Senior Associate – Category Management (Professional Services)

About the role

Edari is seeking a Senior Associate to lead category management and strategic sourcing for professional services within a leading Dubai‑based client. The role is a 12‑month contract, renewable, and sits in the Procurement Department reporting to the Category Manager.

Key responsibilities

• Execute category management and strategic sourcing activities in line with corporate procurement policies.
• Conduct spend analysis to uncover trends, cost‑saving opportunities and improvement areas.
• Support market intelligence, benchmarking and risk assessment of suppliers.
• Manage sourcing projects through the full procurement lifecycle – requirements gathering, supplier evaluation, negotiation and contract award.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to align demand, project pipelines and procurement needs.
• Perform cost‑benefit and value analysis to guide commercial decisions.
• Identify sourcing constraints, supplier risks and develop mitigation plans.
• Assist in developing and implementing category and supplier strategies, monitoring savings targets and performance.
• Support supplier relationship management, including performance monitoring and issue resolution.

Required profile

• Minimum 5 years (60 months) of experience in strategic sourcing, spend analysis, supplier relationship management, contract management and procurement project delivery.
• Background in indirect procurement or professional services categories such as consultancy, outsourced manpower, recruitment, training, insurance, leasing or other corporate services.
• Strong analytical mindset and passion for delivering strategic sourcing initiatives.

Required skills

• Procurement project delivery
• Contract management
• Spend analysis
• Strategic sourcing
• Benchmarking
• Analytical skills
• Negotiation
• Market intelligence
• Cost‑benefit analysis
• Supplier relationship management
• Stakeholder management
• Category management
• Procurement processes