Category/Procurement Manager, Hospitality, Events,Travel. Associate, L

Job Summary & Responsibilities WHO WE ARE The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities and investment management services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs has long sustained a commitment to hiring and training outstanding leaders. Our business principles are rooted in integrity, a commitment to excellence, innovation and teamwork. These values enable us to execute successfully a business strategy that is focused on extraordinary client service and superior long-term financial performance for our shareholders. We conduct our business in increasingly complex markets. Our people must continually find new ways to provide access to capital, manage risk and provide investment opportunities for our clients to enable them to realize their goals. We judge ourselves on our ability to help clients anticipate and respond to changing market conditions and to create opportunities that merit the trust they place in us. BUSINESS UNIT AND ROLE OVERVIEW Corporate Services and Real Estate (CSRE) acquires, develops and manages the firm's global real estate portfolio and delivers innovative and commercially managed market development, document management and hospitality related services. CSRE's areas of responsibility are Real Estate, Business Services, Finance and Administration & Communications Business Services delivers high-quality, commercially managed services to internal partners throughout the firm Real Estate plans, builds and operates the firm's facilities worldwide, and is critical to ensuring that our core businesses operate efficiently 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Finance, comprised of regionally based teams and a central hub in Bangalore, India, provides financial analysis, decision support, procurement, contract administration and reporting for all initiatives within the Services Division and for business partners across the firm Administration and Communications oversee organizational development and internal and client communications The Procurement professionals within CSRE partner with departments across the firm in order to foster a competitive (and diverse) vendor environment which mitigates risk and maximizes value. Procurements role is to drive informed procurement decisions that create sustainable value at optimal cost. In addition, Procurement is responsible for helping develop vendor management programmes and initiatives across the firm and helping support divisions to adhere to the firm's vendor management policy. Reporting to a Global Category Lead, the procurement management professional based in London, will have a lead role in terms of driving procurement and commercial activity for expenditure with vendors primarily in the Hospitality & categories. In addition the role will be responsible for the day to day management of more junior team member(s) when required. RESPONSIBILITIES Work collaboratively to deploy category management techniques to develop multi-year global strategies which support the delivery of the firm's commercial and operational objectives Partner with business and functional leadership to understand short, medium and long-term third party requirements including demand management and make vs. buy decisions Responsible for Procurement strategy creation and execution of key initiatives Identify and implement best practices in procurement, commercial and vendor management Drive supply side initiatives to reduce or contain risk, and / or create commercial and revenue generating opportunities Ensure appropriate contract structures / types, pricing models, vendor incentive models, service level agreements, performance indicators and cost models are applied consistently across vendors In conjunction with the business drive vendor commercial management with the firm's key vendors Partner with internal and external legal counsel to ensure proper forms of Agreement are utilized, contractor conformance with the terms and conditions of the Agreements, and refinement of Agreements as required Manage compliance with and provide reporting on the firm's commitments in relation to citizenship, for example CSR and diversity Facilitate sharing knowledge, experiences and best practice within and across global Procurement and Commercial Management team Role based in London, with potential for regional and international travels as required SKILLS / EXPERIENCE Minimum five years' experience in Category management, particularity in the indirect space with a preference for Hospitality/Events/Travel experience. Must have strong technical, strategic and project management skills as well as a strong foundation in supply chain management, sourcing and procurement, vendor management legal and contracting or operational risk management QUALIFICATIONS Bachelors/Masters degree in a related field; relevant professional qualifications or accreditations (e.g. ISM, CPM, CIPS, etc.) COMPETENCIES Functional Expertise Keeps up-to-date with emerging business, economic, and market trends Strategic Approach Needs to be able to effectively create Category strategies with the ability to influence and guide key stakeholders with sourcing decisions. Needs to clearly understand and articulate the Procurement value proposition and demonstrate clear strategic thinking / intent within work product Technical Skills Demonstrates strong technical skills required for the role, pays attention to detail, takes initiative to broaden his/her knowledge and demonstrates appropriate financial/analytical skills Drive and Motivation Successfully handles multiple tasks, takes initiative to improve his/her own performance, works intensely towards extremely challenging goals and persists in the face of obstacles or setbacks Client and Business Focus Effectively handles difficult requests, builds trusting, long-term relationships with clients, helps the client to identify/define needs and manages client/business expectations Teamwork Gives evidence of being a strong team player, collaborates with others within and across teams, encourages other team members to participate and contribute and acknowledges others' contributions PREFERRED Proven track record of leading and developing teams Experience of successfully negotiating complex, high-profile contracts, including incentivised service level agreements Excellent client management skills and experience in leading projects involving a range of stakeholders. Track record of being a team player collaborating with others within and across teams Proven, strong communication, interpersonal and organizational skills Professional and measured approach that has creditability within industry and with peers Strong executive-level communication/presentation skills Impeccable attention to detail and excellent problem solving and analytical skills Strategic thinker with strong implementation ability Proficient with the suite of Microsoft Office software and other computer skills