Regional Category Manager (f/m/d) - Events & Sponsorships

Job Description

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

What you'll build:

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.

Your tasks will include:

• 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.), value creation, and risk-mitigation targets with full accountability.
• Harmonize and optimize processes across regions by mapping current workflows, identifying inefficiencies and implementing standardized, agile and compliant solutions to improve overall stakeholder experience.
• 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.
• Develop governance models, metrics and knowledge-sharing frameworks to ensure transparency, capability building and continuous improvement globally.
• Drive innovation, sustainability and diversity across the supplier base, supporting corporate ESG goals.

What you bring:

• 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.
• Demonstrated success in leading cross-regional and cross-functional initiatives and driving process harmonization or transformation.
• Strong expertise in process mapping, documentation and optimization, with the ability to simplify complex workflows and enhance stakeholder experience.
• 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.
• Proven ability to manage multi-million-dollar spend portfolios and drive measurable value beyond cost – such as supplier innovation, or operational agility.
• Proven experience in leading or contributing to organizational transformation, including implementing new processes, driving digitalization, or managing change within procurement or similar functions. (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; able to manage multiple priorities regionally.
• Proven ability to lead without authority, steering cross-functional teams and shaping decisions in matrixed, geographically dispersed environments
• Capability to mentor and coach junior team members and contribute to capability building across Marketing Procurement globally.
• Strategic mindset, with the ability to think beyond immediate tasks and understand the long-term impact of procurement strategies on business transformation and value creation.

​Bring out your best
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.

We win with inclusion
SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 443473 | Work Area: Finance | Expected Travel: 0 - 10% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | #LI-Hybrid

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