Category Manager, Indirect Procurement

Department: Procurement | Reports to: Director of Procurement | Location: Hybrid work arrangement | Employment type: Full-time, permanent | Travel: Up to 15% across U.S. and Canadian operations

About BrightPath Kids

BrightPath Kids, part of the Busy Bees family, operates a large and growing network of early childhood education and care centers across the United States and Canada. Its purpose is to give every child the best start in life, supported by values of care, service, quality, and value. We are building a centralized procurement function to make it easier for our centers and support teams to obtain the goods and services they need—reliably, responsibly, and at the best total value. The function will balance disciplined commercial management with an uncompromising commitment to child safety, regulatory compliance, educator productivity, and continuity of center operations.

The Opportunity

The Category Manager, Indirect Procurement will lead strategic sourcing, contracting, supplier performance, and category-management activities for indirect spend across BrightPath Kids’ multi-site North American operations. This is a hands-on, high-impact role for a commercially astute procurement professional who can convert distributed local buying into scalable, service-led category strategies.

The role will initially focus on facilities and operational services, including maintenance and repair, janitorial and sanitation services, waste and recycling, pest control, security and life-safety services, landscaping and snow removal, uniforms and linen services, utilities-related services, and other center-support requirements. The precise category portfolio will evolve with business priorities and may expand into additional indirect categories such as professional services, technology and telecom, fleet or travel.

Reporting to the Director of Procurement, the Category Manager will work closely with Facilities, Operations, Finance, Legal, IT, Risk, regional and center leaders, and Accounts Payable. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable negotiating a national agreement and presenting a clear business case to senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies
  • Work with Director of Procurement to create multi-year category strategies that identify demand, market dynamics, risk, service requirements, sourcing opportunities, and implementation plans.
  • Establish category baselines using spend, supplier, contract, and service-performance data; prioritize initiatives according to total value, service criticality, and operational risk; and maintain a visible pipeline of sourcing and value-creation projects.
  • Recommend the right sourcing model for each category, including national agreements, regional agreements, approved local supplier programs, or spot-buy controls.
  • Drive supplier rationalization where it improves service, cost, compliance, or administrative efficiency without compromising local responsiveness or business continuity.
• Lead strategic sourcing and contracting
  • Lead end-to-end sourcing processes, including stakeholder discovery, specifications and scopes of work, supplier qualification, requests for information and proposals, bid analysis, commercial negotiation, business-case development, supplier selection, and implementation.
  • Negotiate agreements that define clear service levels, pricing and rate-card structures, performance remedies, renewal and termination rights, insurance and safety requirements, data and confidentiality expectations where applicable, and escalation processes.
  • Partner with Legal, Risk, Finance, and operational stakeholders to ensure contracts are commercially sound, practical for center operations, and aligned with company policy and applicable requirements.
  • Maintain an accurate contract repository, renewal calendar, and supplier documentation record.
• Manage suppliers and protect service continuity
  • Establish practical supplier-management routines for strategic and high-risk suppliers, including scorecards, quarterly business reviews, issue-resolution processes, corrective-action plans, and executive escalation where needed.
  • Monitor supplier performance against agreed service-level commitments, safety and compliance obligations, customer-service expectations, invoice accuracy, and savings commitments.
  • Proactively identify and mitigate supply and service risks, including geographic coverage gaps, single-source dependency, price volatility, emergency-service needs, supplier financial or operational risk, and vendor non-performance.
  • For services that directly affect center safety, hygiene, security, or daily operating continuity, ensure there are actionable escalation and contingency arrangements.
• Partner with the business and communicate change
  • Build trusted relationships with leaders at both corporate and center levels, ensuring procurement solutions are grounded in real operational needs.
  • Communicate sourcing decisions, implementation plans, supplier changes, and purchasing guidance clearly and respectfully, with particular attention to the needs of busy center teams.
  • Lead implementation and change-management plans that protect service continuity, measure adoption, and capture promised value.
  • Prepare concise reports and ready executive recommendations on category performance, sourcing outcomes, risks, savings, and next steps.

Requirements

• At least five years of progressive procurement, strategic sourcing, category management, or supplier-management experience, including substantial experience leading indirect-service sourcing and complex commercial negotiations.
• Experience managing facilities, maintenance, property services, cleaning and sanitation, waste, security, or comparable multi-site operational-service categories.
• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, finance, operations, engineering, facilities management, or a related discipline is preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
• Ability to translate spend and performance data into practical recommendations, conduct total-cost and commercial analyses, and build compelling, evidence-based business cases.
• Experience working in a geographically distributed, multi-location service organization, such as childcare, education, healthcare, hospitality, retail, senior living, food service, franchising, or similar environments.
• Proven record of working constructively with operational stakeholders, managing third-party supplier performance, and implementing sourcing decisions across multiple sites.
• Strong experience with procure-to-pay and ERP systems; NetSuite purchasing, vendor, requisition, purchase-order, and reporting experience is strongly preferred.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel or equivalent spreadsheet tools and the ability to present findings clearly in PowerPoint, Google Slides, or comparable tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting operations across both the United States and Canada, including managing suppliers with national and regional footprints.
• Professional procurement certification, such as CPSM, CSCP, SCMP, or equivalent, is an advantage but not required.
• Experience developing supplier diversity, sustainability, or responsible-procurement initiatives.
• Experience operating in a highly regulated setting where safety, hygiene, safeguarding, customer trust, and uninterrupted service are central to the business.

Core Capabilities

• Category leadership: Builds a fact-based strategy, makes clear choices, and turns an opportunity pipeline into executed results.
• Commercial acumen: Understands pricing, rate structures, demand drivers, contractual risk, supplier economics, and total cost of ownership.
• Negotiation and contracting: Achieves balanced commercial outcomes while protecting service levels, operational flexibility, and compliance requirements.
• Supplier-performance management: Uses scorecards, reviews, corrective actions, and escalation routes to convert contracts into reliable day-to-day delivery.
• Data fluency: Extracts insight from spend, PO, invoice, contract, and supplier data; distinguishes a valid opportunity from an assumption.
• Operational empathy: Designs solutions that work for center teams, not only for corporate processes, and recognizes that service failures can affect children, families, and educators.
• Change leadership: Secures stakeholder input, communicates the “why,” makes adoption simple, and follows through until the new process is working.
• Integrity and judgment: Applies fair, transparent, and ethical procurement practices; raises risks early and protects confidential commercial information.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits
• 401(k) with company match
• Tuition assistance
• Childcare discounts