Job Description

Job Descriptions:

The Department - Group Procurement
In 2021 Client acquired Refinitiv, a Data and Analytics company growing to over 25,000 staff. The integration programme is well underway to combine the two companies and deliver organizational and procurement benefits. Client is taking this opportunity to combine and transform both procurement functions into a single, outstanding Group Procurement Team.
Group Procurement owns the commercial management of third-party suppliers, delivering the skills the business needs to drive company projects of all sizes. We strive to make Client easier and more attractive to do business with, and we consider our suppliers as a source of competitive advantage and not just about cost.
Client is implementing a strong supplier relationship management (SRM) model, aligned to stakeholder groups and spend categories, ensuring value through early and strategic engagements and bringing insightful vendor spend analytics.
Some key characteristics of the new Group Procurement organization:
• Supplier spend c. £2.2BN
• c. 5,000 suppliers

The Team is aligned to the master categories of spend (Technology, Services and Corporate), focused on category management, sourcing, supplier relationship management and business partnerships
A Strategy & Performance centre, enabling function to drive and implement the strategy of the Group Procurement function, best in class procurement policy and processes
There are hubs for the category teams in London, Bangalore and New York with some decentralised activity to support local markets in various global locations including Europe and Asia

The Team
The Services team leads on the commercial aspects of all Group spend across the following categories – Technology Services; IT and Business Outsourcing, Contingent Labour & Strategic Consulting.
The Services Procurement team partner with business customers across the group to provide flexible options to supplement our in-house teams. These services enable the business to deliver on Client’s short- and long-term strategic objectives.

Technology Services essentially are IT oriented Professional Services, sourcing teams of people to work on the development of new products for Client, working in tandem with Client teams across the world. Each engagement crafts a Statement of Work or SOW, describing the work required, results expected, commercials etc. Typical roles are programmers, testers, team leads, business analysts, project managers, cloud specialists, all experienced in Financial Services technologies.

The Role
This individual will take direction from the Category Lead/Director and Category Managers to implement the agreed strategies.
The role will perform a combination of sourcing, supplier management and business engagement activities, with an emphasis on sourcing.

Additionally, the role handles a subset of Client’s Focussed suppliers with category spend above £500K, drive the supplier relationship management (SRM) program with those suppliers, monitor and provide approval for purchase requests in Ariba and Oracle, plus SOWs in Fieldglass.
This role sits in the Services tower reporting to the Category Director for Technology Services, who leads the global procurement activities including engagement and ongoing management of third-party suppliers, the sourcing and supplier strategy, and roadmap for the Category.

Although primarily aligned to the above category, this role may be required to support other sub-teams within Group Procurement from time to time.

Key Responsibilities
• Support the delivery of the category strategy and deployment of the supplier relationship management program
• Involvement in the development of sourcing strategies, including identifying risks, key outputs, and products
• Lead sourcing and negotiation activities for low to medium spend SOWs across the team, analysing financial and commercial structure, engaging Legal as the need arises and ensuring correct terms and conditions are applied, plus finance to understand budget constraints
• Engage SOW owners to ensure renewal is required and scale is accurate
• Engage the appropriate project lead or vendor manager to ensure they raise the Purchase request in good time
• Support Category Leads or Category Managers with SRM activities, handle allocated supplier relationships
• Support sourcing activities across the wider team (Category Directors or Category Managers in other categories), as the need arises depending on workload
• The PR/PO pipeline for the assigned Category of spend
• Review pipelines of projects, PR/PO approvals, SOWs approvals in Fieldglass, and liaise with the Category Lead and relevant Category Managers
• Ensure purchase requests meet required standards - i.e. approval process has been followed, a fully signed Client standard contract and statement of work (if applicable) is in place, the supplier has been correctly onboarded and approved
• Ensure Category Managers and business contacts are kept up to date with the status each sourcing project
• Research market and industry developments
• Make recommendations on alternate sources of supply to provide choice to Client

Engagement with Client business
Engage regularly with key partners across the business and key functions such as Legal, Finance and HR to progress queries and act as a procurement point of contact, with support from the Category Lead and other Category Managers
• Engage with budget-owners to obtain key information and explain procurement processes in line with agreed process and procedures
• Deal with queries from other Client staff, alerting Category Managers as appropriate
• Engage with key functions to obtain information and complete necessary actions such as supplier segmentation form
• Work with business delivery teams and Category Managers to identify and maintain the project pipeline
• Supporting business as usual activities

Procurement systems tools, and data
• Maintain data within Procurement systems and tools (e.g. pipeline management tool, savings tracker, supplier and contract databases, Category spend metrics)
• Ensure that purchasing, pricing and supplier master data is kept up to date on the relevant IT systems supporting procurement and planning efficiencies
• Assess the benefits of new sourcing solutions, support the design, implementation and management of procurement systems as requested

Contract management
• Ensure that relevant contracts are in place for key suppliers as assigned and supported by the Category Lead
• Monitor contract performance and identify when corrective action is needed
• Identify where it is important to vary a contract to deliver continuous improvement, draft robust variations and ensure proper approvals are sought
• Provide assistance to the business and suppliers across the end to end sourcing process, i.e. reviewing purchase orders, facilitating exceptions such as payment difficulties and ensuring timely delivery of goods and services, ensuring an excellent service is provided from within Group Procurement
• Raise contract issues, when appropriate to Category Managers or Legal
• Actively promote continuous improvement by challenging process and procedure to identify and implement valid changes

Candidate Profile
ESSENTIAL
• Good experience in buying / procurement ( IT Professional Services e.g., developers, testers, system implementors, business analysts, etc.)
• Commercially minded and proficient negotiator
• Strong communication skills (written and verbal)
• Ability to create positive relationships with suppliers
• Experience in market and category analysis
• Ability to assess, prioritise workload and meet agreed target dates
• Strong IT skills (Office programs: Excel, Teams, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Outlook; Procurement systems desirable: Ariba, Fieldglass)
• Ability to provide management information to assist sourcing and contract management process
• Proven track record in building relationships, influence and act as an authority across the organisation up to senior management level
• General analytical, problem solving, and decision-making skills
• Pro-active behaviour that demonstrates initiative and positive work ethic to ensure activities are delivered to the required time, budget and quality
• Maximise opportunities, i.e. challenges ways of working, adopts Group practices, seeks and provides information and clarification
• Teamwork - ability to work with other category teams, both a local and an off-shore to deliver services to our customers
• Educated to degree level

DESIRABLE
• Procurement / supply operation qualification, e.g. MCIPS or IAACM, or working towards the qualification.
• Knowledge of Agile SOW construction, SLAs and outcome-based contracting
• Experience working with suppliers such as EPAM, TCS, Cognizant, Wipro, Synechron, and DXC is very beneficial
• Previous company experience; FinTechs; Global, multi-country organizations preferred
• Some experience in e-sourcing & e-auctions