Category Manager, IT Applications

Telenor Group is world’s leading telecommunications company across the Nordics and Asia with 158 million subscribers and annual sales of around NOK 99 billion (2022). We are committed to responsible business conduct and driven by the ambition of empowering societies. Connectivity has been Telenor’s domain for more than 160 years, and our purpose is to connect our customers to what matters most.

We have a leading Nordic position in mobile, broadband and TV services, as well as substantial activities in subsidiaries and joint venture operations, including mobile financial services and online classifieds in the Asia region. Worldwide, Telenor Group and our operations’ teams are 14,000 people strong.

Telenor Procurement Company (TPC), established in 2017 and based out of Singapore, operates as a subsidiary of the Telenor Group. We deliver Global Category Management as a service to the Telenor Business Units and beyond, taking full responsibility for the end-to-end Sourcing process and performance of global spend categories. Functioning as one Global Procurement team across all Telenor markets, we enable Telenor’s strategic ambitions by becoming a centre of expertise in the pursuit of efficient operations. TPC seeks qualified procurement professionals that are comfortable working in a global setup in the fast-paced Telecom field.

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About the Role

As the Category Manager you will be part of the TPC IT Sourcing team and will report to the Head of IT Applications Category. You will work closely with both corporate in Telenor and all of the Business Units. As the Category Manager you will be working closely with the Head of Category by contributing to the end to end Category management and strategy development, including sourcing execution, contract negotiation, as well as supplier management processes. Main tasks include:

• Develop comprehensive understanding of the IT Applications category, contribute to end to end category strategy development and perform analysis to support category strategy work
• Collaborate with user departments for preparing and executing the strategy, innovative analysis and proactively addressing procurement needs
• Identify, lead and execute cost saving initiatives that deliver value in the procurement of goods and services for the company
• Prepare and lead TCO analysis during procurement processes and participate in negotiations
• Manage resources and stakeholders in a sourcing process
• Implementation of category sourcing strategy and skilled approach to vendor management
• Ensure compliance with policies, processes and achieve targets
• Measures to review and assess progress, savings, and targets
• Develop and prepare periodic reports on all procurement activities
• Ensure contract management, implementation and follow-up activities
• Understand supply market and perform thorough supplier prequalification for the category
• Maintain an awareness of latest buying techniques and theories and develop application within the company
• Post contract management activities

• Manage contracts and price book relevant to the category
• Handle dispute with global suppliers

Profile

• Strong ability to communicate and interact effectively across organizational and cultural boundaries, internal and external
• Result oriented, demonstrating excellent collaboration abilities
• Able to work with a high degree of execution power and passion
• Understand the vendor market
• Strong analytical and problem solving capabilities
• Experience with data processing tools, e.g. Excel or Tableau
• Demonstrate commitment, maturity, flexibility and speed in response to business and challenges
• Commercial and negotiation skills
• High level of integrity and ethics

Qualification and Experience Requirements

• Bachelor degree in Technology, Finance or Business or equivalent. MBA will be preferred.
• More than 5 years in a procurement / contract management / vendor management role preferably with experience in IT Applications area
• Proficient in use of MS Excel, performing data analyses and co-relation and able to produce and draw conclusions based on the analysis
• Broad experience with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and other applications & other relevant tools, e.g. ThinkCell etc.
• Have deep insight into end to end Sourcing process and strategies.
• Have good presentation and communication skills with proficiency in English with ability to influence colleagues and decision makers
• Relevant Technology background would be an advantage