Category Manager

**Category Manager - **Commercial Motor Repair** Claims & Assessing Division**

Unique opportunity to join an iconic insurance org and take on a strategic Category Manager role in their Motor Repair & Assessing Division.

This iconic, award-winning insurance organisation is part of a global network of businesses. Entering the Australian market over 20 years ago they combine local expertise with global experience and industry leading innovation.

Today they are seeking to appoint a Category Manager to take on a proactive and strategic role for their Motor repair Claims and Assessing Division. This new role has a strategic commercial focus, whilst playing a key role in managing the Strategic Supplier Relationship activities and enjoy ownership of the strategic supplier spend and network optimization portion of the business plan. The core focus will be creating a competitive landscape through effective network optimization and driving world class contract management performance with an emphasis on strategic and complex insurance repair supplier relationship engagement.

Working closely with the procurement and motor assessing teams, you will provide strategic oversight and management across the full supplier lifecycle, using data and reporting tools to oversee the management of service provider performance and compliance to established SLAs, whilst ensuring commercially viable sustainable propositions.

Reporting to the Head of Supply, Motor claims, this position is based in North Lakes.

**Your key responsibilities are to**:

- Strategically and operationally contribute to the high performance of Motor Vehicle repair supplier relationship management, by providing best practice initiatives, quality of work, to ensure their customers are provided with market leading service to ensure best class customer experiences and expectations, ensuring efficiency and sustainable commercial outcomes are delivered and relationships sustained and grown, with a customer focuses lens
- Identify and realise market and internal opportunities to create a competitive advantage
- Provide oversight of current supplier relationships, developing these relationships, identifying new commercial relationships to upscale the network of repairers and parts suppliers, as well as aligning behaviours and ultimately culture to our core service proposition to ensure a seamless customer journey
- Provide performance KPI reviews, metrics and continuous improvement initiatives to be able to measure, report and improve on the customer expectations and service offerings
- Ensure compliance and business risk policies are both adhered to and challenged to meet the commercial, legislative, and business environments
- Consult with the relevant internal stakeholders, develop and implement appropriate supplier management and assessing strategies to deliver to organisational objectives
- Develop and implement policy with regards to supplier management
- Oversee the network’s performance and ensuring alignment between cost control methodologies and customer service/brand reputation outcomes
- Develop systems and tools to monitor and manage contract deliverables, service levels and commercial outcomes to ensure contractual obligations are met and delivered of a high standard and consistently
- Develop strategic sourcing or supply process improvements projects within category management
- Operate as the central liaison between the Commercial Team and contract suppliers
- Ensure government and industry regulatory requirements are understood and abided by suppliers
- Drive Industry best in class contract management, with a focus on strategic contracts enabling long term sustainability to the business,
- Maintain relationships with key stakeholders to become a highly valued contract expert
- Provide contract management support to project teams throughout the contract life cycle
- Provide guidance to others, while engaging in high level strategic planning for the business and provide training as required on best practice procurement, managing contracts, negotiations, managing suppliers and policy and procedures
- Identifying opportunities for continuous improvement across people, processes and technology and provide reporting status reporting and projection forecasts
- Assess external market influences and innovation to ensure the business is competitive and the supply chain remains relevant with contingencies addressed

**What you will bring to the role**:

- Demonstrated best practice strategic commercial negotiations for procurement, including centralisation of commercial strategies and achievement of quality service offerings, cost savings whilst maintaining, building and growing relationships with suppliers (ideally motor insurance or financial services industries)
- An exceptional understanding of financial levers, and a high degree of commercial acumen, business relationships, contract negotiation
- Claims and/or significant Insurance Industry experience