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Category Manager, Software

Optiver
🇺🇸ChicagoSeniorFull-time$107k–$140kPosted October 14, 2026

About the Role

The Category Manager - Software is a hands-on sourcing position within a dedicated Software category in Global Procurement's Tech Sourcing organization, responsible for managing and executing sourcing and category strategies for specific software categories.

  • Own day-to-day sourcing and supplier management across enterprise software deals, spanning enterprise operations, productivity and collaboration tools alongside the wider software estate.
  • Translate category plans into sourcing events, commercial analysis, contract execution and measurable outcomes.
  • Partner closely with business and technology stakeholders and Procurement colleagues to extract maximum value from supplier and reseller relationships, managing renewals, licensing and consumption.
  • This is an individual-contributor role with global impact across multiple regions, partnering with other software category managers.

Responsibilities

  • Category Planning and Execution: work with the business stakeholders to support development of category planning and implementation of the software category strategy
  • Sourcing delivery: Plan and run end-to-end sourcing events (RFI, RFQ, and RFP) for enterprise software, prepare commercial evaluation models, negotiation strategies (commercial and contract), and award recommendations
  • Commercial management: Support negotiations on agreements; structure pricing, licensing, renewal mechanics, SLAs, and commercial terms in line with Procurement and Legal standards
  • Supplier performance: Monitor supplier delivery, service levels, support quality, and renewal risk; manage supplier escalation paths
  • Stakeholder partnership: Act as a trusted Procurement partner to business operations, enterprise technology, and other stakeholder teams on software requirements, licensing, timelines, and total cost of ownership (TCO)
  • Market and risk intelligence: Track licensing models, price inflation, vendor consolidation, and consumption trends; surface risks and opportunities to stakeholder teams
  • Process and compliance: Ensure software purchases follow Optiver Procurement policy and controls; maintain accurate records in sourcing and contract systems
  • Cross-regional coordination: Collaborate with Procurement colleagues to align global frameworks, regional exceptions, and consistent ways of working across geographies
  • Knowledge sharing: Contribute to category playbooks, should-cost models, and lessons learned from sourcing events to uplift team capability

Requirements

  • 5+ years of technology procurement or strategic sourcing experience, with substantive exposure to software categories (SaaS, enterprise applications, business operations systems, and productivity and collaboration tools)
  • Demonstrated delivery of complex sourcing projects from intake through contract signature, including multi-supplier evaluations and executive-ready business cases
  • Experience supporting or leading software provider and/or reseller negotiations with measurable commercial outcomes
  • Working knowledge of software commercial dynamics (subscriptions, enterprise agreements, true-ups, consumption commitments, renewals, and license optimization)
  • Proven ability to partner with business and technology stakeholders and finance on requirements and commercial decisions
  • Experience operating in a matrixed, global environment with multiple regions and stakeholders
  • Strong negotiation, analytical, and financial skills; ability to build and interpret TCO and should-cost analyses for software solutions
  • Proficiency in sourcing methodologies, contract structures, and commercial terms common in enterprise software
  • Clear communication - able to distil complex technical and commercial trade-offs for business and leadership audiences
  • Organization and prioritization in a fast-paced environment with competing demands and time-sensitive renewal and project needs
  • Familiarity with procurement systems and tooling and disciplined contract and spend data management
  • Collaborative mindset with integrity, attention to detail, and a continuous-improvement approach
  • Experience in trading, or other technology-intensive industries with demanding uptime, security, and data-protection requirements
  • Exposure to enterprise productivity suites, collaboration platforms, or business-operations application estates
  • Experience supporting software asset management, license optimization, or SaaS lifecycle programs in partnership with IT and business operations

What You'll Get

  • $107k–$140k base salary
  • The opportunity to work alongside best-in-class professionals from over 40 different countries
  • Highly competitive compensation package including performance-based bonus structure
  • 401(k) match up to 50%
  • Comprehensive health, mental, dental, vision, disability, and life coverage
  • 25 paid vacation days alongside market holidays
  • Extensive office perks, including breakfast, lunch and snacks, regular social events, clubs, sports leagues and more