Massachusetts Creative Jobs

Category Manager - Software

Procurement

Full-Time

Boston, MA, Springfield, MA, or NYC

The Opportunity

On the MassMutual Procurement team, we have a goal to enable MassMutual’s mission and vision by providing the right supplier solution at the right time. Our mission is to streamline the procurement process, align supplier partners to meet business needs and continuously increase the value provided to our policyholders.

As a Software Category Manager, you will be responsible for leading and/or providing guidance on the development, execution and ongoing management of category and sourcing strategies for software purchases across the enterprise. This will include the design, development, and oversight of a category plan (strategy). You will also serve as the lead contact between key business executives and procurement, understanding their strategy and aligning your category strategy appropriately. You will serve as the software procurement expert, partnering across the business and with other procurement functional areas including strategic sourcing, supplier diversity, and procurement operations. A strong mix of analytic, strategic vision, and communication skills will ensure your success. You will partner closely with teams in the MassMutual Procurement Organization and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure that our supplier relationships are being optimized across multiple facets including innovation, value realization, continuous improvement, and risk mitigation.

In this role, as well as all roles within MassMutual, you will demonstrate accountability, agility, a dedication to be inclusive, a strong business acumen, and will show courage, even in the most difficult situations. We also highly value strong communication skills, a passion for learning, leadership traits, resilience and self-awareness.

The Team

The team is comprised of seasoned, collaborative professionals with experience in procurement, category management, supplier management, and sourcing. The broader procurement team in a rapidly developing and growing group of procurement professionals who are excited about maturing procurement at MassMutual.

The Impact

Your impact would include but is not limited to:

• Lead the procurement software category strategy for all enterprise software (e.g., on premise, cloud, SaaS, etc.)

• Drive multi-year, multi-million-dollar SaaS licensing negotiations while adhering to our technology roadmap

• Responsible for managing key supplier relationships

• Ensures that services and products meet the strategic needs of stakeholders. Participates in the negotiation process of service level agreements and ensures that contractual obligations are met

• Champion third party risk management process compliance and Supplier Diversity

• Create and monitor category budgets, as appropriate

• Explore supplier and market opportunities to improve upon current spending

• Actively engage internal stakeholders across the enterprise to ensure frequent communication and alignment on overall MassMutual supplier management strategies and strategic supplier specific strategies.

• Guide Procurement in preparation for and facilitating of contract negotiations and oversee the overall contracting process from a supplier experience and quality standpoint

• Lead supplier onboarding and offboarding activities, as well as managing appropriate supplier specific ongoing monitoring plans. Investigate on all supplier issues by working with relevant internal stakeholders and help the supplier to resolve issues efficiently

Minimum Qualifications

• 6+ years of procurement and/or sourcing experience

• Experience creating and leading category strategy

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Supply Chain Management, Information Technology, or related field

Ideal Qualifications

• Experience with research and analysis around software specific industry trends resulting in recommendations and insights to stakeholder strategies

• 6+ years of demonstrating an ability to influence and encourage leaders from across the organization towards positive supplier relationships, compliance and results delivery

• 5+ years of applying general procurement value stream best practices

• 5+ years of driving continuous improvements with suppliers and their key performance indicators (KPIs)

• 5+ years in applying effective category management and financial acumen skills to influence positive company results

• Experience in large-scale sourcing activities (RFPs) to realign suppliers in the category

• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills, change management capabilities, business acumen, project management and leadership ability

• Extensive experience negotiating agreements and managing complex vendor / client relationships

What to Expect as Part of MassMutual and the Procurement Team:

• The desire to drive change and improvement in the procurement function supporting our mission to be a leading procurement organization

• Focused one-on-one meetings with your manager

• Access to mentorship opportunities

• Networking opportunities including access to Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, African American, women, LGBTQ, veteran and disability-focused Business Resource Groups

• Access to learning content on Degreed and other informational platforms

• Your ethics and integrity will be valued by a company with a strong and stable ethical business with industry leading pay and benefits

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MassMutual is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer Minority/Female/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Individual with Disability/Protected Veteran. We welcome all persons to apply. Note: Veterans are welcome to apply, regardless of their discharge status.

If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us and share the specifics of the assistance you need.

Salary Range: $113,100.00-$148,400.00