Category Manager - Indirects at De Beers Group

Job Description:

Purpose of the role:

Manage the supply of strategic Upstream Commodities and Services to the De Beers Group of Companies (GoC) to ensure

• maximum benefit and value add, in line with the organization’s strategic needs
• operational and contractual compliance to minimize risk to the business
• strategic supplier relationship management

Lead the definition and implementation of category strategies to drive

• value delivery
• spend/cost optimisation
• supply risk mitigation
• with specific emphasis on identifying and realizing opportunities to reduce costs in a sustainable manner while achieving company objectives (i.e.: local spend and HDSA spend)
• Be responsible for creating and maintaining strategic and non-strategic contracts for the De Beers group.
• Be accountable for the development of relationships with strategic suppliers and management of specific Total Cost of Ownership benefits to ensure business requirements are satisfied

Key result Areas:

• Lead the development, improvement and roll out of category strategies with the requisite input and buy in from the key stakeholders internally and relevant functional leadership based on strategic sourcing strategies principles.
• Ensure that end-to-end sourcing, contracting and contracts management activities and ensure the execution of all contract’s administrative activities for all strategic Category contracts in the region
• Negotiate and conclude strategic Category agreements
• Work with Group Legal to develop bespoke agreements that outline innovation, joint development, technical, commercial, relationship and performance expectations as well as associated joint initiatives
• Support the Supply Chain Supply chain manager function

Sustainability & Social

• Understand community specific ESG needs and drive a culture of community development and inclusive procurement with all stakeholders
• Ensure that initiatives and approaches in category and supplier strategies are embedded in strategic supplier relationships and agreements
• Embed clear Inclusive Procurement expectations, targets and initiatives in commercial agreements
• Support the Inclusive Procurement team and drive a culture of Sustainable Value through ESG, TCO initiatives, innovation, working capital and cost reduction
• Develop an integrated, medium to long term category vision, aligned to the global vision.
• Negotiate and manage high value and production critical strategic commodity and service contracts
• Supplier relationship management and supplier sourcing strategies are managed to ensure on time and in full receiving of required products and services.
• Drive and support a consistent approach to develop and maintain key supplier relationships
• Ensure stakeholder maps, engagement forums and value delivery plans are defined to enable the rollout of category strategies and value delivery
• Review and manage vendor performance and contractual compliance

Supply Chain Excellence

• Work with the CoE to define, adopt and improve commercial excellence and leading practice
• Lead the adoption of standards, new ways of working and systems usage
• Establish and oversee relevant category specific Community of Practices and Monitor that supplier performance, based on contractual KPIs is updated
• Manage contractual risks and support the Supply chain manager & operational team resolve escalated contractual issues or any escalated issues
• Ensure effective contract execution through appropriate maintenance processes
• Integrating client and technical requirements with business objectives and benchmarking both pricing and commodity performance of strategic commodities against industry peers
• Rationalizing supplier base by consolidating and contracting off-contract spending

People & Teams

• Lead, develop and coach a team of collaborative commercial professionals
• Oversee and manage work planning, execution, resource balancing and team performance as well as tracking team’s adherence to planned timeframes

Governance & Compliance

Manage compliance to:

• Internal De Beers and Supply Chain Governance requirements for all team members and pertaining to all Sourcing and Contract Management activities in set portfolio
• Applicable legislative requirements pertaining to all Commercial activities in set portfolio

Qualifications:

• Degree in Commercial/Business/Engineering disciplines
• Advanced university qualifications, preferably in business administration, commerce, or other relevant discipline (such as MBA, MCIPs) will be an advantage
• Extensive experience in Supply Chain or Mining/Plant/ Maintenance environment or Downstream environments

Experience

• 5–10-year relevant sourcing and category management experience.
• 5–10-year experience in both Direct and Indirect category management and sourcing is required.
• Proven track record of extensive practical experience in relevant field
• Good technical knowledge across the SC value chain
• Safety & sustainability as it relates to Supply Chain & Inclusive Procurement
• Strong commercial, negotiation and deal-making, business case development, investment appraisal
• Working knowledge of local legislative and De Beers requirements pertaining to Inclusive Procurement and Responsible Sourcing relating to set portfolio
• Advanced Category Management and sourcing & contracting knowledge with TCO approach
• Advanced skills in SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) and SPM (Supplier Performance Management) Critical and systems thinking capability
• 3 – 5-year experience in the leadership and management of people is required

Skills and Competencies:

Technical

• Supplier Relationship Management
• Procurement Policy & Process
• Industry and Market Research
• Supplier Negotiation
• Category Knowledge
• TCO Modeling
• Spend Analytics
• Contracts Management, Creation and Approval
• Supplier Governance
• Managing Complex Cross Functional Business Relationships
• Sourcing Strategy Formulation & Value Creation

Non-technical:

• Interpersonal skills
• Negotiation skills
• Networking skills
• Business acumen
• Change management skills

Additional information:

• Preference will be given to HDSA candidates and consideration will be given to the company’s Employment Equity Policy and Labour Plan

Closing Date: 24 September, 2025