Job Description

Location: Oxford, United Kingdom

A Joint Venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space is a global space manufacturer delivering, for more than 40 years, high-tech solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth Observation, environmental management, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. Thanks to our diversity of skills, talents and cultures, our customers (governments, institutions, space agencies, telecommunications operators), therefore have Space to Connect, Secure & Defend, Observe & Protect, Explore, Travel & Navigate.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across five major industries; Aerospace, Defence, Ground Transportation, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that\xe2\x80\x99s why we offer you the flexibility to do what\xe2\x80\x99s important to you; whether that\xe2\x80\x99s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Reporting to the relevant Global Category Manager and / or Categories Team leader (CTL) depending of geographic location.

Key Figures :

Annual volume of commitment and spend within relevant categories and % of Savings

Number of suppliers for the given category and the structured closure of legacy, close and disengage suppliers as defined by the category strategies

Year on year competitiveness and cost reductions

Categories operational performance (quality, on-time delivery, supply risk assessment, ..)

% Categories compliance with policy suppliers based on both commitment and spend

Implementation of framework agreement(s) or specific contract(s) where there is a business need

The Category Manager (CM) supports one or several procurement categories.

The CM works in close relation with the relevant Global Category Managers (GCM), the Categories Team Leader (CTL) and the Tactical Buyer (TB).

All CM actions have to be in line with the strategy defined by the Global Category Manager and the CM will have a regular feed back loop with the GCM. The CM\'s prime role is the management of the RFI or/and RFP\'s until PVet 4 stage for business critical work packages (up to PVet 5 based on some Regions) in order to provide competitiveness to the business

In addition to this their main tasks are:
Strategy:

Provide input into worldwide category strategies for short, medium and long term needs

Ensure the relevant players have a good knowledge of Thales need and support the category strategy so that the business secures targeted projects and customer competitive advantage.

Ensure that clear and measurable savings targets are identified and delivered by category and endorsed by business / project.

Ensure category commitment and spend compliance tracking is well reported.

Procurement Competitiveness Capture:

Monitor category markets on an on-going basis to identify and understand key players, newcomers, economic evolutions, market or regulation constraints, innovations and technology in order to support the development of the most up to date category strategies for the businesses.

Based on the above provide insights as to how products / projects could be more competitive via the adoption of different suppliers / methodologies / technology etc.

In conjunction with the Procurement Product, Bids and Project Managers (PPM) and cross functional teams, the CM supports the preparation of Make / Buy decisions (lead by the PPM) in order to optimise business performance.

Governance, Leadership and Performance Management:

Ensure THALES governance is applied using KPI\'s and root cause corrective actions

Supplier / Acquisition Management:

Performance management of the supply base in line with the standards set out by the Global Category Manager.

Ensure that supplier competitions follow the governance process and are balanced and fair in order to improve business and customer performance.

Ensure that the supplier contracts and framework agreements are negotiated when required in line with the category strategies.

Ensure that global contracts / framework agreements are adopted and utilised.

Ensure that specific legal compliance government or special customer requirements are taken into account during conception / implementation of category strategies.

Ensure that Thales e-Acquisition and all THALES procurement tools are properly fully used according to governance procurement work packages at global level.

Ensure that the risks, opportunities and Tier supply chain mapping is understood and managed in order to optimise business performance.

Based on the performance management of the supply base identify the suppliers who require focused development actions and ensure that the Supplier Development Team have the required support / leverage to conduct successfully these actions .

Operational Support:

Ensure the Tactical Buyers receive all required information to raise the Procurement Orders.

In line with Thales\' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact for mid to senior roles, or the for graduate and apprentice roles.

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