Director, Global Category Lead - Enterprise Software (Job ID:10079559)

A leading global financial institution is seeking a Director, Global Category Lead -Enterprise Software to define and execute the worldwide procurement strategy for enterprise software technology spend. This pivotal role offers you the opportunity to shape category direction, drive commercial excellence, and partner with senior technology leaders across multiple regions. You will be empowered to leverage global scale, optimise cost, manage risk, and support major technology transformation initiatives. The organisation values flexibility, knowledge sharing, and a supportive leadership approach that encourages collaboration and professional growth. If you are passionate about maximising enterprise value through strategic supplier relationships and innovative sourcing strategies, this is your chance to make a significant impact in a highly respected multinational environment. • Take ownership of the global enterprise software category strategy, aligning plans with technology roadmaps and business priorities while driving value creation initiatives across the organisation. • Lead complex sourcing initiatives and commercial negotiations, establishing enterprise-wide frameworks and agreements that optimise total cost of ownership and support technology transformation programmes. • Partner closely with senior technology stakeholders and regional procurement teams to ensure consistent execution of category strategies, maximise supplier performance, and maintain robust governance and risk management practices. What you'll do: As Director Global Category Lead Enterprise Software you will play a central role in shaping the future of enterprise software procurement for a globally recognised financial institution. Your day-to-day responsibilities will involve collaborating with senior technology leaders to align category strategies with evolving business priorities. You will lead complex sourcing initiatives that require careful balancing of cost optimisation with risk mitigation while maintaining strong supplier relationships at an executive level. By monitoring market trends and leveraging your expertise in commercial negotiations you will drive value creation initiatives that support major technology transformation programmes. Your ability to foster cross-functional partnerships—especially with Cloud Engineering, Network Architecture, Operations, Cybersecurity—and translate business requirements into actionable sourcing strategies will be critical to success. Additionally you will ensure robust governance practices are upheld by partnering with legal compliance teams to manage supplier risks effectively. Through your leadership you will champion procurement as a strategic function focused on long-term value rather than transactional outcomes. • Develop and maintain a multi-year global enterprise software category strategy that aligns with technology roadmaps and business priorities, ensuring objectives are met through opportunity pipelines and value creation initiatives. • Monitor market trends, supplier developments, technology innovation, and industry benchmarks to identify opportunities for rationalising suppliers, standardising services, and consolidating spend within the enterprise software domain. • Act as the global subject matter expert for enterprise software procurement by providing guidance on best practices and supporting major transformation programmes with commercial expertise. • Lead high-value sourcing initiatives across the enterprise software portfolio by developing strategies that balance cost, risk, resilience, performance, and innovation. • Conduct competitive sourcing events, supplier selection activities, and commercial negotiations to establish strategic supplier agreements that deliver annual savings and value realisation objectives. • Establish executive-level relationships with key enterprise software suppliers by developing segmentation plans, conducting business reviews, and driving accountability against contractual commitments. • Partner with Cloud Engineering, Network Architecture, Operations, Cybersecurity stakeholders to influence technology planning and demand management activities while translating business requirements into effective sourcing strategies. • Drive category governance by ensuring alignment with risk resilience and regulatory requirements; collaborate with Legal, Risk Compliance, Information Security, and Third Party Risk functions to support supplier risk assessments. • Maintain visibility of renewal pipelines, supplier commitments, commercial risks while ensuring compliance with procurement policies and governance requirements. • Champion procurement as a strategic business partner by developing best practices across the global procurement organisation and fostering alignment among regional teams. What you bring: The ideal candidate for Director Global Category Lead Enterprise Software brings extensive experience in technology procurement strategic sourcing or category management gained from working within large multinational organisations. Your deep understanding of enterprise software categories combined with hands-on involvement in cloud transformation programmes equips you to address both technical challenges and commercial opportunities. You have demonstrated success managing complex negotiations establishing strategic agreements with leading suppliers like IBM AWS Cisco NTT Kyndryl HPE Dell or similar providers. Your strong financial contractual expertise allows you to optimise costs while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Professional certifications such as CIPS CPSM CPSD further underscore your commitment to excellence in procurement practice. Beyond technical skills your ability to build collaborative relationships influence senior stakeholders foster alignment among regional teams sets you apart as a trusted advisor who drives positive outcomes through empathy cooperation and shared goals. • Minimum 12 years…