Role Information
As our Head of Category Strategy, you will play a pivotal role at the heart of the organisation, leading the transformation and optimisation of how we procure products and services across all major spend categories within our Technology business area.
This highly influential role will see you spearheading the development of strategic category plans, driving supplier innovation, embedding robust procurement frameworks, and ensuring the business is empowered to deliver outstanding service to patients.
You’ll lead a high‑performing team, strengthen our Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) capability, and bring a forward‑thinking approach to spend management, digital procurement, risk reduction, and sustainability.
If you’re driven by data‑informed strategy, thrive under pressure, and relish the chance to shape the future of procurement—this role is for you.
What You’ll Deliver -
Lead, optimise, and execute category management strategies that drive value, mitigate risk, and enhance innovation across all key spend areas.
Use data analytics to develop strategic plans supporting business growth, spend control, and operational excellence.
Build and maintain impactful supplier relationships, ensuring continuous improvement in quality, cost, and service performance.
Embed disciplined procurement processes that support operational stability and organisational goals.
Translate market insights into meaningful strategic guidance for stakeholders.
Establish and oversee robust SRM programmes that unlock supplier value and enable long-term collaboration.
Provide inspirational leadership to procurement teams—coaching, mentoring, and developing future talent.
Drive the implementation of digital procurement tools and automated solutions to enhance accuracy, speed, and effectiveness.
Partner with Finance and business units to ensure all procurement actions support budgets, forecasts, and organisational financial targets.
Contribute at a senior level to Group EBITDA performance and working capital management.
Champion ESG, responsible sourcing, and sustainability principles across the supply chain.
Lead and support cross-functional initiatives ensuring procurement’s voice is represented from day one.
What You’ll Bring -
A proven track record leading high-performing supply chain or procurement teams in a senior category, procurement, or supply chain role)
Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
A strategic mindset with experience developing and executing category strategies.
Ability to work collaboratively under pressure while delivering results with accuracy and integrity.
Experience within healthcare or pharmaceutical sectors (desirable).
Knowledge of D365 (advantageous).
Degree-level education or equivalent professional experience.
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Who we are?
Sciensus is a proven life sciences solutions partner with more than 30 years' experience navigating and unlocking the complex European healthcare ecosystem.
We maximise patient access to medicines, accelerate product launches and drive long-term commercial success for our partners.
Through a skilled team of over 500 licensed clinical staff and 1,650 colleagues globally, we work at the intersection of clinical excellence, patient experience and healthcare innovation. We support patients living with cancer, chronic conditions and rare diseases ‒ helping them access the life-changing treatments they need, wherever they are.
What do we offer our people?
We work hard to make sure colleagues feel motivated, developed, and recognised for the great work they do. Additional to a competitive salary, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package including:
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- Yearly pay reviews
- Contribution based pension scheme
- Life assurance
- Employee benefits platform (retailer discounts and much more)
- Private medical (after qualifying period)
- Ongoing learning and development opportunities
- Annual company event
- In the Burton Upon Trent office we have an onsite gym, canteen, prayer room, and quiet room
Our Values
We are a Disability Confident Committed Employer and we have also successfully gained the National Equality Standard (NES is the UK’s leading Equity, Diversity and Inclusion standard which was developed by the UK Government and the CBI). We are committed to the fair treatment of all candidates, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age or disability. We welcome applications from all and we select candidates based on skills, qualifications, and experience. Please talk to us during the application process to discuss any reasonable adjustments you may require.
We are committed to achieving Net Zero and reducing our ecological footprint. We are constantly working on new initiatives, some of our more recent ones include working towards Level 2 in the Greener Pharmacy Toolkit and replacing many of our vans with lower CO2 emission models. For information on other projects and our wider approach to sustainability please visit our corporate website.
