Director of Category Management

**Third part resumes will not be accepted**

The
Director of Category Management - IT
leads procurement strategy for hotel technology and corporate services categories to optimize cost, supplier performance, and efficiency. Responsibilities include sourcing, supplier negotiations, contract management, and category strategy for areas such as AV, CCS, MSP, GRE, HSIA, VAR, POS, PMS, digital signage, and locking systems.

This role drives Aimbridge's IT category management, launching corporate procurement strategies to optimize long-term spend. Key duties include spend analysis, market research, RFI/RFP execution, supplier negotiations, and leveraging eProcurement platforms. The director ensures implementation of procurement benefits, builds strong stakeholder relationships, tracks savings, and supports infrastructure projects.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Category Leadership

• Develop and execute category strategies with a primary focus on hotel technology and corporate services with a view towards reducing costs while improving the overall quality of purchased goods and services.
• Engages internal and external stakeholders in order to understand business objectives and desired outcomes.
• Leverage data analytics, market intelligence, and stakeholder input to drive procurement input.
• Develop supplier segmentation strategies, ensuring critical vendor relationship are optimized for service levels and cost savings. Develops and implements strategies to enable spend leverage and competitive pricing, quality, delivery and risk management with the supply base.
• Manage performance metrics, vendor scorecards, and supplier governance programs for high-impact categories.
• Identifies and develops new/current suppliers who have the capacity and capability to meet the cost, quality and service needs of the business.
• Lead RFPs, RFQs, and negotiations with vendors to secure competitive contracts and service level agreements (SLAs).
• Drive supplier consolidation and strategic supplier partnerships to improve efficiency and value.
• Oversee supplier relationship management including specific Quarterly Business Reviews (QBR), monitoring service levels, communicating supply chain risks, and addressing performance issues.
• Oversee contract management, renewals, and renegotiations, working closely with legal and compliance teams.
• Partner with IT Department to develop total cost of ownership (TCO) models and budget forecasts, track and report procurement savings and operational improvements.
• Leverage market intelligence and industry trends to enhance category performance and mitigate risks.

Team Leadership & Development

• Leads and mentor a team responsible for operationalizing category strategies, supplier onboarding, and tactical execution, ensuring alignment with broader procurement strategies.
• Guide the team in contract execution, implementation, and compliance monitoring.
• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and track progress against procurement goals.
• Develop training programs and foster a culture of continuous learning and operational expertise within the team.
• Management of procurement staff in sourcing and support of internal procurement activities related to contracting, transactional purchasing, supplier management, etc.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business administration, logistics, finance or related discipline
• 10+ years of procurement and category management experience, preferably in facility management, hospitality, or multi-site operations
• Expertise in strategic sourcing, contract negotiations, supplier management, and cost optimization.
• Proficient with MS Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.
• Ability to communicate professionally with people at all levels of the organization and external contacts
• Solid decision-making skills
• Must be able to evaluate and select among alternative courses of action quickly and accurately.
• Must work well in stressful, high-pressure situations.
• Must be effective in handling problems in the workplace, including anticipating, preventing, identifying and solving problems as necessary.
• Must be effective at listening to, understanding, and clarifying the issues raised by co-workers and guests.
• Knowledge of P2P systems, SAP or other procurement technologies