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We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic Regional Category Manager (f/m/d) – Events & Sponsorships to join our Global Marketing Procurement team. In this senior role, you will drive innovation, efficiency, and strategic value creation across the Events and Sponsorships categories, shaping how the organization engages partners and delivers world-class brand experience.
You will be responsible for developing and executing the regional category strategy for events and sponsorships, while leading efforts to streamline and advance ways of working across regional teams. This includes mapping, optimizing, and standardizing sourcing, contracting, and supplier management processes to ensure global consistency, agility, and excellence.
As a trusted business partner, you will collaborate closely with Marketing and Commercial teams to deliver innovative, high-quality and cost-efficient event & sponsorship experiences while ensuring procurement brings strategic value and seamless support.
Develop and execute the regional category strategy for events and sponsorships in line with business and procurement goals.
Own the regional category spend and deliver financial targets (savings, rebates, payment terms etc.), Provide strategic leadership to buyers / sourcing teams, ensuring consistency and alignment with global/regional frameworks and policies.
Build strong business partnerships with global and regional stakeholders to understand needs, influence decisions and deliver tailored, value-driven procurement solutions.
Lead strategic sourcing and supplier management initiatives, including supplier selection, negotiation, contracting, risk mitigation and performance optimization.
Lead complex, high-impact commercial negotiations, including multi-year sponsorship agreements and regional event frameworks.
Lead procurement transformation and change management initiatives, supporting the adoption of new tools, governance frameworks and digital solutions.
Several years of working experience in marketing procurement, ideally focused on events, sponsorships or related marketing categories.
Proven track record in defining and executing global/regional category strategies in close collaboration with business stakeholders and suppliers, ensuring alignment with both commercial and business objectives.
Strong analytical skills with the ability to collect, interpret, and analyze data to support decision-making, identify opportunities, and drive continuous improvement.
Effective communication, stakeholder management and negotiation skills, with the ability to build relationships, influence stakeholders, and drive change across the organization and with external suppliers.
Experience presenting category strategies, business cases, and commercial recommendations at senior or executive leadership forums.
The candidate should be comfortable working in dynamic environments and capable of championing innovation, sustainability, and new ways of working within the team.)
Strong project management skills ; SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.
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