Category Manager

Are you ready to get ahead in your career?

• We want to empower you to turn your ambitions into achievements.
• We thrive in inclusiveness, diversity and embrace close collaborations for you to create impact for yourself and others.
• Together, we aim to bring the best of technology to help people, businesses and the nation to be ahead in a changing world.
• To realise our vision to become Malaysia’s leading converged solutions company, we are looking for a new talent to innovate and grow with us in a culture that values commitment, performance and possibilities.
  
  

Why does this job exist and why is it critical?

This role oversees end-to-end procurement across indirect categories, driving sourcing strategies, cost optimisation, and value delivery. It requires strong expertise in strategic sourcing, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement to align with business needs, alongside effective supplier management to ensure performance, compliance, and adherence to policies and regulations. The role also demands strong analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills to support decision-making and ensure efficient procurement operations.

What You Will Do

• Strategy definition and communication:
• Support the execution of category management strategies and activities and of strategic sourcing process and approaches for assigned categories/sub-categories
• For smaller spend sub-categories, plan, deploy and disseminate category strategies and plans and conduct sourcing projects by engaging stakeholders and the required cross-functional resources
• Tendering, negotiation, and contract management:
• Specify requirements for materials and services in category area
• Identify end users and/or suppliers to have advanced discussions on the usability/ interchangeability of items
• Manage sophisticated financial analysis and business cases taking into consideration currency fluctuations, payment terms, and alternative financial cost scenarios and can deliver financial and commercial business cases in a broad range of categories
• Expert in defining and executing negotiation tactics and skilfully manage difficult and complex strategic negotiations. Perform key analysis and develop a strategic negotiation plan, get outside opinion, and arm myself to be proactive during all negotiations
• Use detailed market analysis to create scenarios regarding potential market development. Use insights from market analysis to support stakeholder innovation, to mitigate risks for Maxis, and to amend category strategies or to deliver additional savings
• Supplier relationship management (SRM):
• Work with the business to define the supplier KPIs, scorecard, vendor management model, data sources and collection methods on supplier performance
• Support the business to manage relationships with incumbent strategic suppliers including driving supplier innovation and developing joint improvement initiatives
• Develop supplier relationships beyond the incumbent to explore options and drive value and innovation for the business
• Performance reporting and compliance:
• Supports the development of measurable category objectives and targets, and assist to produce regular reports
• Promote compliance to Procurement processes and policies across the business
• Stakeholder management:
• Responsible for inter-BU coordination for e.g. supplier review meetings
• Management of BU/Procurement escalations and engagement of formal governance mechanisms where required
  
  

What You Need To Have For This Role

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing, Business Management, or a related field
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in procurement or category management
• Experience supporting or managing Network, IT, or Commercial Services categories, including sourcing initiatives
• Strong expertise in supplier management, with proven ability to engage, influence, and communicate effectively with vendors
• Solid experience in contract negotiation, including commercial terms and conditions
• Proficiency in English, both written and verbal
  
  

Skills & Knowledge

• Strong analytical capabilities with the ability to interpret complex data and translate insights into actionable recommendations
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders and work collaboratively
• High level of autonomy with the ability to manage responsibilities independently
• Proven expertise in strategic sourcing and supplier management, including leading negotiations and constructively challenging stakeholders
• Advanced proficiency in MS Office, ERP, and e-procurement systems (e.g., SAP, Ariba)
• Strong contract management expertise, including drafting and reviewing contractual terms and conditions
  
  

What’s next?

• Once you’ve applied online, our team will carefully review your application. Due to a high volume of applications, we appreciate your patience to allow for a fair and timely review process.
• Should you be shortlisted for the role, we will send you an invitation via email for a digital interview. You can also check on your application status by logging into your candidate account.
  
  

Maxis values diverse voices & people. We hire and reward our employees based on capability & performance — regardless of ethnicity, gender, age, education, religion, nationality or physical ability.