Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Director of Procurement

🎯 Role Definition

The Director of Procurement leads the procurement function to deliver measurable cost savings, supply continuity, supplier innovation and risk mitigation. This senior leadership role develops and executes procurement and sourcing strategies across categories, manages supplier relationships and contracts, drives procurement transformation (eProcurement, spend analytics, process automation) and partners with Finance, Operations, R&D and Legal to optimize total cost of ownership (TCO) and enable business goals. The Director of Procurement is accountable for team development, governance, supplier performance management, compliance and continuous improvement across global or regional supply networks.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Procurement Manager / Senior Procurement Manager
Category Manager / Senior Category Manager
Strategic Sourcing Manager

Advancement To:

Vice President, Procurement or Head of Procurement
Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) / SVP Supply Chain
Global Head of Strategic Sourcing

Lateral Moves:

Director of Supply Chain Operations
Director of Supplier Risk & Compliance
Director of Vendor Management / Commercial Contracts

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and execute a multi-year procurement strategy aligned to corporate objectives, including category strategies, consolidation plans, supplier segmentation, and measurable KPIs for cost, quality, delivery and innovation.
Lead end-to-end strategic sourcing initiatives for major categories (direct materials, MRO, IT, services, professional spend), managing RFP/RFQ processes, supplier selection, total cost of ownership analysis and formal award recommendation to senior stakeholders.
Negotiate and finalize high-value, complex supplier agreements and master service agreements, including pricing structures, service level agreements (SLAs), termination clauses, indemnities and commercial terms to protect the company and optimize value.
Build and manage a high-performing procurement organization: recruit, coach and develop category managers, sourcing specialists and procurement operations staff while setting clear objectives, performance reviews and career development plans.
Drive global supplier relationship management (SRM) programs, defining supplier tiers, performance scorecards, quarterly business reviews (QBRs) and improvement plans to strengthen strategic supplier partnerships and innovation pipelines.
Implement procurement governance, policies and controls to ensure compliance with corporate standards, audit readiness, delegated authority, segregation of duties and Anti-Bribery/Anti-Corruption (ABAC) requirements.
Lead procurement transformation programs, including rollout and optimization of eProcurement and contract lifecycle management tools (e.g., SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle) to automate procurement workflows, catalog management and purchase-to-pay (P2P) integration.
Own spend analytics and reporting: establish reporting cadence, dashboards and insights (savings tracking, maverick spend, supplier concentration) to inform strategic decisions and drive continuous improvements.
Partner with Finance to develop procurement budgets, forecast procurement-related savings and cost avoidance, monitor CAPEX/OPEX impacts and ensure alignment to financial targets and EBIT improvements.
Manage supplier risk and resiliency programs including supplier due diligence, business continuity assessments, dual-sourcing strategies and contingency planning to minimize supply chain disruptions and protect production continuity.
Lead cross-functional sourcing committees and governance forums to align procurement decisions with Operations, R&D, Quality, Legal, Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) and Compliance stakeholders.
Establish and enforce sustainable procurement practices and supplier diversity initiatives that align with corporate ESG goals, supplier code of conduct requirements and reporting obligations.
Design and implement category-specific market intelligence programs (commodity price monitoring, benchmarking, supplier landscape analysis) to identify opportunities for strategic leverage and competitive advantage.
Oversee contract lifecycle management, ensuring contracts are effectively executed, renewed, tracked for key milestones, and that commercial obligations and warranties are enforced across suppliers.
Set clear procurement KPIs and SLAs (savings realization, on-time delivery, supplier quality incidents, cycle time reduction) and drive continuous improvement through lean procurement methods and value engineering.
Manage high-stakes supplier disputes and escalations, coordinating cross-functional responses, root-cause analysis and remediation plans to protect supply and financial interests.
Lead negotiation training and procurement capability-building programs for internal stakeholders and category teams to uplift the organization’s commercial and negotiation skills.
Monitor and optimize inventory and working capital impacts of procurement strategies by collaborating with Planning, Logistics and Finance to reduce obsolete stock and improve cash conversion cycles.
Evaluate and integrate M&A-related procurement activities including due diligence for supplier agreements, transition planning and harmonization of procurement policies across acquired entities.
Champion digital procurement initiatives (RPA, AI-driven sourcing optimization, spend classification, contract analytics) to accelerate decision-making, improve compliance and reduce manual effort.
Maintain direct engagement with executive leadership and the Board for procurement updates, risk exposures, strategic supplier matters and to secure sponsorship for major transformation projects.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc spend and supplier data requests and provide exploratory procurement analytics to Business Unit leaders and Finance partners.
Contribute to the organization's procurement data strategy and roadmap, including data governance, master data hygiene and vendor master maintenance.
Collaborate with business units to translate sourcing requirements into procurement specifications, soliciting cross-functional input for technical, quality and regulatory needs.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies with cross-functional teams when implementing procurement technology and process improvement initiatives.
Provide subject-matter expertise on procurement policies during internal audits and support remediation actions where needed.
Support corporate sustainability reporting by collecting supplier ESG metrics and collaborating on supplier development programs.
Act as procurement escalation point for contract approvals, supplier performance failures or major sourcing decisions requiring cross-functional sign-off.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Strategic Sourcing & Category Management — develop and implement category strategies to drive cost, quality and innovation.
Contract Negotiation & Commercial Structuring — drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements, MSAs and SLAs.
Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) — establish supplier segmentation, scorecards, QBRs and performance improvement plans.
Procurement Systems & eProcurement — hands-on experience with SAP Ariba, Coupa, Oracle Procurement Cloud or equivalent CLM/P2P platforms.
Spend Analysis & Cost Modeling — advanced spend analytics, TCO modeling, price benchmarking and cost breakdown analysis.
RFP/RFQ & Tender Management — design RFPs, manage bid processes, run supplier evaluations and selection frameworks.
Procurement Governance & Compliance — policy creation, audit readiness, ABAC/ethics compliance and regulatory sourcing requirements.
Supply Chain Risk Management — supplier due diligence, business continuity planning, dual-sourcing and financial risk assessment.
Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) — contract repository, renewals, milestone tracking and obligations management.
Data & Reporting Tools — proficiency with Excel (advanced modeling), Power BI, Tableau or other BI tools for procurement dashboards.
ERP Integration & P2P Processes — experience integrating procurement with ERP systems and optimizing purchase-to-pay lifecycles.
Digital Procurement & Automation — familiarity with RPA, AI sourcing tools, contract analytics and procurement digitization roadmaps.

