UL Solutions is seeking a senior leader to build and lead our indirect sourcing strategy across enterprise services and technology. This role is central to shifting the organization from reactive procurement to a disciplined, category-led model that shapes demand, drives enterprise alignment, and delivers measurable value.
This position focuses on enterprise services and technology spend outside of the lab production ecosystem. While direct sourcing supports lab equipment and consumables tied to revenue generation, this role owns the broader enterprise categories that enable the business to operate and scale.
The Head of Category Strategy will define how sourcing engages the business, influence decisions upstream, and establish a structured, scalable approach to category management globally.
This is a full-time, hybrid (3 days in office) position located at our Northbrook, IL or Chicago, IL office.
Responsibilities
Scope of Responsibility
- Information Technology and Software (direct ownership)
- Contingent Workforce and Consulting
- Marketing, Finance, and Professional Services
- HR and Corporate Services
Excludes lab equipment and consumables managed by the direct sourcing team.
What You Will Own
1. Category Strategy and Value Creation
- Develop and implement category strategies across major indirect spend areas
- Establish preferred supplier models and structured commercial frameworks
- Drive supplier consolidation and stronger strategic partnerships
2. Demand Shaping and Business Engagement
- Engage early with business and functional leaders to translate needs into structured options
- Shift sourcing upstream from transaction execution to decision enablement
- Bring transparency to tradeoffs across cost, speed, and strategic fit
3. Operating Model and Governance
- Build a consistent, end-to-end sourcing approach from intake through contracting
- Standardize processes, templates, and governance to reduce fragmentation
- Drive portfolio-level prioritization across competing investments
4. Strategic Execution
- Personally lead complex IT sourcing initiatives and critical negotiations
- Elevate the quality and consistency of commercial outcomes
- Ensure disciplined decision making in partnership with Finance, IT, and Legal
5. Team Leadership and Capability Build
- Lead and develop a team of category leaders across indirect spend
- Clarify roles between strategy and execution to improve speed and accountability
- Build long-term capability, including future IT category leadership
Transformation Mandate
- Move the organization from request-based sourcing to category-led planning
- Replace fragmented supplier usage with structured, scalable ecosystems
- Improve sourcing cycle time, predictability, and compliance
- Introduce portfolio thinking into capital and commercial decision making
- Create a sourcing function that is seen as a strategic partner, not a gatekeeper
What Success Looks Like
- Category strategies are in place and actively guiding decisions across major spend areas
- Increased spend under management and reduced supplier fragmentation
- Faster, more predictable sourcing cycles with clear pathways and expectations
- Strong adoption of standardized processes, templates, and governance
- Measurable commercial outcomes tied to cost, value, and risk
- Business leaders engage sourcing early as part of planning, not after the fact
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Technology, Supply Management, or a related field, and 10+ years of experience developing and executing category strategies.
- CPM/CPSM certification is a plus. Strong experience creating category strategies involving $1M+ CAPEX investments.
- Deep knowledge of technologies available in today’s marketplace.
- Ability to solve complex problems and take a broad perspective to identify innovative solutions.
- Comfortable interacting with and presenting to senior leadership.
- Works independently, requiring guidance only in the most complex situations, and leads functional teams and projects.
- Proven track record of delivering significant and sustainable cost reductions through the effective development and execution of sourcing strategies.
- Superior relationship management and cross-functional leadership skills.
- Experienced sourcing practitioner with a strong understanding of best-practice sourcing methodologies and a demonstrated track record of working ethically to achieve excellent outcomes.
- Knowledge of standard commercial contracting practices and procedures.
- Ability to interpret and summarize contractual terms for internal clients, including license rights, product entitlements, intellectual property, and use restrictions.
- Ability to take a hands-on approach to analyzing and interpreting spend data in support of sourcing initiatives and UL business objectives.
- Strong process management, organizational, and time management skills.
- Proven experience leading enterprise IT sourcing, supplier negotiations, and services-based category management.
- Experience building and scaling sourcing or procurement operating models. Ability to influence senior stakeholders and shape decisions upstream.
- Demonstrated success driving transformation in complex, matrixed organizations.
Total Rewards: We understand compensation is an important factor as you consider the next step in your career. The estimated salary range for this position is $137,600 to $175,000 and is based on multiple factors, including job-related knowledge/skills, experience, geographical location, as well as other factors. This position is eligible for annual bonus compensation with a target payout of 20% of the base salary. This position also provides health benefits such as medical, dental and vision; wellness benefits such as mental and financial health; and retirement savings (401K) commensurate with the standard rewards offered in each individual location or country. We also provide full-time employees with paid time off including vacation (15 days), Holidays (9 days), Personal days (3 days) and sick time off (72 hours).
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A global leader in applied safety science, UL Solutions (NYSE: ULS) transforms safety, security and sustainability challenges into opportunities for customers in more than 110 countries. UL Solutions delivers testing, inspection and certification services, together with software products and advisory offerings, that support our customers’ product innovation and business growth. The UL Mark serves as a recognized symbol of trust in our customers’ products and reflects an unwavering commitment to advancing our safety mission. We help our customers innovate, launch new products and services, navigate global markets and complex supply chains, and grow sustainably and responsibly into the future. Our science is your advantage.
UL Solutions is seeking a senior leader to build and lead our indirect sourcing strategy across enterprise services and technology. This role is central to shifting the organization from reactive procurement to a disciplined, category-led model that shapes demand, drives enterprise alignment, and delivers measurable value. This position focuses on enterprise services and technology spend outside of the lab production ecosystem. While direct sourcing supports lab equipment and consumables tied to revenue generation, this role owns the broader enterprise categories that enable the business to operate and scale. The Head of Category Strategy will define how sourcing engages the business, influence decisions upstream, and establish a structured, scalable approach to category management globally.
