Senior Manager - Strategic Sourcing

Senior Manager - Strategic Sourcing

The Senior Manager - Strategic Sourcing leads the organization's procurement, sourcing, and accounts payable (AP) functions to ensure strong financial stewardship, operational efficiency, and risk-aware vendor relationships. This role oversees the end-to-end sourcing and purchasing lifecycle, while also ensuring timely, accurate, and well-controlled vendor payments. The position leads and develops a team of vendor managers and procurement and AP professionals, aligning people, processes, and supplier strategy to deliver cost optimization, service excellence, regulatory compliance, and strong internal controls.

The position partners closely with Finance, Risk Management, Legal, IT, Compliance, and business leaders to ensure vendors meet credit union standards for security, performance, resilience, and value.

Our Credit Union founded in 1936 and has grown to serve members throughout Texas and beyond. At UFCU, we are more than just a financial institution, and our people are more than just employees. We are dedicated to our purpose of empowering our Members to achieve financial success and build brighter futures. In pursuit of our aspiration that UFCU is loved by millions of Members and built to thrive for generations, we are guided by our values:

Purposefully Member-Obsessed: We are driven by a profound sense of empathy to deeply understand our Members' needs and preferences, what brighter futures means to them, and the obstacles in their way. We act in our Members' best interests, forever seeking to empower their financial success.

Possibilities Reimagined: We are inspired to courageously experiment, learn, and iterate in pursuit of positive impact for our Members, UFCU, and coworkers. We challenge assumptions, embrace diverse perspectives, and make use of data and insights.

Performance Excellence Rooted in Unwavering Integrity: We do the right thing, always. We champion teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and celebrate successful outcomes of others, fostering an inclusive environment of excellence and collaboration.

Essential Functions:

Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership:

• Develop, coach, and lead an effective, high-performance procurement and AP team
• Set clear performance expectations and foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Partner with Finance, Risk, Legal, IT, and business units to align sourcing and payment activities with enterprise strategy.
• Present procurement and AP insights, risks, and opportunities to leadership

Strategic Sourcing:

• Develop and execute enterprise sourcing and procurement strategies aligned with organizational goals.
• Lead competitive sourcing initiatives (RFPs, RFIs, RFQs) to secure best-value solutions.
• Oversee contract negotiations, including pricing, service levels, risk provisions, and termination terms.
• Partner with business owners to define requirements and ensure sourcing decisions meet operational needs.
• Establish category management, spend analytics, and savings tracking.

Procurement & Accounts Payable Operations:

• Standardize procurement workflows, approval thresholds, and documentation.
• Promote ethical procurement practices and adherence to delegation-of-authority policies.

• Oversee end-to-end AP operations, including invoice intake, approvals, disbursements, reconciliations, and vendor inquiries.
• Ensure strong internal controls, segregation of duties, and audit readiness.
• Drive AP process optimization, automation, and electronic payments.
• Monitor AP metrics (aging, cycle time, exception rates, discount capture).

Vendor & Third-Party Partnership Enablement:

• Collaborate with vendor management and risk partners to support vendor onboarding, performance monitoring, and contract compliance.
• Support service performance reviews and vendor scorecards.
• Identify and escalate vendor-related financial, operational, or compliance risks.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of vendor and procurement governance practices.

Governance, Compliance & Controls:

• Maintain policies, procedures, and documentation for procurement and AP processes.
• Ensure compliance with internal policies, regulatory expectations, and audit requirements.
• Support the organization's Three Lines of Defense model through strong first-line ownership.
• Drive maturity in sourcing, procurement, and payment controls.

Other:

• Adhere to all company policies, procedures, and business ethics codes.
• Complete required regulatory training as assigned.

• Maintain strict adherence and compliance to all laws, rules, regulations, and internal controls specific to your role, including but not limited to Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, USA Patriot Act, OFAC, and Fair Lending regulations.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Strong expertise in strategic sourcing, procurement, and contract negotiation.
• Working knowledge of accounts payable operations and financial controls.
• Experience with spend analytics, vendor management, and process improvement.
• Strong business judgment, analytical skills, and attention to detail.
• Ability to balance cost, risk, service quality, and operational efficiency.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Experience in financial services or regulated environments preferred.
• Strong analytical, financial acumen, and problem-solving capabilities.

Core Competencies:

• Delivering Member Obsession:
• Seeks to understand customers
• Identifies customer service issues
• Drives member-focused practices
• Assures member satisfaction
• Delivering Performance Excellence:
• Maintains focus
• Measures progress and outcome
• Ensures accountability
• Delivering Innovation:
• Inspires curiosity
• Challenges current thinking
• Supports experimentation
• Advances ideas to the next stage
• Delivering Empowered Leadership:
• Develops direction
• Builds team trust
• Identifies opportunities to share responsibility
• Informs the team
• Supports the team

Education & Experience:

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, supply chain, or vendor management.
• Experience in financial services, credit unions, banking, or a regulated industry.
• 5+ years of formal or informal management and leadership experience developing and/or leading teams required.
• Understanding of third-party risk management requirements (NCUA 12 CFR Part 748, FFIEC, SOC reports, cybersecurity standards).
• Proficiency with procurement or vendor management tools; comfort working with Finance, IT, and Risk teams.

Preferred Requirements:

• 8-10+ years of progressive sourcing experience including leadership of complex initiatives may be considered at the Senior Manager level based on scope of the role and responsibilities.
• Experience sourcing technology solutions such as digital banking, lending platforms, payments systems, cybersecurity tools, or data/analytics solutions.
• Experience managing vendor scorecards, KPIs, and service-level frameworks.
• Knowledge of credit union operating models, cooperative principles, and member-focused service culture.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee, with or without accommodation, to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, and ability to adjust focus.
• Will make extensive use of the telephone or virtual communication platforms requiring the ability to effectively and accurately explain complex information.

Work Environment:

• This position is required to frequently work at UFCU Plaza in Austin, Texas.
• This position may involve periodic stressful conditions.
• May occasionally require an adjusted work