Procurement Specialist - Category

Snowy Hydro is a dynamic, integrated energy business that has been providing on-demand, reliable energy to Australia for generations. Snowy Hydro owns and operates a powerful combination of generation assets, including the mighty Snowy Mountains Scheme, gas and diesel plants, and contracted wind and solar energy. We also provide electricity and gas to over 1.5 million retail customers through our retail brands Red Energy and Lumo Energy.

Snowy 2.0 is Australia's largest committed renewable energy project. This nation-building project will provide on-demand energy and large-scale storage for many generations to come.

About the position

Are you a commercially sharp procurement professional with a strategic mindset?

We are looking for a Procurement Specialist - Category to focus on our capital expenditure (CAPEX) portfolio. In this role, you won't just be following tactical processes; you will bring a strategic, long-term approach to category management.

Reporting directly to the Commercial Category Manager for Capital Expenditure, you will navigate complex tasks parallel to the business to achieve optimum value for money, risk mitigation, and sustainable supplier outcomes. This isn't just a standard operational spend role; it's a project-based, strategic opportunity where you will independently drive projects to deliver core commercial outcomes. You will ensure that the content and value generated by your portfolio effectively meets the strategic needs of our executive leadership team.

Your Impact

• Drive Strategic Capex Sourcing: Support the development, execution, and management of complex capital expenditure sourcing strategies, moving away from purely tactical execution.
• End-to-End Delivery: Coordinate market engagements, RFx/tender developments, commercial evaluations, contract execution, and supplier onboarding across major capital works and infrastructure projects.
• Commercial Insights & Innovation: Apply an "MBA-level mindset" to evaluate market dynamics, utilise market intelligence, and structure robust contractual models.

Key Responsibilities

• Category Management & Sourcing: Support strategic category management activities across both CAPEX and OPEX portfolios, ensuring strong alignment with approved budgets and project delivery schedules.
• Commercial Negotiations: Lead and support commercial negotiations with external suppliers and internal stakeholders to capture cost savings and drive risk mitigation.
• Pipeline Coordination: Manage procurement programs, project pipelines, and contract variation documentation to ensure total business continuity.
• Governance & Information Management: Ensure all procurement activities comply with Snowy Hydro policies, delegations of authority, and probity frameworks while maintaining auditable records.
• Supplier Panels & Performance: Optimise supplier panels, monitor contractor engagement trends, manage contract renewals, and resolve performance issues.
• Procurement Transformation: Contribute directly to the implementation of the procurement transformation roadmap, ensuring initiatives remain fit for purpose for our capital projects pipeline.

About the location

This role is based in Melbourne.

About you

• Industry Experience: You bring a minimum of 3 to 5 years of specialised experience in procurement or commercial category management, ideally within mining, manufacturing, heavy industry, engineering, or construction sectors.
• CAPEX Domain Expertise: You have a demonstrated background in managing project-based capital expenditure (CAPEX) portfolios rather than standard corporate operational spend (OPEX).
• Technical & Commercial Acumen: You can quickly grasp project-specific terminology and engineering concepts to effectively understand and engage with internal client needs.
• Strategic Mindset: You possess strong commercial acumen, analytical capabilities, and a deep understanding of supply chain value drivers.
• Stakeholder & Communication Skills: You have exceptional written and verbal communication skills (including report writing) with the ability to collaborate up, down, and across cross-functional work streams.
• Professional Attributes: You are a self-starter who is comfortable dealing with ambiguity, has a high level of attention to detail, and treats all professional relationships as true partnerships driven by mutual cooperation.
• Qualifications: A Bachelor's degree is preferred, and prior experience in contract administration is highly favorable.

If you meet some, but not all, of the requirements, you are still encouraged to apply.

About our workforce

Snowy Hydro has a culture of decency and inclusion, with a commitment to the health and wellbeing of our people and a supportive environment to ensure that everyone - regardless of background - feels included and can succeed. At Snowy Hydro, we recognise that we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each individual brings, and we believe in providing an environment that allows that uniqueness to thrive.

Snowy Hydro is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We are committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provide accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities.

If you are interested in applying for a role with Snowy Hydro and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an email with your request to the Snowy Hydro recruitment team at [email protected].