Category Lead - Corporate Procurement

This is a unique opportunity to shape Novo Nordisk’s global Travel & Related Services category directions at the intersection of business needs, stakeholder experience, and value creation. As Category Lead, you will help set the strategic direction for categories that supports a truly global organisation – and deliver tangible impact as Corporate Procurement accelerates a strategic cost optimisation programme sponsored by our CFO.

You will be a key player in our value delivery journey: translating insights into crisp category choices, mobilising stakeholders, and building supplier partnerships that raise performance and unlock new opportunities. If you are energised by pace, complexity, and making things happen, this role gives you the platform to do it.

Your new role

You will join a team of procurement professionals in Bagsværd, Denmark, as a Category Lead and report to the Director. With end-to-end ownership of global categories within Travel & Related Services, you will set direction, build alignment, and drive execution together with stakeholders and GBS colleagues – fostering collaboration and an enterprise mindset grounded in well-defined category strategies.

Some of your responsibilities will be to:

• Lead the development and continuous maturing of the Travel & Related Services category strategies, ensuring it is aligned to business priorities and translated into clear opportunities, roadmaps and actions.
• Build/develop KPIs to track category and supplier performance, drive SRM with key partners to improve service levels, resilience, innovation and cost efficiency.
• Act as a valuable procurement business partner for key stakeholders at senior levels, shaping decisions through insights, storytelling, and clear commercial recommendations.
• Drive implementation and execution of the category strategy in close collaboration with local stakeholders, sourcing managers, and GBS colleagues – ensuring speed, adoption, and measurable results.
• Scan the external market to identify best practice and new category opportunities and act as a subject matter expert and coach to build capability across Corporate Procurement.

Your new department

Corporate Procurement manages Novo Nordisk's global indirect spend of approximately 130 billion DKK. We define and drive the global procurement strategy with around 150 employees in Denmark and over 500 globally, acting as a strategic partner in executing the company’s strategy and enabling value at scale.

We work with a global mindset and a strong focus on business partnering and career development. We invest in our people and foster a high-performance culture built on trust, empowerment, and enjoyment. In our non-hierarchical set-up, great collaboration is what enables impact – for you and for Novo Nordisk.

Your skills & qualifications

• A master’s degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, or a related field
• 5–7 years of relevant experience within Category Management and/or Strategic Procurement
• Proven ability to develop impactful category strategies that influence Novo Nordisk, translating market and competitive insights into decisions, roadmaps, and outcomes
• Understanding of market trends, competitive dynamics, and commercial models within Travel and Related Services is an advantage
• Strong track record of building long-term partnerships and influencing decision-making with senior stakeholders in a global set-up

You are ambitious and impact-driven, with the curiosity to spot opportunities and structure to turn them into results. You build trust quickly, navigate complexity with confidence, and enjoy working at pace with many stakeholders. You communicate with impact – adapting your style through storytelling and influencing – and you negotiate effectively. Finally, you are confident working with data to generate insights, steer performance, and support decision-making.

As well, you are fluent in both written and spoken English.

Working at Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 69,500 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries.

We recognise the importance of the unique skills and perspectives our people bring to the table, and we work continuously to bring out the best in them. Working at Novo Nordisk, we're working toward something bigger than ourselves, and it's a collective effort. Join us! Together, we go further. Together, we're life changing.

More information

For further information, please contact Natacha Laterna Braik, Senior Director, Corporate Services at NHLB@novonordisk.com. Be advised Natacha will not support queries about your recruitment status, Natacha will only answer questions about the role.

Deadline

29 April 2026. Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis. 

You do not need to attach a cover letter to your application, but please include a few sentences about why you are applying in your resume or CV. To ensure an efficient and fair recruitment process, please refrain from adding a photo in your CV.

Please note that only applications in English will be considered.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and preventing diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.