Senior Category Strategist

Essential Job Functions 

• Category Strategy: On-going planning and analyzing for multiple categories, using internal and external category spend data, market trends and insights. Assess future business needs of the business, and align with the overall objectives of the enterprise to determine an appropriate multi-year category strategy. Develop robust category strategy that identifies key areas of opportunities - leverage value benchmarks and other key metrics (i.e. % spend under management, % of contract compliance, total savings and savings as a % of spend, category coverage, etc.). Adapt category strategies and collaborate with primary decision makers in the business to determine course of direction. Adapt and manage initiatives across multiple categories and strategies. Develop forward-looking category strategies based on enterprise spend trends and changing external market trends. Build, manage and drive category pipelines through analyzing and deciphering spend data. 

• Relationship Management: Collaborate with both internal and external procurement stakeholders, while fostering long-term partnerships. Share information, best practices and lessons learned. Influence and drive opportunity at higher levels of management (for presentation to Sr. Manager, Director, VP level). Prepare, coordinate, and present assigned category reviews with stakeholders and leadership, as required. Collaborate with business constituencies on certain categories to achieve economies of scale and drive higher operational efficiency. Establish measures and methods to monitor and ensure continuous improvement for key suppliers. Leverage relationships within the organization to build support for procurement initiatives or address challenging situations. Understand organization structure, procurement transactions, trends and supply market conditions and develop strategies that can be successfully implemented. Master the use of professional verbal, written, and presentation skills when working with internal and external partners.  

• Initiative Support: Develop and implement strategies to track and monitor the progress of the initiatives across categories to ensure savings are achieved. Devise methodologies to calculate and track savings achieved for the different initiatives. Participate in sharing information, best practices and lessons learned. Translate analytical findings into insights or strategies that can be implemented with our lines of business to meet key company objectives and/ or savings targets. Report spend analysis opportunities and develop strategy plans to implement new initiatives to senior leadership to drive change . 

• Contract Management: Manage the commercial issues relating to contracts (SOW, SLA development, etc.) payments and non-performance and support the business with knowledge related to commercial issues in contracts. Lead or coach internal constituents on the full sourcing process which includes strategy development, supplier selection, negotiation and contract execution  

• Project Management: Drive project closure from a procurement perspective, escalating issues at appropriate times to ensure resolution among stakeholders and/ or suppliers. Build and maintain relationships with project teams based on category analysis. Assist with other projects, as requested. Identify, prioritize, plan and execute analytical work that delivers insights across all spend categories in line with the (leveraging data from various systems including OBIEE, Concur, etc.) . Take in multiple components of consideration and demonstrate an analytical mindset to thoroughly explore all considerations before coming to logical or multiple rational conclusions for which a final path is chosen. Present information and findings in a professional and articulate manner to leadership.  

• Procurement Support: Support the procurement process for: Develop of RFX’s, Identify suppliers to include in the RFX  process, Develop evaluation methodologies for the submitted responses, Communicate with stakeholders regarding preferences to be considered during supplier selection, Act as primary point of contact for suppliers during the selection process, Communicate with suppliers during the RFX process, Respond to questions/concerns raised, Communicate and schedule supplier demos based on stakeholder and supplier availability. Drive the agenda of the demos to ensure stakeholders see what the solution is offering and how it fits with their unique needs. Use procurement tools and templates competitive bidding and supplier scorecards, the provided tools for spend analytics and PeopleSoft financials to establish and compare various options available for the client organization.  

Reports to: Senior Manager or above 

Working Conditions/ Physical Requirements:  

• Normal office environment, some travel may be required. 

• This position is hybrid with an onsite schedule of 3 - 4 days per month. 

• In-office requirements are subject to change based on business need.

• This position is currently available to candidates that reside within 60 miles of a Bread Financial location.

• This job requires that you are able to sit for up to 7 hours in an 8-hour day while using a computer and/or telephone, and to lift up to 10 pounds, as necessary.  

Direct Reports: none 

Minimum Qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience  in Finance, Business Administration, Business Analytics, Procurement, Project Management 

• Seven or more years understanding budget cycles, lowest cost of ownership, lease/buy analyses, analytics tools such as OBIEE, Tableau, Expert level Excel user (pivot tables, Macros, etc.) 

• Masters in Business Administration, Finance, Business Analytics, Procurement, Project Management 

• Seven or more years experience in a banking, insurance or other regulatory environment  

At Bread Financial, you’ll have the opportunity to grow your career, give back to your community, and be part of our award-winning culture. We’ve been consistently recognized as a best place to work nationally and in many markets and we’re proud to promote an environment where you feel appreciated, accepted, valued, and fulfilled—both personally and professionally. Bread Financial supports the overall wellness of our associates with a diverse suite of benefits and offers boundless opportunities for career development and non-traditional career progression.

Bread Financial® (NYSE: BFH) is a tech-forward financial services company providing simple, personalized payment, lending and saving solutions. The company creates opportunities for its customers and partners through digitally enabled choices that offer ease, empowerment, financial flexibility and exceptional customer experiences. Driven by a digital-first approach, data insights and white-label technology, Bread Financial delivers growth for its partners through a comprehensive suite of payment solutions that includes private label and co-brand credit cards and Bread Pay® buy now, pay later products. Bread Financial also offers direct-to-consumer products that give customers more access, choice and freedom through its branded Bread Cashback® American Express® Credit Card, Bread Rewards™ American Express® Credit Card and Bread Savings® products.

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Bread Financial is powered by its approximately 7,000 global associates and is committed to sustainable business practices. To learn more about Bread Financial, visit breadfinancial.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X and Instagram.