Lead Category Manager Full Time

Lumen connects the world. We are igniting business growth by connecting people, data and applications – quickly, securely, and effortlessly. Together, we are building a culture and company from the people up – committed to teamwork, trust and transparency. People power progress. We’re invested in providing the flexibility you need to thrive and deliver lasting impact. Apply now to continue digitally connecting the world and shaping the future

Role Summary

The Lead Category Manager is responsible for setting direction and driving maturity across a portfolio of categories, with a focus on complex services and digital/AI-enabled sourcing. This role leads a team of Category Managers, owns category outcomes, and is accountable for strategy, execution discipline, and talent development. The Lead Category Manager operates with a strategic mindset, balancing leadership with hands-on engagement in the most critical initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• People Leadership & Team Management
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Category Managers; set clear expectations, goals, and priorities.
• Build a high-performance culture through regular feedback, development planning, and succession management.
• Allocate work based on capability, complexity, and business priority.
• Category Governance, Analysis & Oversight
• Ensure robust internal/external category analysis (spend, market, risk, innovation) across all managed categories.
• Review and challenge analyses and recommendations prepared by the team.
• Track and incorporate market, supplier, and innovation trends into category strategies.
• Category Strategy & Planning
• Own the quality and consistency of annual category strategy plans.
• Ensure strategies align with enterprise priorities, business unit goals, and budget targets.
• Drive savings, cost avoidance, and value creation through sourcing, demand management, negotiations, and value engineering.
• Hold the team accountable for delivery against financial, risk, and performance targets.
• Digital & AI-Enabled Sourcing
• Define and champion AI-enabled sourcing and procurement practices across assigned categories.
• Identify and scale use cases for AI in spend analytics, contract analysis, supplier performance, and negotiation preparation.
• Partner with Procurement Operations and Analytics to improve data quality, tooling adoption, and insight generation.
• Coach and mentor Category Managers on effective use of AI and advanced analytics.
• Contracting & Negotiation Leadership
• Lead high-complexity, high-value contract negotiations for services-based categories (MSAs, strategic SOWs, outcome-based pricing, multi-year agreements).
• Structure and negotiate commercial models addressing labor economics, productivity, demand variability, and risk allocation.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex contractual, commercial, or supplier performance issues.
• RFx Strategy & Governance
• Set expectations and standards for RFx strategy across categories.
• Review and approve RFx approaches for high-impact initiatives.
• Partner with RFx Execution to ensure disciplined, efficient execution.
• Stakeholder & Executive Leadership
• Serve as a senior procurement partner to business leaders, with a “seat at the table” on strategic initiatives.
• Regularly lead strategy discussions with VP and executive stakeholders.
• Influence business decisions through fact-based insights, commercial scenarios, and risk tradeoffs.
• Supplier Relationship & Risk Management
• Oversee supplier segmentation and governance models.
• Ensure effective supplier performance management, QBRs, and corrective action plans.
• Identify and mitigate concentration risk, supply constraints, or systemic supplier issues.
• Services-Based Category Expertise
• Define and execute strategies for complex services spend (professional services, construction, IT, managed services).
• Drive transformation toward outcome-based or consumption-based commercial models.
• Identify opportunities to shift demand, standardize scopes, and reduce structural cost.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in procurement, category management, or strategic sourcing.
• Demonstrated people management experience.
• Proven experience leading complex, high-dollar negotiations and supplier relationships.
• Advanced use of AI and digital sourcing tools.
• Strong executive presence and ability to influence senior leaders.
• Advanced analytical, problem-solving, and contract negotiation skills.
• Strong working knowledge of SAP, Ariba, or similar procurement systems; advanced Excel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing multiple categories or a category portfolio.
• Experience in a highly matrixed, fast-paced, high-visibility environment.
• Demonstrated success driving savings, risk reduction, and supplier performance at scale.

“We are an equal opportunity employer committed to fair and ethical hiring practices. We do not charge any fees or accept any form of payment from candidates at any stage of the recruitment process. If anyone claims to offer employment opportunities in our company in exchange for money or any other benefit, please treat it as fraudulent and report it immediately.”

Category Management, Negotiation, Strategic Planning, Strategic Sourcing