Utilities Category Associate

3 months ago

Cape Town, South Africa IWG Full time

**Location**:Flexible

**About the company**

IWG has been at the forefront of the flexible workspace revolution for more than 30 years. We have made it possible for organisations and individuals everywhere to take a new approach to the traditional working day. We have over 3,500 locations across over 120 countries allowing millions of people every day to have a great day at work.

Our customers are start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large multinationals. With unique business goals, people and aspirations. They want workspaces and communities to match their needs. We provide them with choice through our portfolio of brands, covering serviced offices (Regus, Spaces, HQ, Signature and No18), commercial real estate brokerage and managed office solutions.

**About the Role**

This is a critical role in our supply chain team to enable IWG to meet its strategic objectives of sustainably growing our network and improving our profit margin. This position supports the company in the category management of centre utilities for 3,500+ locations globally (estimated spend of £70M) across 120+ countries.

Reporting to the Utilities Category Manager, the successful applicant will help to manage the end to end process for supplying our centres with utilities. This includes but is not limited to identifying the right suppliers, securing the best market rates to manage our cost base, whilst meeting the sustainability requirements of the group. They will continually review and optimizing our contracts, as well as driving cost reduction initiatives through technology in our centres. They will establish clear reporting on centre level consumption, covering both direct and indirect supply routes. Where needed this role is engaged in utilities supplier escalations, ensuring suppliers meet negotiated SLA’s associated with service, delivery or billing issues and in supplier management. This is a key role, accountable for managing relationships with our internal stakeholders, our external partners, and our supplier network to ensure we work collaboratively to improve our commercial performance and deliver against strategic objectives.

IWG has ambitious plans to reach Net Zero carbon emissions before 2040 and this role will be instrumental in supporting this goal. In particular we are targeting fully renewable electricity by 2030 and are committed to the RE100 guidelines.

**Specific accountabilities**
- Develop and implement effective category management strategies that drive cost savings and efficiency and create additional value for clients through innovative service and product delivery.
- Ensure costs are recovered through various avenues, such as customer payments, centre recharges, rebates, or other creative cost recovery methods.
- Track and report on planned and validate achieved savings targets, as well as consumption data.
- Establish and cultivate robust relationships with key suppliers, fostering mutual benefits, enhancing quality and reliability, and driving innovation in supply chain processes and vendor partnerships.
- Lead the vendor selection process, including the execution of RFPs, RFQs, and other sourcing activities.
- Negotiate contracts to secure optimal terms and conditions, ensuring this process also prioritises value creation for clients and profitable cost recovery for the Category.
- Support our ESG agenda as we work towards our net zero targets.
- Conduct regular vendor performance measurements and management, emphasising continual improvement and innovation
- Approve large/technical/one-off expenditures.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to understand their needs and align strategies accordingly while maintaining a client-focused approach that drives value and innovation.
- Manage risks within the Category (including compliance with legislation) and develop contingency plans to mitigate them while identifying opportunities to leverage them to drive innovation and add value.
- Stay updated on market trends and conditions that impact the Category, including pricing, supply/demand dynamics, and innovation opportunities, to ensure the Category’s offerings remain competitive, valuable, and aligned with client’s needs and expectations.

**Applicant profile**:
**_ +3 years experience in category management, procurement, or a related field. Experience with utilities is an advantage. Must be able to demonstrate experience in category management and overseeing strategic decision-making processes._**
- Market Awareness: Understands market trends, pricing dynamics, supply/demand dynamics, and innovation opportunities.
- Strategic Planning and Execution: Developing and implementing effective strategies. The Category Owner should have a proven track record of creating strategies that drive cost savings, efficiency, and added value through innovative product and service delivery.
- Commercial Acumen: A strong understanding of commercial strategies to recover costs is crucial. This includes experie

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