PXC, we know that diversity means success and innovation. We want our workplace to reflect the communities and customer we serve. Being inclusive is part of our DNA; we are all 100% human, and we create a culture where you can truly be yourself.

We’re also not your usual 9-5. We are a dynamic workplace and we want to talk to you about how you like to work.