Purpose
The Senior Specialist, IT Category Financial Analyst supports the strategic management of IT spend categories (SaaS, Servers, Storage, Network, Cloud, Professional Services, Outsourced Services, Contract Labor, etc.) by developing and maintaining robust financial analyses, forecasts, and savings models. This role enables data-driven sourcing decisions, quantifies procurement savings, and delivers insightful reporting to senior stakeholders.

NOTE: This will be a hybrid role in North Chicago (3 days in office / 2 days remote) 

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain financial models for IT procurement categories to support sourcing strategy, vendor negotiations, and cost optimization initiatives.
• Build forecasting models for IT spend and track savings compared to targets and benchmarks.
• Partner with IT category managers to analyze spend patterns, vendor performance, and identify cost reduction opportunities.
• Prepare and deliver regular reports on procurement financial performance, savings, and value delivery to senior IT leadership and key stakeholders.
• Conduct variance analyses against contract baselines/forecasts and generate actionable insights for management.
• Support the development and refinement of total cost of ownership (TCO) models for major IT procurement initiatives.
• Ensure reporting accurately reflects savings methodology (e.g., cost avoidance vs. P&L savings) and is aligned with procurement and finance policy.
• Provide financial support on business cases for new IT investments, contract renewals, and supplier proposals.
• Perform ad-hoc analysis to support management decisions or respond to stakeholder requests.
• Collaborate across Procurement, IT, and Finance teams to advance strategic sourcing goals.
• Support IT category managers by delivering relevant insights from 3rd party market intelligence platforms.