Senior Category Specialist

Brisbane CBD, QLD | 8-Month Contract | Immediate Start

Are you an experienced Category Specialist who thrives on leading complex procurement in an asset-intensive environment?

A large, high-profile organisation is seeking a Senior Category Specialist for an 8-month contract, starting as soon as possible.

Reporting to a Category Manager within the Strategic Procurement team, you’ll provide end-to-end management of procurement projects across portfolios that may include projects procurement, mining, repairs and maintenance, and ICT and corporate services. You’ll partner with stakeholders across the business to deliver strong commercial outcomes in line with governance and state procurement policy requirements.

This is a senior, hands-on role where commercial judgement, data-driven decision-making and confident negotiation are essential.

The Role

You’ll take ownership of end-to-end category and procurement activity, including:

- Developing sourcing strategies, category plans and procurement plans across the procurement portfolio Leading the analysis of spend demand, supplier performance, contract and market data to build fact-based category insights.
- Managing and delivering complex project procurement events, from strategy through to tender, evaluation and award
- Negotiating directly with suppliers and contractors during tenders and after award, including on pricing, deliveries and specifications
- Developing procurement plans and strategies to support capital and opex project activity
- Identifying and managing commercial, contractual, operational, financial and supply chain risks
- Delivering best value for money outcomes while maintaining strong governance and compliance with state procurement policies




- Managing the transition from strategic project procurement to operational implementation
- Supporting business process improvement and influencing stakeholders through change
- Mentoring and guiding Category Specialists, Category Advisors and support staff within the portfolio.

About You

To be successful in this role, you’ll ideally bring:

- Robust experience developing and implementing category management plans for complex contracts in asset-intensive industries such as utilities, mining or manufacturing
- Experience across site operations, construction, and goods and services contracts
- Advanced data analytics skills, with the ability to turn complex spend, supplier and market data into actionable insights
- Extensive contract management experience, and broad experience with different contract precedents and styles
- A substantial working knowledge of commercial and contract law as it applies to contracting
- A sound understanding of applicable government and legal requirements.
- Strong project management skills, including managing scope, time, cost and risk.
- A proven track record of influencing suppliers, senior management and stakeholders at all levels.
- An undergraduate degree (or equivalent experience) is required.
- A postgraduate qualification in procurement, logistics or business administration would be highly regarded.

The Opportunity

This is a great opportunity to step into a senior procurement role within a large strategic procurement team, where you’ll lead complex, high-value procurement and make a visible commercial impact across the organisation.

If you’re a commercially sharp, analytical procurement professional who can hit the ground running, we’d like to hear from you.

Apply now for this Brisbane-based Senior Category Specialist opportunity.

📌 Senior Category Specialist (Brisbane)
🏢 Alchemy Recruitment Consulting
📍 Brisbane