Assistant Category Manager

Role Overview

Assistant Category Manager at Al Ghurair. The role leads critical category-specific procurement activities, including strategic sourcing, vendor performance monitoring, and spend analysis, ensuring timely and efficient purchasing aligned with project requirements.

Role Purpose

The Assistant Category Manager drives procurement excellence by managing category-specific sourcing strategies, optimizing vendor performance, analyzing spend data, identifying potential suppliers through market research, and implementing cost optimization and process improvements across the entire procurement cycle.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Compliance

• Align procurement strategies with company objectives and long-term goals.
• Plan and establish strategic long-term purchase agreements (LTPA) for targeted items yearly.
• Facilitate strategic discussions with key suppliers and stakeholders to address performance metrics.
• Conduct market research to identify potential suppliers and emerging trends within the industry.
• Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements across procurement processes.
• Review spend analysis and savings reports data in Dashboard to evaluate procurement effectiveness.

Operational Execution

• Review and track In-Country Value (ICV) data in Procure Lens, ensuring valid ICV certificates from major vendors for critical procurement items in relevant category.
• Collect a minimum of three competitive quotations from potential suppliers.
• Prepare Preliminary Cost Comparison (CC) sheets for request for quotation (RF) items to evaluate pricing.
• Coordinate with the project team and design department for thorough technical evaluations.
• Negotiate with suppliers to ensure adherence to technical specifications and commercial terms.
• Coordinate with suppliers for technical submittals for operation and client approval.
• Collect approved signed contracts, issuing one copy to the supplier and Contracts & Commercial (C&C) Department for record-keeping.
• Monitor the Procure Lens Dashboard to track Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and ensure procurement activities meet agreed timelines.
• Maintain accurate records of contract logs, orders, and procurement activities to support transparency and compliance.
• Coordinate the collection of valid In-Country Value (ICV) certificates from vendors and ensure records are updated for vendors with expired certificates.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, including Business Units, Contracts & Commercial (C&C) Department, and Design teams, to finalize contract versions and ensure smooth execution.
• Liaise with the PSSC team to facilitate E-Auction processes, vendor onboarding, performance feedback, and internal stakeholder reviews.
• Support the Category Manager in conducting annual vendor performance reviews and implementing corrective actions.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in Procurement, Contract, and Category Management.

Skills & Competencies

• Category Management and Vendor Management.
• Contract Management.
• Decision making and Negotiation.
• MS Office, ERP Systems, Spend Analysis, and Power BI.