Senior Director, Indirect Procurement

Summary

The Senior Director of Indirect Procurement owns the strategy, sourcing, and governance of all non-product spend across the enterprise. This leader builds and runs category strategies for areas such as IT and software, professional services, facilities, MRO, marketing, logistics, travel, fleet, contingent labor, and capital expenditures. The role partners closely with Finance, IT, HR, Legal, and business unit leaders to reduce total cost, manage supplier risk, and bring more spend under managed, compliant contracts.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Strategically develop and implement indirect category strategies that deliver maximum value, leverage, and standardization across all business units and locations.
• Build and drive Supplier Relationship Management for strategic indirect suppliers, including QBR cadence, performance scorecards, innovation opportunities, and cost modeling.
• Maintain a strong understanding of indirect spend categories and their impact on operating expenses (SG&A), EBITDA, and overall business performance.
• Within the strategic sourcing process, drive cost out of indirect spend by managing category and negotiation strategies, including terms and conditions, supplier selection and de-selection, evaluation, and supplier base rationalization.
• Employ total cost of ownership (TCO), "should cost" modeling, market benchmarking, and demand management to drive savings initiatives in line with operating budgets and overall business objectives.
• Create and manage a 3-year pipeline of strategic savings projects, with savings validated and tracked in partnership with Finance.
• Deliver year-over-year cost savings, cost avoidance, and productivity improvements against annual targets.
• Increase spend under management and reduce off-contract spend through policy, preferred supplier programs, catalogs, and stakeholder engagement.
• Partner with business stakeholders (IT, HR, Marketing, Facilities, Operations, and Finance) as a trusted advisor, aligning category plans with their needs and budget cycles.
• Provide procurement leadership on capital projects, technology and SaaS implementations, and new initiatives to meet target costs and establish program cost models.
• Understand and monitor macroeconomic, geopolitical, labor market, and technology trends as potential influencers of indirect supply, pricing, and risk.
• Develop ongoing category planning that reflects changes in the supplier and industry landscape, matches the needs of the organization, and is communicated on an ongoing basis.
• Negotiate and execute master service agreements, statements of work, software licenses, and other supplier contracts as needed to support critical business needs.
• Own the indirect procure-to-pay (P2P) process in partnership with Accounts Payable, including purchasing policy, approval workflows, catalog and punch-out content, and the P-card program.
• Establish and maintain measurable key performance metrics for indirect procurement, including savings, spend under management, contract compliance, supplier performance, PO cycle time, and buyer productivity.
• Lead contract lifecycle management, including renewal tracking, auto-renewal control, and compliance with negotiated pricing and service levels.
• Manage supplier risk across the indirect base, including financial health, cybersecurity and data privacy, insurance, business continuity, and regulatory compliance.
• Develop an overall supplier base that creates and sustains a competitive advantage through market knowledge, leveraged spend, and leveraged technology.
• Strategically develop and implement procurement strategies reduce costs, improve payment terms and working capital, and drive vendor consolidation and standardization.
• Qualify new and existing suppliers, including through RFIs, RFPs, and e-sourcing events, to assure competitive pricing, payment terms, service levels, and quality.
• Champion supplier diversity, sustainability, and responsible sourcing goals within indirect categories.
• Lead, develop, and mentor a team of category managers and buyers, building procurement capability and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Provide strategic and tactical leadership of indirect procurement through project coordination, effective negotiations, and procurement best practices.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent business experience. MBA preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in procurement and strategic sourcing, with at least 7 years focused on indirect categories, preferably in a mid-to-large size, multi-site organization.
• 5+ years of experience leading and developing procurement teams, including category managers and buyers.
• Demonstrated expertise across multiple indirect categories, such as IT and software, professional services, facilities, MRO, marketing, logistics, and contingent labor.
• Solid track record of meeting or exceeding substantial cost reduction and spend-under-management targets.
• Experience with ERP and procurement platforms (e.g., SAP, SAP Ariba, Coupa, or Oracle) and an understanding of P2P processes and spend analytics.
• ISM CPSM or CIPS (MCIPS) certification preferred.
• Proficiency in the MS Office Suite, with advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills required.
• Ability to influence and coordinate cross-functional stakeholders, including senior leadership, to achieve objectives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presenting to executive audiences.
• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and projects with strong awareness of deadlines.
• Ability to identify processes needing improvement and to recommend and implement improvements.
• Excellent contract development and management skills, including MSAs, SOWs, SaaS, and software licensing agreements.
• Excellent negotiation, financial analysis, and project management skills.
• Working knowledge of commercial contract law, data privacy and cybersecurity requirements, and regulatory compliance as they relate to sourcing, with corporate and social responsibility in mind.

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has no supervisory responsibility.