Category Lead- IT

Job Title:

Category  Lead – IT

Location :
Preston with National travel as and when required. We offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements – please  speak  to your recruiter about the options for this particular role

Salary : £50,000-£53,000 depending on skills and experience

What you’ll be doing :

Undertaking  proactive  supplier  management  of key IT Service/Software Providers including supplier relationship  management , contract change, escalations, risk  management  and  leading  Governance forums

Being the primary Procurement point of contact for all emerging project requirements. This will involve support to all stages of the IT project lifecycle starting with stakeholder and demand  management , sourcing and tendering, contract negotiation through to contract award

Promptly addressing any escalations from internal business stakeholders within the IT community

Lead  and support the Resource Review Pannel to ensure compliance

Negotiate and agree contractual terms, pricing and service levels on behalf of BAE Systems

Your skills and experiences:

Essential:

Commercial and contractual acumen, experience of  managing  large suppliers with significant spend

Strong  communicator, able to effectively influence and build relationships with  challenging  stakeholders

Desirable:

Proven  experience in Indirect Procurement, specifically within the IT and Technology categories

Professional or academic qualification in IT

MCIPS or studying towards

Benefits:

As well as a  competitive  pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The IT Services and IT Software   Team

As part of this role you will have an exciting opportunity to support a large scale programme which will transform the way IT is currently procured within BAE Systems. This will involve transition activity from incumbent suppliers to new providers and will require excellent stakeholder  management  and engagement.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder  etc .)

that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please  speak  to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export  control  restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict  the roles  you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All  applicants   must  as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard.

Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where  applicants   must  typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for  the role , to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date:  27th January 2026

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for  the role . Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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