Soft Skills

Strategic Leadership — ability to create and articulate a long-term procurement vision and drive organizational alignment.
Influencing & Stakeholder Management — persuading cross-functional leaders and securing sponsorship for strategic initiatives.
Commercial Acumen — strong financial literacy to assess supplier proposals, cost drivers and impact on margins.
Negotiation & Conflict Resolution — skilled in high-stakes negotiation and resolving contractual disputes diplomatically.
Change Management — drive adoption of new processes and technology with structured change plans and communications.
Communication & Presentation — clear, executive-level reporting and ability to present sourcing outcomes to senior leadership.
Team Development & Coaching — build talent, mentor category managers and foster a performance-led culture.
Analytical Thinking & Problem Solving — translate data into actionable sourcing opportunities and mitigations.
Project Management — manage complex, cross-functional sourcing and transformation programs end-to-end.
Ethical Judgment & Integrity — enforce ethical sourcing standards and supplier code of conduct.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, Engineering or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree (MBA, MSc Supply Chain/Operations) or relevant professional certification (CPSM, CIPS, CPM).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Supply Chain Management
Procurement / Strategic Sourcing
Business Administration / Finance
Industrial Engineering
Operations Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

10–15+ years of progressive procurement experience with at least 5 years in leadership roles managing cross-functional category teams.

Preferred:

15+ years of global procurement experience, demonstrable track record of delivering multi-million dollar savings, ERP/eProcurement implementations, supplier transformation programs and experience operating in matrixed, multi-site environments.