Procurement Category Manager

Talent Acquisition Lead at Wellcome Trust

Salary: £63,500
Closing date: Sunday, 18 January 2026
Contract type: Permanent
Interview dates: Thursday, 5 and Friday 6 February 2026

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by funding science, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships. We plan to spend £16bn over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health, and wellbeing, and taking on three global health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health. These challenges need the bold science we support, and they won’t be solved by science alone.

You will be working in the Procurement team, under the umbrella of Finance and reporting to the Head of Procurement. The Procurement Team enables the delivery of a professional, value‑driven procurement service to Wellcome’s internal teams. The procurement service model is evolving in 2026 to be centralised for the whole of Wellcome. This is a significant change for the procurement team and the wider organisation that receives procurement support.

These roles are critical in guiding the organisation through this period of change and embedding the new centralised category management service delivery model. We are looking for someone to join us on this journey and who is up for taking on this challenge.

• You will partner with the areas of Wellcome that directly deliver Wellcome’s strategy. These teams are:
  Discovery Research, Climate and Health, Infectious Disease, Equity, Policy & Partnerships.
• You will play a crucial role in creating and deploying a category management model into this area for the first time and deliver their on‑going procurement needs.
• The Mission Investment category is predominantly scientific professional services spend where Wellcome contracts for scientific‑based research that helps inform how and where Wellcome invests to achieve its mission of improving health for everyone.

• You will partner with the Digital & Technology team and deliver all technology procurement for Wellcome.
• You will play a critical role in creating and deploying category strategy into this area and delivering their on‑going procurement needs.
• The Digital & Technology category of spend is similar to most organisations with key sub‑categories of:
  Software, Hardware, Services with Data.

As the Procurement Category Manager, you will play a pivotal role in embedding procurement strategy into the organisation to ensure we effectively manage resources and maximise value. You will be responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive procurement strategies and systems, working closely with budget holders to ensure decisions are both commercially sound and aligned with departmental objectives. Your expertise in strategic category management will be essential as you guide stakeholders in adopting category and supplier strategies that support our goals.

• Drive the strategic procurement agenda by developing and implementing best‑practice procurement strategies, systems, and procedures, ensuring commercial effectiveness.
• Own and implement strategic category plans, aligning with the department’s objectives, and engage stakeholders to build consensus on category and supplier strategies.
• Manage supplier relations to optimise spend, reduce costs, and mitigate commercial and legal risks, including conducting business reviews and performance assessments.
• Lead the end‑to‑end procurement process for key service contracts, from supplier evaluation to contract implementation, while championing continuous improvement and compliance in procurement practices.
• Support the training and upskilling of Procurement Officers to ensure high standards of delivery and facilitate career progression to Category Manager, fostering an inclusive culture.

Are you experienced in building and maintaining strong internal and external relationships across all stakeholder levels, with the ability to facilitate cross‑functional…