{"id":972613,"url":"https://alion.io/job/ocean-infinity-category-manager","title":"Category Manager","company":{"id":58711,"name":"Ocean Infinity","domain":"oceaninfinity.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/ocean-infinity","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":100,"open_postings":3,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":20,"computed_at":"2026-11-10T06:52:35Z"}},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Southampton, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":null,"max":60000,"currency":"GBP","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":80315},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-22T12:50:43Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-22","last_verified_at":"2026-11-10T14:43:14Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":19,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":1,"flags":[],"days_open":18},"description":"We are using and creating technology to transform operations at sea to enable people and the planet to thrive.\nWe are open-minded and fearless in our approach to innovation and don't believe in boundaries. We challenge everything and have massive ambitions to drag aging industries into the tech era.\nWe take safety, equality and education very seriously, and our responsibilities don't stop at our front door. Our business is built on the belief that there's definitely a more environmentally responsible way to operate at sea.\nWe employ people who share our core values. We expect our people to be courageous, trustworthy, and conscientious, driven by a desire to do the right thing. We strive for excellence, work collaboratively, and are genuinely excited by our work.\nWe offer opportunities for our people to develop beyond their role and span a multitude of disciplines. These are open to all, regardless of background and experience level. Working with us means being part of a team that is harnessing technology and creativity to disrupt a traditional industry.\nWe are not your average workplace.\nOcean Infinity is seeking a Category Manager to play a key role within the Supply Chain Management (SCM) team, positioned as a critical interface between Procurement and a wide range of internal stakeholders primarily supporting our defence work. Reporting to the Procurement Senior Manager, the role bridges strategic category leadership with high-quality operational delivery, supporting the planning, sourcing, contracting and delivery of supply solutions in a fast-paced maritime robotics environment.\nActing as the single point of contact for assigned projects and categories, the Category Manager partners closely with project managers, engineers, operational leads and budget holders to deliver on-time, cost-effective and compliant outcomes, while balancing competing business priorities. The role owns category strategies and delivery in defined areas of spend, leads complex sourcing and supplier performance management, and line manages a small team of between 1 & 4 Buyers.\nThe Category Manager provides clear commercial recommendations grounded in market insight, total cost of ownership, supplier performance and risk, and is expected to build effective relationships, influence decisions and apply constructive challenge as a trusted partner to the business.\nWhat you will do\nOwn and deliver category strategies for defined spend areas, aligning to Procurement Senior Manager direction and business objectives, and translating strategy into sourcing pipelines, contracting plans and SRM actions.\nAct as the procurement single point of contact for assigned projects, owning the commercial interface with project managers, engineers, operational leads and budget holders.\nBuild and manage effective stakeholder relationships, ensuring early engagement, alignment and clear expectation management across cost, schedule, quality, ESG and risk.\nPartner with stakeholders to shape demand into sourcing strategies, RFx activity, contracts and supply execution plans, balancing competing priorities and business governance.\nLead complex sourcing and negotiations, including RFx, bid evaluation and preparation of clear, robust commercial award recommendations in line with the Delegation of Authority.\nApply market intelligence, should-cost and TCO analysis to support informed decision-making and drive best value outcomes.\nIdentify, challenge and mitigate commercial and supply risks, providing clear advice, recommendations and escalation where required.\nDrive supplier performance and governance, including SRM, KPIs, corrective actions, policy compliance, ISO standards alignment, ERP data quality and accurate reporting.\nLine manage and develop Buyers (1-4), reviewing sub-category strategies and awards, prioritising workload and acting as first point of escalation for commercial issues.\nRequirements\nWho you are\nMCIPS qualified/member (or equivalent), or committed to structured CPD.\n5+ years’ experience in procurement with demonstrated ownership of categories, supplier relationships and complex stakeholder environments.\nProven experience across the full procurement lifecycle, working in close partnership with project, technical and operational stakeholders.\nHighly effective communicator and stakeholder manager, able to build credibility, influence decisions and manage competing priorities across multiple functions.\nComfortable acting as a trusted commercial partner, providing clear recommendations, challenge and guidance to senior and cross-functional stakeholders.\nThis role will require security clearance (BPSS).\nDemonstrated people leadership experience, including coaching, prioritisation and review of work within a small team.\nStrong understanding of procurement governance, policies, procedures and best practice.\nProficient with ERP systems (e.g. NetSuite), e-sourcing, contract management and procurement analytics.\nCalm under pressure, organised and able to prioritise effectively in a fast-paced operational environment.\nHigh integrity, sound commercial judgement and a proactive approach to risk management and total cost of ownership.\nDesirable\nExperience in maritime, industrial or project-based environments.\nExposure to multiple procurement categories (e.g. vessels, payloads, IT, professional services).\nExperience supporting ISO standards governance and audit readiness.\nFamiliarity with supplier performance management, ESG indicators and corrective action processes.\nBenefits\nSalary for this position: Up to £60,000 per annum*\n*The salary varies for this position as we are recruiting in multiple regional locations and job grades. The salary process is based on skills, abilities, and experience required.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5760,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Geological Survey","Underwater & Marine Robotics"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-16T19:03:26Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-10-12T18:20:17Z"},{"event":"reopen","at":"2026-10-22T10:44:59Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"GB","licensed_sponsor":true,"adverts_offering_sponsorship_24m":0,"sanctioned_now":false,"evidence":"Licensed UK visa sponsor (Skilled Worker)","filings_12m":null,"filings_prev_12m":null,"green_card_filings_12m":null,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":"Skilled Worker","cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-11-10T11:34:35+00:00","sources":["UK Home Office: register of licensed sponsors (workers)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":55,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.732,"p_room":0.75,"age_days":18,"expected_fill_days":20,"reasons":["conf:2","win:late"],"computed_at":"2026-11-10T06:52:35Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":80315,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/ocean-infinity-category-manager","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/ocean-infinity-category-manager.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-10T16:25:09Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3812,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-11T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":58711},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=58711"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Focean-infinity-category-manager"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Focean-infinity-category-manager"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Focean-infinity-category-manager"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/ocean-infinity-category-manager\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Focean-infinity-category-manager"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":972613}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"oceaninfinity.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":972613},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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