It Procurement – Refining It

Our client is seeking a IT Procurement – Refining IT Advisor to work within their facilities located in San Antonio, TX or Findlay, OH for an initial 6-month contract.
Summary:
The Commercial Sourcing Advisor's main role is to develop and manage commercial initiatives for the IT organization.

• They need strong communication skills and the ability to work with internal and external stakeholders.
  
• The ideal candidate should be proactive, capable of market analysis, bid package development, proposal analysis, negotiation, and purchase order execution.
  
• They must establish and maintain relationships with key suppliers, validate cost savings, and have experience in Supply Chain and traditional IT supplier agreements.
  
• Familiarity with Operations Technology (OT) environments is also required.
  
• The role involves managing diverse negotiations and navigating through ambiguous situations to develop negotiation strategies.
  
• Additionally, they will implement sourcing strategies for software, hardware, professional services, managed services, networking, and telecommunications, leading the RFx process and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) activities.
  
• The Supply Chain IT Commercial Support Team ensures timely, budget-compliant delivery of IT solutions.
  
• The Advisor creates negotiation strategies for IT/Digital needs, supporting cybersecurity/hardware initiatives for current and future business requirements.
  

Responsibilities:
The IT Strategic Sourcing Procurement Specialist is responsible for:

• Developing and maintaining relationships with key suppliers, tracking performance metrics, and resolving supplier-related issues.
  
• Collaborating with business units to develop sourcing and contracting strategies for goods and services, and executing commercial initiatives.
  
• Serving as the primary point of contact for operational needs and Supply Chain support.
  
• Reviewing purchase requisitions, evaluating bids, and expediting purchase commitments to ensure timely delivery.
  
• Utilizing Supply Chain tools and collaborating with peers to drive process optimization.
  
• Conducting price analysis, negotiating with suppliers, and managing contractual relationships.
  
• Leading functional teams or projects and implementing best practices for improvement.
  
• Developing and executing global Supplier and Category strategies to improve service, quality, cost, delivery, and innovation.
  
• Managing a complex supplier portfolio and executing relevant Category strategies.
  
• Assisting in developing process frameworks for Global Procurement and supporting continuous improvement initiatives.
  
• Reviewing and evaluating IT procurement requests and developing the Global Master Category Strategy for IT Cybersecurity & Hardware.
  
• Ensuring timely delivery of quality products and conducting supplier business unit reviews.
  
• Leading RFI/RFP/RFQ processes, developing cost positions, and attending workshops for process improvements.
  
• Driving Supply Base optimization and building cross-functional relationships for strategic alignment and savings opportunities.
  
• Proactively seeking efficiencies and cost reduction opportunities while maintaining product quality.
  
• Collaborating cross-functionally to achieve company sourcing goals, including RFx development, vendor selection, negotiations, and issue resolution.
  

Requirements:
 

• Bachelor’s Degree - Supply Chain Management, Business, Accounting, Finance, IT or Engineering required.
  
• Masters Degree
  
• 6-10 years of purchasing, contracts or related Commercial experience
  
• Minimum 4 years sourcing experience in IT spend categories procuring computer technology products and services, including hardware, software, cloud services, and support
  
• Extensive experience negotiating with IT vendors and a solid understanding of IT technologies
  
• Strong enterprise technology business acumen (i.e. hardware, software, and services)
  
• C.P.M. or C.P.S.M. certification beneficial.
  
• Good interpersonal communications skills and a strong focus towards customer service
  
• Strong enterprise technology business acumen (i.e. hardware, software, and services)
  
• Strong communicator that can effectively transition from bottom-up details to concise, clear executive-level messaging.
  
• Strategic and analytical thinking for category strategy development
  
• Ability to build relationships and trust across organizations to drive decisions and alignment.
  
• Analytical skills to support the analysis and conversation of data into workable information
  
• Negotiation skills which foster results and relationships
  
• Proactive and resourceful; comfortable with navigating ambiguity.
  
• Flexible and adaptable attitude to changing priorities.
  
• Collaborative leader and team player.
  
• A working knowledge of Word, Excel and PowerPoint required.
  
• Experience working with SAP, Tableau and Ariba required.