Category Manager, Food & Beverage | Full-Time | Remote Full Time NEW

Oak View Group (OVG) is the global leader in premium live entertainment infrastructure and services, with a platform spanning venue development and end-to-end capabilities across venue management, hospitality, and sponsorship sales. Founded in 2015, the company serves a collection of seven world-class owned venues and a client roster of the most iconic arenas, stadiums, convention centers, music festivals, performing arts centers, and cultural institutions, spanning four continents.

Position Summary

The Category Manager, Food & Beverage supports the development and execution of category strategy across food, beverage, and related supplier partnerships. This role drives total value creation—balancing cost optimization, quality, service, risk management, sustainability, and revenue enablement—while supporting diverse operating models across venues and regions. The Category Manager partners closely with Operations, Culinary, Finance, Legal, and Commercial teams to execute sourcing initiatives, manage supplier performance, and support scalable, compliant supplier ecosystems that enable growth and exceptional guest experiences. This role embodies Procurement with a Purpose: building high-performing supplier partnerships that elevate operational performance, protect the brand, and deliver measurable enterprise value. The ideal candidate will bring deep sourcing expertise, strong leadership, and a collaborative mindset to transform procurement into a strategic business partner.

This role pays an annual salary of $120,000-$145,000 and is bonus eligible.

Benefits for Full-Time roles: Health, Dental and Vision Insurance, 401(k) Savings Plan, 401(k) matching, and Paid Time Off (vacation days, sick days, and 11 holidays)

This position will remain open until June 5, 2026.

Responsibilities

Category Strategy & Enterprise Value Creation

• Support execution of Food & Beverage category strategies aligned to business growth and venue needs.
• Assist in category segmentation (e.g.,food, beverage, alcohol, non-alcoholic, disposables, specialty/local suppliers).
• Identify and support delivery of value across cost savings, service improvements, and operational efficiencies.
• Help balance enterprise leverage with venue-level flexibility.
• Support development and maintenance of sourcing policies, playbooks, and contract templates.

Strategic Sourcing & Commercial Execution

• Lead and support sourcing initiatives including RFIs, RFPs, negotiations, and supplier selection.
• Develop cost analyses and negotiation materials addressing pricing, service levels, and risk mitigation.
• Ensure sourcing activities align with governance, compliance, and financial controls.
• Support contract drafting, redlining, and execution in collaboration with Legal.

Supplier Partnership & Performance Management

• Support management of supplier relationships including distributors, beverage partners, and specialty suppliers.
• Monitor supplier performance across cost, service, quality, and compliance metrics.
• Assist in driving continuous improvement initiatives across service levels, pricing accuracy, and innovation.
• Support supplier risk assessments and contingency planning.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partner with Operations, Culinary, Venue Leadership, and Finance to understand operational requirements.
• Translate business needs into structured sourcing and supplier solutions.
• Support change management efforts to drive adoption of preferred suppliers and contracts.
• Collaborate with Finance, Risk, and Legal to ensure contractual compliance and risk mitigation.

Supplier Inclusion, Sustainability & Purpose

• Support supplier inclusion initiatives by identifying and onboarding diverse and local suppliers.
• Assist in aligning Food & Beverage sourcing with sustainability and ESG objectives.
• Maintain supplier documentation and reporting to support transparency and compliance.

Financial & Data Leadership

• Track and report on sourcing savings, pipeline, and category performance.
• Partner with Finance to validate savings and ensure compliance with budget expectations.
• Leverage procurement technology (e.g., Coupa) to enhance visibility, automate workflows, and enable data-driven decisions.
• Continuously evaluate and improve category management and sourcing tools, scorecards, and metrics.

Procurement Transformation Enablement

• Support enterprise procurement transformation initiatives, including process standardization and digital enablement.
• Champion best practices in category management, sourcing, and supplier governance.
• Contribute to a high-performance, values-driven procurement culture.

Additional ad-hoc responsibilities will be needed as the program grows and matures, list above is not exhaustive.

Qualifications

Required Attributes:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field.
• 3–5+ years of experience in strategic sourcing or category management, preferably with Food & Beverage exposure.
• Experience supporting sourcing initiatives across multi-site or decentralized organizations.
• Strong commercial, financial, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders in a matrixed environment.
• Experience with procurement platforms (e.g., Coupa).

Preferred Attributes

• Passion for live entertainment, culinary innovation, and venue experience.
• Experience balancing enterprise programs with local supplier needs.
• Strategic thinker with strong execution orientation.
• Data-driven decision maker.
• Experience supporting ESG or supplier inclusion initiatives.

Travel Requirements

• This position may travel up to 30-50% of the time.

Strengthened by our Differences. United to Make a Difference

At OVG, we understand that to continue positively disrupting the sports and live entertainment industry, we need a diverse team to help us do it. We also believe that inclusivity drives innovation, strengthens our people, improves our service, and raises our excellence. Our success is rooted in creating environments that reflect and celebrate the diverse communities in which we operate and serve, and this is the reason we are committed to amplifying voices from all different backgrounds.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Oak View Group is committed to equal employment opportunity. We will not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment on any legally recognized basis (“protected class”) including, but not limited to veteran status, uniform service member status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information or any other protected class under federal, state, or local law.