Category Manager - 7463

Title: Category Manager

Contract Type: Permanent, Full time, 35 hours per week

Salary: £55,270 per annum to £61,018 per annum(London weighted salary) or £47,920 per annum to £53,345 per annum (Regionalsalary), dependant on experience

Grade: 10

Reporting Office: London, Stratford or Manchester, Trafford

Persona: Agile Worker: 20% - 40% of contractual hours to be worked from reporting office/working location (hybrid working)

Closing Date: 2nd February 2026 at 11pm

Interview Dates: w/c 9th February 2026

Role Profile - Category Manager.docx

Benefits include: Excellent pension plan (up to 6% double contribution), 28 days Annual Leave rising to 31 days with length of service + Bank Holidays, Westfield Health Cash Plan, non-contributory life assurance, up to 21 hours volunteering paid days, lifestyle benefits, Employee Assistance Programme and many more…

Early applications are encouraged as we reserve the right to close the advertisement and interview earlier than stated.

Join our Commercial Corporate Services Team at L&Q:

Are you a commercially minded procurement professional with a track record of managing complex, high-value contracts across both the public and private sectors?

Do you thrive in a dynamic, collaborative environment where your market insight, negotiation skills, and strategic thinking shape successful procurement outcomes?

It’s an exciting time to join L&Q’s Commercial Procurement Team’s as we embed a new structure focused on supply chain, category management and business partnering, delivering an operationally excellent service across the organisation.

As a Category Manager, you’ll play a pivotal role in developing and implementing strategic sourcing plans across a diverse range of goods and services. You’ll work closely with stakeholders to understand business needs, analyse supply markets, and deliver category strategies that optimise value, quality, service, and sustainability.

You’ll lead complex, multi-million-pound procurement projects, manage key supplier relationships, and ensure compliance with legal and commercial standards. Your work will directly shape the success of L&Q’s procurement transformation, helping us deliver lasting value for our residents and communities.

If you’re a detail-oriented procurement professional with strong commercial acumen and a passion for delivering value, we would love for you to apply!

Your impact in the role:

• Shape and deliver category strategies across a wide range of goods and services, ensuring alignment with business needs and maximising value, quality, and service.
• Build deep market insight by analysing supply trends and key players, using this intelligence to inform strategic sourcing decisions.
• Collaborate with Procurement Managers to support the successful implementation of category solutions across the organisation.
• Lead complex, multi-million-pound contract negotiations with a strong commercial and legally compliant approach.
• Contribute to the transformation of procurement services through a newly structured team focused on category management and business partnering.

What you'll bring:

• Extensive experience in managing end-to-end procurement activity, with a strong understanding of Public Procurement Regulations.
• Proven ability to deliver procurement solutions tailored to stakeholder needs across both public and private sectors and in particular, the Housing Sector.
• Experience with high value complex procurement solutions and have utilised various routes to market (inc Frameworks, Dynamic Market Places, Open tenders, Competitive Flexible procedures etc)
• Strong contract negotiation skills and commercial acumen.
• Ability to prepare detailed tender and contract documentation (e.g JCTs and use of contract templates), and produce clear, insightful reports.
• Experience in Corporate Services categories is desirable, a knowledge of Property and Estate repairs and maintenance in particularly advantageous
• A collaborative mindset and a track record of delivering high-value outcomes in complex procurement environments.

If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage during this process, including application stage, please email lqcareers@lqgroup.org.uk

About L&Q:

We’re one of the UK’s leading housing associations and developers. We were founded on a simple belief: high quality housing is vital for people’s health, happiness and security. Everyone deserves a quality home that gives them the chance to live a better life.

250,000 people call our properties ‘home’, and we’re proud to serve diverse communities across London, the South East and North West of England.

People are at the heart of our business and our success depends on employing the best people and getting the best from them. The foundation of everything that we are is built on our corporate values and behavioural framework, which outlines our core expectations and should be demonstrated at all times, and all levels, when representing L&Q.

At L&Q, we know that diversity and inclusion make us stronger – and they’re at the heart of everything we do.

When we recruit, we look at what really matters: your skills, experience, and potential. We’re proud to be recognised for creating an inclusive workplace. We’re a Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) and we’ve introduced our own Recruitment Advocate scheme to make sure every step of our hiring process is fair, transparent, and consistent. It’s all part of our commitment to ending discrimination and making L&Q a place where everyone feels welcome. Fine out more here.

Sustainability is also at the heart of what we do. We recognise the responsibility we hold as one of the UK’s largest housing associations.

Click here to find out more about L&Q and why you should join us!

#TJ