Category Procurement Lead – People Services

Position Overview

Following a period of rapid growth, Hiscox has around 3,000 employees across multiple business units and countries. Procurement plays a key role in supporting the business strategy, driving value through effective supplier management, commercial excellence and strategic sourcing.

The Category Procurement Lead will be responsible for supporting the end-to-end category strategy, sourcing and supplier management activities across a range of spend categories, with a primary focus on People Services / HR. This includes working closely with HR and business stakeholders to develop sourcing strategies, optimise supplier performance and ensure procurement delivers measurable value.

This is a Procurement role at its core. The successful candidate will be a procurement / strategic sourcing professional who has previously managed procurement activity for People Services / HR categories — partnering with HR functions as an internal customer, rather than coming from an HR background.

People Services categories may include:

• Talent Acquisition Services
• Learning & Development
• Benefits & Wellbeing
• HR Operations

The role will be supported by Category Analysts based in Lisbon and will partner closely with stakeholders across the UK, Europe and the US.

Responsibilities

Category Strategy

• Develop and maintain category strategies aligned to business priorities and workforce objectives.
• Identify opportunities for cost optimisation, supplier consolidation, risk mitigation and service improvement.
• Provide market insight and recommendations to stakeholders across People Services categories.

Business Partnership

• Build strong relationships with business and HR leaders across the organisation.
• Support the development of sourcing strategies that align with business and workforce needs.
• Act as a trusted advisor on procurement, supplier management and commercial matters.

Sourcing & Procurement

• Lead end-to-end sourcing activities including RFI, RFP, RFQ and supplier selection processes.
• Develop negotiation strategies and lead commercial discussions with suppliers.
• Ensure procurement activity is executed in line with governance and risk requirements.

Supplier Management

• Manage strategic supplier relationships and performance reviews.
• Establish KPIs, governance frameworks and continuous improvement plans.
• Lead issue resolution and supplier escalation activities where required.

Contracting & Governance

• Partner with Legal, Risk and Compliance teams to ensure appropriate contractual protections are in place.
• Ensure compliance with internal procurement policies and external regulations.
• Drive best-practice procurement and supplier governance across the category.

Collaboration

• Share best practices and contribute to the continuous development of procurement capabilities.
• Collaborate effectively across Procurement, HR, Finance, Legal and operational teams.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• 6–8 years' experience in Procurement, Strategic Sourcing or Category Management.
• Previous procurement experience managing People Services / HR-related spend categories (e.g. Recruitment Services, Learning & Development, Benefits, HR Operations or similar).
• Experience partnering with HR / People functions as an internal stakeholder on procurement initiatives.
• Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills.
• Excellent supplier relationship management capabilities.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Proven ability to lead sourcing and contract negotiations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience operating in large and/or complex organisations.

Desirable

• Experience across multiple People Services categories.
• Experience supporting HR transformation programmes or workforce strategies.
• Experience within Financial Services or another regulated environment.
• Professional procurement qualification (CIPS Level 5/6 or equivalent).

Qualifications

• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Procurement, Business, Finance, Law or a related discipline.
• CIPS qualification preferred.
• Additional qualifications in contract management, supplier management or procurement best practice would be advantageous