Category Manager, Networks Transport

Telenor Group is the world’s leading telecommunications company across the Nordics and Asia with 211 million subscribers and 81 billion NOK in revenues. We are committed to responsible business conduct and driven by the ambition of empowering societies. Connectivity has been Telenor’s domain for more than 160 years, and our purpose is to connect our customers to what matters most.

Telenor has a leading Nordic position in mobile, broadband and TV services, as well as substantial activities in subsidiaries and joint venture operations, including mobile financial services and online classifieds in the Asia region. Worldwide, Telenor Group and our operations’ teams are 11,000 people strong.

Telenor Procurement Company (TPC), established in 2017 and based out of Singapore, operates as a subsidiary of the Telenor Group.  We deliver Global Category Management as a service to the Telenor Business Units and beyond, taking full responsibility for the end-to-end Sourcing process and performance of global spend categories. Functioning as one Global Procurement team across all Telenor markets, we enable Telenor’s strategic ambitions by becoming a centre of expertise in the pursuit of efficient operations. TPC seeks qualified procurement professionals that are comfortable working in a global setup in the fast-paced Telecom field.

For more information, please visit our website: https://www.telenor.com/about/our-companies/other-units/telenor-procurement-company

About the Role

As a Category Manager, Networks Transport you will be part of the Networks team and you will report to the Head of Category - Networks Transport & Capacity. You will work closely with both Group units in Telenor and all of the Business Units. The objective of this position is to perform end-to-end category management to support overall group category strategy and demand management. As the Category Manager you will be responsible for handling the category’s end to end sourcing strategy. The successful candidate will be able to appraise and improve our sourcing activities by analyzing the company’s spending, supplying partnerships and new possibilities, including determining sourcing strategies, sourcing execution, contract negotiation, contract management as well as supplier management processes. Scope of Category Manager includes Network Transport (Microwave, IP Routers and WDM systems) however he/she will also support in additional areas i.e. Fixed Networks Infrastructure, International Capacity & IP Transit, Satellite capacity, Leased Lines and Fiber Build.

Main tasks

• Comprehensive understanding of the Transport category, manage the category portfolio and contribute to end to end category strategy development and perform analysis to support category strategy work
• Generate and implement efficient sourcing and category management strategies
• Analyze and calculate costs of procurement and suggest methods to decrease expenditure
• Prepare and lead TCO analysis, negotiate purchase contracts with vendors to meet quality, cost and delivery requirements as per organization needs, track the movements of supplies, bring Innovation in negotiation strategies and secure profitable deals
• Manage resources and stakeholders in a sourcing process from a global and matrix environment and Optimize sourcing procedures to attain maximum efficiency
• Collaborate and align with functional stakeholders, legal to secure agreement on scope, specification, contract terms, cost model, and processes
• Liaising with the Global Procurement Teams from different Business units, the group functions for supply market analysis, listing leverage points, creating Issues Lists, Demand & Portfolio Management for the Network Transport Category
• Estimate risks and apply risk mitigation techniques
• Develop and prepare periodic reports, review and assess progress, savings, and targets on all procurement activities
• Oversee effective implementation of category contracts, manage contracts and price book iterations relevant to the category and handle dispute with the category suppliers

Profile

The ideal candidate should have experience from relevant role and be a professional eager to develop yourself within strategic sourcing. He/she should have an academic understanding of strategic sourcing and category management as well as spend analysis. The following personal characteristics will be critical to succeed in the role:

• Strong business knowledge in telecommunications landscape
• Strong ability to counsel and influence decision-makers by creating clear recommendations that will be presented to relevant decision makers in the executive management.
• A problem solver – capable of dissecting a complicated problem and evaluating it systematically
• Strategic thinking, see the big picture and make sure activities are aligned with business needs
• Demonstrate commitment, maturity, flexibility, problem-solving capabilities and speed in response to business and challenges
• Knowledge of sourcing techniques, demand management & demand forecasting methods
• Familiar with contract setup activities such as specification definition, contract terms and conditions setup
• Excellent communication (written, verbal) and interpersonal skills to positively influence people to make the appropriate decisions and resolve conflicts effectively.
• Ability to deliver and articulate a presentation confidently and effectively to a wider project committee and management.
• Process-oriented and possesses a strategic mindset with the ability to have a holistic view.
• Relationship builder and a people person
• Inter-cultural sensitivity and excellent interpersonal and communications skills
• High level of integrity and ethics

Qualifications and Experience Requirements

• University degree in Finance, Business or Technology
• More than 5 years in a procurement / contract management / Vendor Management / negotiations / supply chain management role or as Networks Transport functional expert.
• Broad experience with Microsoft & other relevant tools, e.g. ThinkCell etc.
• Have deep insight into end-to-end Sourcing process and strategies.
• Have good presentation and communication skills with proficiency in English with ability to influence colleagues and decision makers
• Relevant Technology background and experience in Network Transport including IP, Optical, Microwave domain would be an advantage