Director, Global Category Lead – Infrastructure

Job Description

Director, Global Category Lead – Infrastructure | Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

The Tone:
This is a full-time, global role at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a world-leading financial institution with 150,000 colleagues across the globe. MUFG strives to make a difference for every client, organization, and community, built on values of long-term relationships, serving society, and fostering sustainable growth. This pivotal role defines and executes the procurement strategy for infrastructure-related technology spend across the enterprise, shaping category strategy and delivering commercial outcomes globally. The company fosters an inclusive environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and professional growth, investing in talent and technology.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Full-time

• Team: Collaborating with cross-functional teams including Infrastructure Engineering, Cloud Operations, Network Architecture, Cybersecurity, and regional procurement.
• Mission: Define and execute the global procurement strategy for all infrastructure-related technology spend across the enterprise.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Strategy Definition: Develop and maintain a multi-year global infrastructure category strategy, aligning it with enterprise technology roadmaps and business objectives while establishing opportunity pipelines based on market trends and industry benchmarks.
• Sourcing Leadership: Lead complex, high-value sourcing initiatives across the infrastructure portfolio, crafting strategies that balance cost optimisation, risk mitigation, resilience, performance improvement, and innovation.
• Commercial Negotiation: Conduct competitive sourcing events, drive supplier selection, and lead commercial negotiations to establish enterprise-wide frameworks and strategic agreements, aiming for total cost of ownership optimisation.
• Stakeholder Advising: Serve as the trusted procurement advisor to Infrastructure and Technology leadership teams, influencing investment decisions with deep market intelligence and ensuring early procurement engagement in strategic initiatives.
• Supplier Governance: Establish and manage executive-level relationships with key infrastructure suppliers through segmentation plans and governance meetings, identifying opportunities for innovation, productivity gains, and long-term strategic partnerships.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Finance, Technology or a related discipline, with substantial experience in technology procurement at a Director level within large multinational organizations.
• Experience: Minimum 12 years’ experience in technology procurement or strategic sourcing, with proven expertise in managing complex sourcing initiatives across infrastructure categories like cloud services or network architecture, including contract negotiations with major providers such as IBM, AWS, or Cisco.
• Skills: Strong commercial acumen combined with financial analysis skills for effective decision-making, alongside excellent interpersonal communication skills to build trust-based relationships globally, and an ability to share best practices collaboratively.
• Bonus: Experience operating within regulated industries like financial services, direct involvement supporting enterprise cloud or infrastructure transformation programs, or professional certifications such as CIPS, CPSM, or CPSD.