Procurement Divisional Director - #148610

Are you ready to chart your own career path? At SJP we need talented individuals like yourself to support our evolving culture. If you’re seeking an employer that is passionate about excellence, innovation and autonomy, SJP could be the place for you.

At a glance:

Location: Cirencester Office

Workplace Type: Hybrid

Employment Type: Permanent

Seniority: Director

The role:

This person will lead, manage and develop the SJP procurement function, identifying and driving cost optimisation, reducing expenses and maximising value extraction in all procurement divisions. The role holder will focus on creating a healthy tension between functionality and cost, ensuring efficient use of resources and leading a team of 10+ procurement specialists. This individual will be an enabler in the business, always acting within the defined risk appetite while maintaining strong supplier relationships and ensuring the effective implementation and use of third-party policies and on-boarding frameworks and processes.

What you'll be doing:

• Cost Optimisation and Value Extraction: Ensure that cost optimisation and maximum value extraction are central to all procurement decisions. Lead initiatives to drive cost reductions while maintaining high standards of quality, functionality, and delivery.
• Risk Management: Act as a strategic enabler for the business, ensuring all procurement decisions align with the company’s defined risk appetite. Provide guidance and ensure compliance with risk management protocols.
• Sourcing Strategy: Foster a culture of balanced decision-making, creating a healthy tension between functionality and cost in all sourcing decisions. Continuously analyse and review sourcing strategies to ensure competitiveness and efficiency.
• Resource Efficiency: Champion the efficient use of procurement resources, ensuring that the team’s efforts are aligned with the company’s broader strategic goals. Streamline processes, eliminate waste, and improve the overall productivity of the procurement team.
• Supplier Performance Management: Own and set the company’s supplier performance framework. Establish clear performance metrics and ensure the procurement team is working collaboratively with the business to ensure that suppliers are fulfilling their obligations.
• Third-Party Policy Ownership: Lead the ownership and continuous improvement of the company’s third-party policy, ensuring alignment with business objectives and regulatory requirements. Own the third-party onboarding framework and process, ensuring a seamless, efficient experience for all suppliers.
• Leadership & Team Management: Lead and mentor a team of 11 procurement specialists. Foster a high-performance culture focused on continuous improvement, professional development, and achieving department and company goals.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with key internal stakeholders to ensure procurement strategies are aligned with broader business objectives. Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on procurement matters.
  
  

Who we're looking for:

The ideal candidate will be a commercial leader with a deep understanding of developing and implementing procurement strategies that optimise costs, value and align with SJP’s overall strategic goals. They will have proven experience (5-10 years) in senior procurement roles with leadership and transformational responsibilities. They are likely to have an advanced degree or professional qualification e.g. MCIPS. They will have in depth knowledge of market trends, supplier capabilities and sourcing strategies to ensure competitiveness and efficiency. They will have in-depth knowledge of risk management frameworks and their application within procurement to ensure decisions stay within defined risk appetites and knowledge of regulatory and legal compliance requirements affecting procurement practices. They will have expertise in developing/managing a comprehensive supplier performance framework, knowledge of contract management practices and strong knowledge of third-party risk management. They will combine expert negotiation skills with creative problem-solving skills and proven ability at leading and mentoring a high-performance team.

Essential Criteria

• 5-10 years’ previous experience in procurement roles with leadership and transformational responsibilities.
• Advanced degree or professional certifications (e.g. MCIPS).
• Strong knowledge of procurement strategies and market trends, supplier capabilities and sourcing strategies.
• In depth knowledge of risk management frameworks and their application within procurement.
• Expertise in developing and managing a comprehensive supplier performance framework.
• Strong Stakeholder engagement skills – effective and resilient – agile to suit internal/external audience.
• Creative problem solving skills – champions the use of cost benefit/ROI to support decisions.
• Proven leader - able to manage and develop a high performance team.
  
  

Desirable Criteria

• In depth knowledge of SJP business and its supplier base.
  
  

Special Requirements:

The role holder will need to be in the office 2 days per week and travel to London as required.

What's in it for you?

We reward you for the work you do, whether that’s through our discretionary annual bonus scheme that reflects both personal and company performance, competitive annual leave allowance (28 days plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase an additional 5 days), or online rewards platform with a variety of discounts.

We also have benefits to support whatever stage of life you are in, including:

• Competitive parental leave (26 weeks full pay)
• Private medical insurance (optional taxable benefit)
• 10% non-contributory pension (increasing with length of service)
  
  

Reasonable Adjustments We're an equal opportunities employer and want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive for all, if you require reasonable adjustment(s) at any stage please let us know by emailing us at [email protected]

Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.

What's next?

If you're excited about this role and believe you have the skills and experience we're looking for, we'd love to hear from you! Please submit an application by clicking ‘apply’ below and our team will be in touch.

As a business regulated by the FCA we would advise you to familiarise yourself with the conduct regulations and in particular consumer duty obligations prior to an interview with SJP.