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Company
Our purpose at Vodafone is to connect for a better future. At Vodafone Group, we partner with our local markets to drive consistency and earn customer loyalty across 20 countries for over 600 million customers. We are restless and passionate about creating a better future for all. We are always open to new things, and curious to create solutions that our customers will love. We are constantly learning to innovate the way we operate, set our global standards, and to deliver on our strategy. Our ambition is to improve 1 billion lives and half our environmental impact by 2025. It’s up to each of us to make this happen. Ready?
The Vodafone Procurement Company (VPC) in Luxembourg is part of the Vodafone Group and drives our aspiration to connect for a better future. We purchase products and services from across the globe to help run our business at its very best. We support our people to deliver on our strategy and be a brand loved by our customers, communities, co-partners, and colleagues. We give and take ownership to make the most of our many talents and we are always learning to grow ourselves and our business. We get it done, together. Aspiring to be a brand our customers love, we think big, take risks, and are always curious to learn. Are you?
Role Purpose
As a Category Manager of Customer Operations (COPS) with the Vodafone Procurement Company (VPC), you will develop and implement the Strategy for the global procurement of the Customer Operations area. In this role, you are directly responsible for driving execution against a number of key projects within the global Customer Operations category, where Vodafone’s annual expenditure is ~€1 B on a global basis.
The successful candidate will be working as part of an established central Customer Operations procurement team, reporting to the Principal Category Manager Customer Operations. The individual will be part of the VPC Customer Operations team and will be collaborating very closely with a wider agile project team. The role will involve regular interactions with senior stakeholders in local markets, while working in very close collaboration with our local COPS and SCM teams, as part of a large cross-functional virtual team. The successful candidate will be challenged to manage very complex contracts and complex commercial models and will be world-class at project management. Our ideal candidate will have a proven track record of successfully delivering and managing very complex global categories, global RFPs, and global contracts.
Key Responsibilities
Sourcing
- Manage the global deployment and execution of the existing global sourcing strategy and the category plans to deliver the category-agreed target outcomes.
- Support the delivery and implementation of the sourcing strategy and new contractual commitments with a value of up to €1 billion.
- Contribute to the ongoing commercial management of the COPS agency contracts including monitoring of obligations, rights, critical dates, service credits, escalations, commercial disputes, regular business reviews, etc.
- Drive and support sourcing activities.
Stakeholder Management, Supplier Management, Industry Knowhow
- Establish and continuously develop a highly collaborative operating model with the local COPS and SCM team, with a focus on cross-functional teamwork.
- Develop long-term partnerships with COPS agencies, focusing on overall value, best-in-class quality, and innovation.
- Maintain an excellent network internally and externally to continuously evolve the knowledge of industry trends, competitors, business opportunities, and threats. Continuously identify and promote best practices for innovation, operational excellence, improved customer experience, and savings.
Innovation
- Contribute to the development and evolution of the category-specific contracting models and contract templates, while working in collaboration with Legal, local SCM, and COPS teams.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement and innovation of category-specific commercial models, while working in close collaboration with the local SCM and COPS teams.
- Develop, implement, and continuously evolve know-how and approach to technology, processes, and tools required for end-to-end category management.
- Drive end-to-end sourcing projects including highly complex and holistic, pricing/commercial, and legal negotiations.
Data Management
- Contribute to the delivery of key category financial targets such as centralized spend percentage, savings, and working capital improvements.
- Maintain accurate global COPS spend, vendor, and contract data, incl. contracts database, preferred vendor list, and category blueprints, generate and provide insight through in-depth data analytics to secure Vodafone’s competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Core Competencies
- Proven track record of being part of and delivering large and complex global sourcing projects.
- Very strong numerical and reasoning skills, generally very good with numbers, at financial reporting and modeling, with the ability to synthesize and present key messages to senior stakeholders.
- Proven experience in procurement for global complex categories OR min solid experience in outsourcing Customer Operations. Cross-functional project experience, as part of a regional/global organization.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and relationship-building skills. Effective influencing and persuasion skills, with the ability to engage with virtual teams. Fluency in English is a must, fluency in German a big benefit, and any other language is an asset.
- Excellent negotiation skills combined with the drive to make judgments and finalize deals.
- The ability to manage multiple projects and delivery across various functions and geographies, providing delivery rigor and investigation, as required.
- A flexible approach. Intelligent team player, able to engage with business stakeholders at all levels to drive change.
- The ability to think ‘out of the box’ and bring continuous innovation to the area, including benefit opportunities and development of new commercial models, improved contractual terms, improved reporting, scopes, etc.
It would be nice if you have…
- University degree, Master’s degree preferred.
- Passion for data, problem-solving, business intelligence, and digital tools.
- Solid project management skills, with experience in large-scale, multi-country, and multi-disciplinary projects, including operating model transformations.
What’s in it for you?
- Gain real experience in category management, global sourcing, contract, and negotiation fields.
- Opportunity to learn in an energetic and professional team about partner communication and supply chain management.
- Long-term full-time career opportunities in the field of Procurement.
- Access to Vodafone University and LinkedIn Learning.
- Flexible working schedule.
- 28 days holiday (with the option to buy 5 days) plus 11 public holidays.
- 5 paid days leave for charity projects.
- State pension matching scheme of up to 8%.
- Voluntary AXA Health Insurance.
- Voluntary AXA Pension Scheme.
Our Commitment
Vodafone is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining the best people by offering a flexible, motivating, and inclusive workplace in which talent is truly recognized, developed, and rewarded.
We believe that diversity plays an important role in the success of our business, and we are committed to creating an inclusive work environment that respects, values, celebrates, and makes the most of people’s individual differences - we are not only multinational but multicultural too.
Get to know us better here and find out what life at Vodafone could be like for you >> https://careers.vodafone.com/our-offer/ <<.
Please contact >> group.resourcing@vodafone.com << for any application-related inquiries.
#Groupresourcing
The future is exciting. Ready?
Not a perfect fit?
Worried that you don’t meet all the desired criteria exactly? At Vodafone we are passionate about Inclusion for All and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive, whatever their personal or professional background. If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align exactly with every part of the job description, we encourage you to apply as you may be the right candidate for this role or another role, and our recruitment team can help you see how your skills fit in.
