Job Purpose The Category Specialist is responsible for developing and executing sourcing strategies across assigned spend categories within the Procurement organization. Operating as part of the Category Management team under the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), the role partners closely with business stakeholders to optimize supplier value, reduce total cost of ownership (TCO), mitigate risks, and ensure compliance with enterprise procurement policies. This role is especially critical in the banking and services sectors, where regulatory compliance, data security, and supplier governance are key.

Job Responsibilities

Strategic Sourcing & Category Management

- Develop and implement category strategies aligned with business objectives, risk appetite, and market trends.
- Conduct spend analysis, supply market assessments, and supplier segmentation to identify optimization opportunities.
- Lead end‑to‑end sourcing events (RFx, negotiations, supplier evaluations).
- Deliver quantifiable cost savings, cost avoidance, and value creation initiatives.
- Maintain deep understanding of category dynamics—particularly for services like IT, consulting, outsourcing, facilities, financial services vendors, etc.

Supplier Management & Relationship Governance

- Support supplier onboarding, qualification, and due‑diligence processes.
- Drive ongoing supplier performance management, including SLAs, KPIs, governance reviews, and improvement plans.
- Collaborate with Supplier Risk, Compliance, InfoSec, and Legal to ensure ongoing regulatory adherence (critical in banking).
- Identify new suppliers, innovation opportunities, and diversification opportunities to reduce concentration risk

Contracting & Negotiation

- Lead commercial negotiations to optimize pricing, contract terms, and service levels.
- Draft and review contract documents in partnership with Legal and Risk teams.
- Ensure contracts meet regulatory requirements (e.g., outsourcing guidelines, data protection clauses).
- Manage renewals, renegotiations, and competitive re‑bids





Stakeholder Engagement & Business Partnering

- Partner with business units (technology, operations, HR, marketing, risk, etc.) to understand demand, requirements, and priorities.
- Advise stakeholders on sourcing best practices and market insights.
- Communicate strategies, project updates, benefits, and risks with clarity and accountability.
- Drive a culture of compliant procurement engagement across the organization.

Risk, Compliance & Governance

- Ensure sourcing processes comply with regulatory frameworks relevant to banks and financial institutions (e.g., outsourcing guidelines, operational risk management, data privacy).
- Identify and mitigate supply‑chain risks including operational, financial, geopolitical, sustainability/ESG risks.
- Maintain documentation and audit trails required for internal audit, regulators, and procurement governance forums

Data, Analytics & Reporting

- Conduct and present spend analytics, benchmark analysis, and savings tracking.
- Use digital procurement tools (e.g., Ariba, Coupa, Ivalua, Jaggaer) for sourcing, contracts, and supplier management.
- Maintain transparent reporting of category pipeline, advantages, supplier performance, and risk indicators

Educational Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Supply Chain, Engineering, or related field.
- MBA or professional certification (CIPS, CPSM, PMP) preferred

Key Skills

- Strategic sourcing methodologies & category management.
- Strong financial acumen and TCO modeling.
- Contracting and negotiation skills.
- Supplier performance management.
- Understanding of regulatory requirements (e.g., RBI/SEBI guidelines for outsourcing, data privacy, operational resilience – for India banks).

Experience Required

- Typically 4 - 8 years of procurement or sourcing experience in banking or services industry.
- Experience in category management, strategic sourcing, cost modeling, and supplier governance.
- Exposure to regulated environments with multi‑vendor technology/service ecosystems.
- Strong experience negotiating complex, high‑value service contracts (e.g., outsourcing, IT services, consulting, facilities).

📌 Dy Vice President / AVP - Category Specialist with a Leading Private Sector Bank (Mumbai)
🏢 HDFC Bank
📍 Mumbai