Category Manager (Construction/ Property)

£65,000–£75,000 + £6,000 car allowance + 5% bonus + private healthcare + pension + 25 days holiday

Ideally based in North London or South Yorkshire | National remit | 4 days on-site

A major UK contractor is looking for a hands-on Category Manager to lead a small buying team and drive real commercial impact across housing and social housing contracts. This is a role for someone who enjoys being close to the detail, close to their people, and close to operations. Not someone who wants to sit behind a strategy deck.

What you’ll lead

You’ll manage a team of four Buyers (with a fifth joining), split across:

• London
• Yorkshire
• You’ll visit each region once per month and spend 4 days a week on-site/ visiting suppliers

They need someone who can bring structure, pace, and credibility + who can win hearts and minds in a team that needs direction, consistency, and accountability.

What you’ll deliver

• Lead and develop the buying team, improving performance, behaviours, and delivery discipline
• Drive value, cost certainty, and commercial improvement across housing/ construction contracts
• Build strong relationships with operational teams and become their trusted procurement partner
• Manage supplier performance, sourcing, tendering, and contract implementation
• Align local buying activity with wider category strategies
• Support sustainability commitments and process improvements
• Ensure compliance with procurement policy, governance, and reporting
• Bring a blend of procurement and construction buying understanding
• Help shape a function that has historically lacked strong recruitment and retention

What you’ll need

• Experience in construction, housing or social housing procurement (non-negotiable)
• Proven people management experience — leading, coaching, and challenging teams
• A hands-on approach: this is a doing role, not a purely strategic one
• Strong stakeholder skills and the ability to win trust quickly
• Confidence to reset expectations, raise standards, and bring consistency
• Comfortable working predominantly from the office

What you’ll get

• £65,000 – £75,000 salary
• £6,000 car allowance or company car
• 5% bonus
• Private healthcare (single cover)
• Life cover x2
• 25 days holiday
• The chance to make a visible, lasting impact in a function that genuinely needs strong leadership