Category Specialist

About the Role

At AB InBev Africa, dreaming big is part of our DNA and culture. We continuously pursue innovative ways to enhance life’s moments, fostering an environment where passion, talent, and curiosity thrive. We empower our employees by providing resources, teammates, and opportunities to maximize their potential and achieve remarkable results together.

The primary responsibility of the Category Specialist is to efficiently manage procurement activities within an assigned portfolio of goods or services. This role involves employing diverse sourcing methods such as Request for Proposal or Qualifications, Invitation to Bid, Competitive and Non-Competitive Negotiation, and Informal Purchases. The Specialist must address complex challenges that arise in supplier and contract management, procurement procedures, data and expenditure analysis, cost benchmarking, and the reconciliation of varying agency requirements. End-to-end administration of procurement activities—from formulating strategies to contract execution—is expected.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

• Collect and interpret contract expenditure data to support procurement decisions.
• Perform comprehensive market research and benchmarking to evaluate goods and services.
• Create solicitation specifications by integrating internal insights and external information.
• Demonstrate strong familiarity with procurement policies, procedures, and multiple solicitation approaches including RFPs, Invitations to Bid, negotiations, and informal purchasing.
• Develop and sustain productive relationships with agency procurement teams, central purchasing groups, and key suppliers to ensure effective contract management and sourcing outcomes.
• Conduct continual supplier and contract oversight to verify adherence to their contractual duties and compliance standards.
• Address common procurement issues such as disputes, data evaluation, and negotiation challenges.
• Lead strategic formal supplier negotiations and guide team members supporting similar initiatives.
• Create tools to calculate, predict, and report cost savings, as well as lead evaluation teams and the award recommendation process.
• Regularly meet with supplier executives to assess performance, discuss contracts, negotiate enhancements, and advocate for price reductions.
• Serve as a representative of the central procurement office at internal and external events and discussions.
• Analyze proposed pricing in relation to historical data, other state contracts, and recognized industry indexes.
• Track developments in supplier markets and industries to identify opportunities for improved cost efficiency and quality.
• Support legal teams by providing research and recommendations during procurement disputes or protests.

Key Attributes and Competencies

• Personifies the company culture and its 10 guiding principles.
• Demonstrates enthusiasm and dedication towards resolving customer challenges.
• Utilizes business, customer, and consumer knowledge to contribute innovative ideas.
• Executes responsibilities with discipline and urgency.
• Communicates directions clearly to ensure task completion.
• Maintains focus amid change, obstacles, and setbacks.
• Adapts quickly to new processes and technologies.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Engineering, or related fields.
• Two to five years of general business experience, preferably within supply chain, procurement, marketing, engineering, or logistics functions.
• A proven record of strong performance.

Additional Information

• Job Band: VII
• Recruitment follows company policies and talent requirements, including assessments and background checks.
• Management retains discretion to consider extra relevant information for candidate shortlisting.