Director of Strategic Procurement & Sourcing

Job Function: The Strategic Director of Procurement will lead the development and execution of a modern, enterprise-wide sourcing strategy that drives value, mitigates risk, and enhances operational efficiency. This leader will serve as the organization’s center of excellence for RFP management and strategic sourcing, championing practices, tools, and discipline that drive procurement value across the organization. This leader will oversee sourcing and negotiation strategies, cost management, category spend management, and contracting, as well as provide a leadership role in the Procurement team.

Reporting directly to the Managing Director of Procurement within Administrative Services, this leader will drive the development of a forward-looking procurement roadmap aligned with organization priorities and financial planning cycles. This leader will collaborate with other departments and senior management to maximize strategic and operational success. The director will oversee and implement process and system improvements that optimize value, efficiency and internal controls.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Sourcing & RFP Process Excellence

• Assist in the design and execution of a standardized, enterprise-wide RFP, RFP, and RFI framework.
• Develop, maintain and communicate a 6-18 moth procurement roadmap aligned to spend categories, risk, and organizational priorities.
• Oversee and lead complex, high-value RFPs end-to-end.
• Drive procurement and negotiation efforts to support established KPIs
• Ensure sourcing decisions reflect total value, including risk mitigation, for effective tracking of internal KPIs.

Vendor Strategy and Negotiation

• Oversee bid analysis, reporting, and benchmarking for internal partners, as needed.
• Negotiate, manage, and execute complex, high-value contracts based on internal customer needs, prior to agreement expiration.
• Lead strategic supplier negotiations, achieving measure cost savings & value improvements.
• Lead the team in sourcing and negotiation best practices and provide negotiation coaching to the team.
• Develop negotiation strategies and lead negotiations with key suppliers and preferred vendors and develop staff to do the same.
• Collaborate with the Office of Legal Affairs to maintain accurate and timely records of contracts and established standard goods and services contract compliance procedures; educate and monitor staff and vendor compliance.
• Implement industry standard metrics for both Procurement service levels and value adding achievement.

Team Development, Communication & Leadership

• Maintain a productive working environment.  Lead people and/or processes as required to maintain a model workplace.
• Assist Managing Director of Procurement in development and oversight of Procurement budget.
• Ensure that Procurement activity is conducted legally and ethically and in compliance with organizational policies and procedures.
• Communicate clearly, concisely and timely to the national office staff regarding policy, procedure and the value added by the Procurement team. 
• Represent Managing Director of Procurement in meetings and events as necessary and assist in presentations to senior leadership and external parties.

Financial Accountability & Ownership

• Support the annual budgeting process by providing sourcing insights and cost forecasts.
• Identify savings opportunities and vendor strategies that align to budget targets and financial plans.
• Partner with FP&A leadership to incorporate procurement strategies into long-term planning.
• Prepare for and support internal and external audits, with effective communication and accountability.
• Other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business or related field.
• 5 years of experience at management level for purchasing and procurement functions in an organization of at least comparable size (500 employees) required, with 5 - 10 years preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex RFP processes and sourcing strategies.
• Proven track record of successful vendor negotiations with measurable financial impact.
• Demonstrated experience developing and managing Procurement roadmaps and strategies.
• Demonstrated exceptional leadership skills.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to identify process improvement, cost savings and policy enhancements; can build effective relationships with business leaders and staff.
• Demonstrated ability to influence a broad range of constituents towards achievement of common goals with excellent communication skills (both oral and written); able to communicate complex or difficult messages to all levels of an organization
• Adept at MS Office Suite.
• Experience with Oracle Cloud ERP systems and Zip preferred.
• Knowledge of procurement processes and latest technology related to strategic sourcing & procurement.
• Demonstrated ability to meet aggressive deadlines, while maintaining professional composure, strong customer service focus and a motivated, high-performance staff.
• Estimated Travel Required: <10%
• This position will be based out of the national office in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Current work environment is hybrid; 2 days in the office and 3 days are remote.

Key Competencies

• Accountability | Holds self and others accountable for measurable high-quality, timely, and cost-effective results. Determines objectives, sets priorities, and delegates work. Accepts responsibility for mistakes. Complies with established control systems and rules.
• Attention to Detail: Allocates cognitive resources to achieve thoroughness and accuracy when accomplishing tasks, no matter how small or large.
• Effective Communication | Can exchange ideas, thoughts, opinions, knowledge, and data so that the message is understood with clarity and purpose. 
• Critical Thinking: Ability to examine issues and ideas and to identify good and bad reasoning in a variety of fields with differing assumptions, contents, and methods.
• Managerial Courage: Provides current, direct, complete, and "actionable" positive and corrective feedback to others, lets people know where they stand, faces up to people problems on any person or situation quickly and directly, is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.

Core Values

• LEADERSHIP| We actively listen and continually strive to provide vital solutions, counsel and advocacy for student-athletes and intercollegiate athletics.
• INCLUSION| We seek and incorporate different perspectives and experiences to drive innovation and impact.
• COMMUNICATION| We commit to an environment of openness to build trust and make timely decisions.
• COLLABORATION| We work together, based on mutual respect, to lead and serve our stakeholders.
• ACCOUNTABILITY| We take ownership for our actions and results to add value every day.

• Bachelors or better

Equal Opportunity Employer
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