Category Lead

About us

Here at National Grid, we connect homes and businesses to power, making sure supply and demand match each other. We make sure the lights are on in schools, operating theatres, and sporting arenas; we’re thousands of people working on behalf of millions of people. And whatever your role, wherever you work with us, you’ll help us hit stretching targets and achieve our far-reaching goal: to secure, clean energy that supports our world far into the future. Here, you will be at the heart of energy.

At National Grid, we work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value, and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organization, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.

About the Role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Category Lead to join our Electric Materials team on a Full Time, Hybrid basis!

Reporting into a Category Manager, the Category Lead is responsible for leading strategic procurement operations within the New England and New York Business Unit. The role will partner the Category Manager in delivery of Category strategies.

National Grid is leading the charge towards a Net Zero future in the UK and NE of USA. We recognize that decarbonizing our electric and gas systems will require resolving many questions and seeking new partnerships, technologies and transformative investments. Over the next 5 years, we will be investing over £60bn across our UK and US businesses – nearly double the investment over the past 5 years. This is an exciting time for our industry that is creating significant opportunities for National Grid; this is not just a moment in time; it's a game-changing era that will shape National Grid's success for decades to come.

Given this backdrop, our supply chains are facing an unprecedented set of challenges and are at the forefront of our plans, placing National Grid Procurement at the center of our Net Zero goals. We have set out an ambitious transformation plan, focused on becoming a client of choice for our supply partners whilst ensuring outstanding outcomes for our Business Units (BUs). Our strategy revolves around significant changes in three core areas:

- Partnering: We are forging closer ties with our supply chain, aligning ourselves more closely with each NG Group Business Unit (BU).

- Scale: We are leveraging the immense scale of our group to unlock even greater potential. By harnessing our collective strength, we can achieve remarkable things.

- Operational Transformation: We are revolutionizing the way we work as a team. Embracing new approaches and technologies, we are streamlining processes and making the day-to-day job simpler and more efficient.

What You'll Do

This role will involve engaging and building strong and established working relationships with stakeholders to identify business needs and then ensuring we understand the supply chains so we can offer the best solutions for National Grid.

- Support the Senior Business Partners to engage with the BU, and where appropriate directly support the strategic relationship with them to ensure their procurement and supply chain needs are delivered in line with business requirements.

- Support the overall development and delivery of assigned category strategy and share best practice across other category teams

- Role model excellence in procurement standards, taking a proactive role in mentoring / providing guidance to Buyers to ensure best-in-class methodologies are adopted and utilized across National Grid Procurement.

- Input into the development and execution of sourcing strategy for allocated categories and execute standardized strategic sourcing processes from market engagement through to award, ensuring goods are procured in a best-in-class manner that drives value.

- Profile category characteristics and research supply markets, suppliers and assess trends, opportunities and risks feeding insights into the Global teams and Market and Supplier Development teams

- Work with Contract Managers to ensure the successful delivery of contracted activities, identifying continuous improvement opportunities through engagement with suppliers and stakeholders, and maximizing value for money from contracts awarded.

What You'll Need

- Experience in category strategy development, including the ability to support others in development of strategies & share best practice across teams

- Significant experience of strategic sourcing and category management

- An understanding of project management principles and ideally evidence of managing multiple projects and consistently delivering outstanding results.

- Ability to prepare for and to lead negotiations.

- Ability to build and manage complex commercial assessment models

More Information

#LI-NK1 #LI-PROCURMENT #LI-HYBRID

Annual Salary

Brooklyn and surrounding area: $127,000-$149,000

Waltham and surrounding area: $118,000-$139,000

Syracuse and surrounding area: $105,000-$124,000

Salary commensurate with experience and location

National Grid utilizes an assessment that evaluates the job qualifications/characteristics using AI or statistically based scoring. For more information, please view NYC Local Law 144.

This position has a career path which provides for advancement opportunities within and across bands as you develop and evolve in the position; gaining experience, expertise and acquiring and applying technical skills. Candidates will be assessed and provided offers against the minimum qualifications of this role and their individual experience.

National Grid is an equal opportunity employer that values a broad diversity of talent, knowledge, experience and expertise. We foster a culture of inclusion that drives employee engagement to deliver superior performance to the communities we serve. National Grid is proud to be an affirmative action employer. We encourage minorities, women, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans to join the National Grid team.