The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Senior Contract Specialist / Lead Sourcing Manager (Internal Promotion)
5-8 years experience, with 2-3 years at the Senior/Lead level.Skills to master
- Leading complex negotiations, owning end-to-end sourcing projects, managing significant supplier relationships, and demonstrating early signs of team leadership or mentorship.
You're ready to move on when
- Consistently exceeding individual performance metrics and delivering significant savings/value.
- Proactively identifying and solving complex commercial problems.
- Demonstrating strong influencing skills with senior business stakeholders.
- Mentoring junior team members and taking initiative on process improvements.
- Developing and presenting tactical category plans, even if not yet owning the full strategy.
- 2
Category Manager (from another organisation)
10-15 years experience, with 3-5 years in a similar Category Manager role.Skills to master
- Deep expertise in a specific spend category (e.g., IT, Marketing, HR), proven track record of developing and executing category strategies, and managing a team.
You're ready to move on when
- Successfully managed multi-million pound spend categories in a previous role.
- Demonstrated ability to drive significant cost savings and value creation.
- Experience building and leading a procurement team.
- Strong understanding of market dynamics and supplier landscapes relevant to our business.
- Ability to quickly adapt to our company culture and stakeholder environment.
- 3
Consultant (from a Procurement Consultancy)
10-15 years experience, including 5+ years in procurement consulting.Skills to master
- Strategic sourcing methodology, category strategy development, stakeholder engagement at senior levels, and project management of complex procurement transformations.
You're ready to move on when
- Experience leading procurement transformation projects for multiple clients.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a focus on data-driven recommendations.
- Ability to quickly grasp new industries and commercial landscapes.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, comfortable advising C-suite clients.
- A desire to move from advising to 'doing' and owning the outcomes.