Customer Field Services Category Manager

Overview

This role develops and executes category and sourcing strategies for Customer Field Services, including install, move, add, change and decommission (IMACD) services, on-site customer support, break-fix repair and related field-service capabilities.

What you'll do

• Develop and execute regional or global category strategies for Customer Field Services, including IMACD, on-site customer support, break-fix services, deskside support, dispatch services, and associated parts or logistics requirements.
• Maintain knowledge of field-service market trends, supplier capabilities, labor models, geographic coverage, emerging technologies, cost drivers, and applicable regulatory or workforce considerations.
• Partner with operations and business stakeholders to understand service requirements, demand forecasts, geographic coverage, service-level expectations, customer commitments, and planned business changes.
• Proactively manage stakeholder expectations by establishing clear objectives, timelines, decision points, dependencies, escalation paths, and communication routines.
• Participate in annual and quarterly planning, demand and capacity reviews, business reviews, project meetings, sourcing councils, and recurring stakeholder governance forums.
• Develop category plans, sourcing strategies, supplier segmentation models, competitive bid events, business cases, and supplier recommendations supported by market, operational, and financial analysis.
• Lead or support requests for information, requests for proposal, supplier evaluations, negotiations, contracting, renewals, and supplier transitions.
• Evaluate commercial models such as fixed fee, per-dispatch, per-device, per-site, time-and-materials, dedicated staffing, and outcome- or performance-based arrangements.
• Negotiate pricing, service levels, performance measures, governance requirements, transition obligations, risk protections, and continuous-improvement commitments.
• Monitor supplier performance against contractual commitments, service-level agreements, key performance indicators, financial targets, customer-experience measures, and corrective-action plans.
• Identify and mitigate risks related to service continuity, supplier dependency, geographic coverage, workforce availability, subcontracting, information security, compliance, transition readiness, and business continuity.
• Work with internal partners and suppliers to resolve performance issues, manage escalations, implement recovery plans, and maintain uninterrupted customer support.
• Develop productive supplier relationships while maintaining appropriate commercial discipline, accountability, and adherence to procurement policies.
• Identify savings, cost avoidance, demand-management, standardization, automation, and productivity opportunities without compromising service quality or customer outcomes.
• Support implementation and transition activities following sourcing decisions, including stakeholder communications, supplier onboarding, knowledge transfer, readiness reviews, and stabilization governance.
• Maintain category documentation, market intelligence, sourcing records, contract data, performance reporting, and a forward-looking pipeline of sourcing and renewal activities.
• Use procurement, contract-lifecycle, sourcing, and reporting systems to maintain accurate data, support sourcing events and approvals, monitor obligations and milestones, and produce actionable category and supplier insights.

What you'll need

• Four-year or graduate degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, Operations, Information Technology, or a related discipline, or commensurate work experience and demonstrated competence.
• Typically 4–7 years of experience in category management, strategic sourcing, procurement, supplier management, IT services, field-service operations, or a related discipline.
• Knowledge of category management and strategic sourcing.
• Knowledge of Customer Field Services and IT support delivery models.
• Knowledge of IMACD, on-site support, deskside support, dispatch, and break-fix service operations.
• Supplier selection, competitive bidding, and commercial evaluation skills.
• Contract negotiation and service-level agreement development skills.
• Supplier performance and governance management skills.
• Stakeholder engagement and expectation management skills.
• Financial analysis, should-cost modeling, and total cost of ownership skills.
• Demand, capacity, and sourcing pipeline planning skills.
• Risk assessment, business continuity, and supplier transition management skills.
• Executive communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Ability to work effectively across business, technical, legal, finance, operations, and procurement organizations.
• Familiarity with or prior use of procurement, strategic sourcing, and contract-lifecycle management platforms such as SAP Ariba, Icertis, Jaggaer, or comparable enterprise systems.
• Significant experience and expertise in Microsoft Excel, including advanced formulas, pivot tables, data validation, large-data-set analysis, financial modeling, and dashboard development.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint, including development of concise executive presentations, sourcing recommendations, business cases, and supplier-performance reviews.
• Proficiency with data collection, visualization, reporting, and collaboration tools used to consolidate information, track performance, identify trends, and communicate actionable insights.
• Ability to maintain data quality, reconcile information across systems, and translate market, financial, operational, and supplier data into clear recommendations.
• Cross-organizational skills: effective communication, results orientation, learning agility, digital fluency, customer centricity, strategic thinking, and collaboration and influence.

Nice to have

• Experience sourcing or managing IMACD, deskside support, on-site customer support, break-fix, dispatch, or comparable outsourced service categories.
• Experience working across countries or regions and managing multiple stakeholder groups.
• Professional procurement, supply chain, project management, or IT service management certification.

Details

• Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
• Employment type: Full time.
• Shift: No shift premium (India).
• Influences sourcing, supplier, cost, service-quality, and risk decisions across multiple business teams, countries, or regions; may lead category initiatives, sourcing projects, supplier governance activities, and cross-functional workstreams.
• Manages moderately complex categories and assignments involving multiple stakeholders, service requirements, suppliers, geographic markets, and commercial considerations.