Technology Category Manager

About Us

Network International is a leading financial technology company operating across the Middle East and Africa. Payments is our core business, supported by capabilities across Data and Insights, Lending, Insurance and Risk Solutions. We serve businesses across a broad range of markets and customer segments, while continuing to grow our direct-to-consumer card offering.

Our EVP

At Network International, we always stay ahead. In the fast-paced world of financial services, we thrive on innovation, agility and purposeful collaboration. We invest first in our people, empowering colleagues to make bold decisions, learn quickly and grow their expertise alongside industry leaders. Solving complex problems means more than using cutting-edge technology; it means creating meaningful value for our customers together. We foster a culture where trust, accountability and achievement go hand in hand because success is how we work every day as one team.

Job Purpose

Job Accountabilities

• Manage end to end procurement process of technology requirements from requisition to delivery stage including supporting payment processing through the AP team.

• Build Technology Category plans and Cost optimization strategies.

• Generate cost savings and value-add through the management of procurement activities working closely with stakeholders and suppliers.

• Support standardization and sharing of best practices across the group entities

• Support the cost take out and optimization strategy across the group to achieve the target reduction in cost base, working closely with the functional teams.

• Identify and deliver procurement savings through strategic initiatives, optimization, negotiations and identifying alternatives suppliers and at the same time participate in other strategic cost savings projects.

• Supplier Management – performance evaluation and management and support supplier risk management.

• Drive improvement in procurement processes across the group through standardization, supplier catalogues, preferred suppliers and automation with objective of reducing processing times without compromising on internal controls.

• Ensure governance with group policies and Delegation of Authority

• Participate in annual budgets and forecasting process for optimization of cost base year on year as per objectives laid down by the leadership team.

• Input into Procurement Tracker and Reporting of KPIs capturing processing times, Procurement savings etc.

• Strong commercial negotiation skills, including enterprise licensing, SLAs, service credits and exit terms

• Adaptability and a proactive approach is essential to navigate the dynamic tech landscape, address emerging challenges and leverage on new opportunities.

• Contribute to the overall efficiency and innovation of technology procurement, driving success of the organisations strategy.

Experience / Skills Required

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree (required) in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, IT, Engineering or a related field.

• Minimum 8 years of prior experience in an IT procurement role, ideally with procurement category management experience.

• MCIPS qualification is good to have (preferred, not mandatory).

Job-specific Skills:

• Significant experience in strategic sourcing and category management of technology spend

• Senior stakeholder engagement and management experience is essential

• Experience in category management, market sector strategies, procurement planning, analysing spend and driving optimization initiatives

• Experience of leading large enterprise/group-wide agreements, including cloud, software licensing and managed services

• Strong negotiation skills

• Working knowledge of Oracle ERP, ideally Oracle Fusion Procurement, including catalogue and purchase agreement management

• Experience in financial services, payments or fintech, and technology sectors, with an understanding of the payments ecosystem (card schemes, processors, issuing and acquiring platforms)

• Working knowledge of third-party risk, outsourcing and information security requirements applicable to regulated payment providers (for example PCI DSS and UAE Central Bank outsourcing expectations)

• Familiarity with technology commercial models, including SaaS, cloud consumption (FinOps), software licensing and managed services, and the emerging use of AI and automation tooling

• Ability to partner with Information Security, Risk and Legal to embed security, data protection and resilience clauses in supplier contracts

Generic skills:

• Ability to work well under pressure with tight deadlines, juggle multiple priorities and in fast paced, dynamic environment.

• Excellent verbal and written communications skills

• Ability to build a strong rapport with stakeholders

• Solution Provider with a critical thinking mindset

• Business acumen, with sound judgement balancing cost, risk and service continuity for business-critical payment services

• High energy levels and self motivated

• Integrity

• Must maintain confidentiality and discretion in all aspects

• Comfortable with flexible working schedule to meet the needs of the company and its executives

• Excellent Excel & Power-point presentation skills