Head of Procurement Operations

About the Opportunity

JOB SUMMARY

You are passionate about delivering on-time, at-cost, and low risk procurement operations and consistently exceeding customers’ expectations. You want a lead role in managing enterprise level day-to-day Procurement and thrive when sustaining value and executing on-time workflows within source to contract, requisition to purchase order, and supplier information management. You’re a well-versed procurement tactician with a continuous improvement and operational efficiency and effectiveness mindset who thrives on delivering outstanding customer service and data driven outcomes via key performance indicators (KPI) and service level agreements (SLA). You demonstrate great agility as a leader and desire to transform and automate business processes, deploy robust objective and key result (OKR) and business management system (BMS) frameworks, and delivering on-time, reduced cost, streamlined, and low risk procurement operations.

You have an amazing level of intellectual curiosity, build strong coalitions, possess strong financial acumen, and continuously demonstrate high degrees of ownership, integrity, and attention to detail. You are an independent self-starter who thrives when connecting people and ideas to data and outcomes and have a strong entrepreneurial drive. You excel at communication and are comfortable playing a leadership role in a highly visible organization. You thrive when creating better customer outcomes, and are highly accountable to results.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s Degree with 8+ years of relevant experience as a Procurement Operations leader is required. An advanced degree (e.g. MBA / MS) is preferred.
• Demonstrated team leadership and functional expertise performing within the source to contract, requisition to purchase order, and supplier information management workflows.
• Globally minded, self-motivated, flexible, and creative leader, able to prioritize, multi-task, and work horizontally and vertically across a decentralized organization to deploy compliant procurement practices with high customer empathy.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively utilize data to identify opportunities, continuously improve team performance, and implement a robust data driven performance management framework (e.g., business management system, service level agreements, key performance indicators).
• Familiarity with commercial procurement best practices and procure to pay savings levers and techniques. Experience with federal procurement regulations (Uniform Guidance) is preferred.
• Proven experience with building & leading a high performing procurement operations team in a high profile, high transactional volume, high financial risk environment.
• Strong leadership presence and ability to build “trusted advisor” relationships by delivering sound technical analysis, customer empathy, and data driven decision-making.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills with ability to lead, interact with, influence, resolve conflict and drive decisions / accountability among individuals from a variety of cultures and disciplines.
• Demonstrated flexibility and willingness to respond to changes in the external environment, while ensuring the organization is able to effectively and efficiently navigate transitions.
• Knowledge of Workday (Procurement), ServiceNow (Helpdesk support), Jaggaer (P2P) are strongly desired.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES

1) Responsible for day-to-day operations of the Procurement Operations team, including:

• Requisition to Purchase Order and Change Order processing
• Procurement Operations service desk case management and escalation
• Supplier information management, including supplier onboarding and supplier record maintenance
• Supporting and leading, in coordination with the Category Management team, RFx events, including request intake, internal / external market analysis, supplier discovery, RFx event management, and negotiations and contracting
• Supplier & Customer escalation management
• Ongoing maintenance and continuous improvement of Procurement Operations performance management dashboards and reporting

2) Responsible for leading and optimizing Procurement Operations service offerings, including the maintenance and enhancement of procurement-related technology, supplier partners, and continuous improvement / process improvement initiatives. To include, but not limited to:

• Serve as functional owner for procurement related technology solutions, including Jaggaer (Contracts and Supplier Management modules), Sollod Technologies (current e-Procurement module), Workday Procurement, Visual Compliance, and TealBook (supplier enrichment) 
• Staying informed on current and emerging technology enhancements, including product-releases, updates, and patch-fixes, including functional testing and validation as required
• Supporting technology adoption and business process re-engineering, including end-user training content and delivery
• Providing internal controls and governance for all procure to invoice workflows, related concepts and procedures, and adherence to policy (including Uniform Guidance for federal grants)
• Engaging professional and peer networks to stay current on industry best practices, including delivering content to bolster Northeastern’s reputation as a leader in higher education procurement

3) Responsible for managing and developing Procurement Operations Team. To include, but not limited to:

• Directly supervise and monitor the performance of all members of the Procurement Operations team
• Mutually-define measurable goals for team members and monitor outcomes
• Provide active real-time feedback and formal written performance. assessments so team members understand their progress against goals
• Foster an inclusive, positive career experience for all team members, including professional development and succession planning

4) Facilitate the development, implementation, and maintenance of processes, policies, guidelines, Standard Operating Procedures, and Business Operating Principles

Position Type

Finance

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.