AVP, Procurement Center of Excellence

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Procurement's ability to create enterprise value depends on more than sourcing and negotiation. It requires an integrated operating system of technology, processes, data, governance, analytics, talent and decision rights that enables the organization to move quickly, operate consistently, anticipate opportunity and scale with the business.
The Associate Vice President, Procurement Center of Excellence will lead the enterprise capabilities that power Procurement performance. The AVP will own the Procurement technology portfolio; end-to-end process strategy and governance across sourcing, contracting and supplier management; analytics and insights; merger, acquisition and divestiture enablement; functional transformation; and the operating mechanisms that connect strategy, execution, adoption and measurable outcomes.
The leader will establish a coherent, multi-year roadmap across technology, process, data, analytics, automation, artificial intelligence, controls and organizational capability. Working across Procurement, Finance, Accounts Payable, Technology, Legal, Contract Management, Risk, Compliance, Privacy, Information Security, Transformation, Corporate Development and business teams, the AVP will simplify how work enters and moves through Procurement, improve the stakeholder and associate experience, generate earlier and more actionable insight, and ensure investments deliver measurable value.
This role requires more than governance and program oversight. The AVP will challenge fragmented processes, rationalize technology, translate business needs into scalable solutions, establish enterprise standards, intervene when delivery is at risk, and personally lead the most consequential transformation and integration priorities. Success will be measured by whether Procurement makes better decisions, executes faster, operates through scalable and adopted processes, derives greater value from technology and data, integrates acquisitions effectively, and creates substantially more capacity for strategic and commercial work.
Key ResponsibilitiesArchitect the Procurement Operating Model
· Serve as the executive responsible for the design, performance and continuous evolution of the Procurement operating model.
· Translate enterprise strategy and Procurement priorities into an integrated roadmap across organization, process, technology, data, analytics, governance and capability.
· Define how work is requested, prioritized, routed, executed, approved, measured and improved across the Procurement lifecycle.
· Clarify decision rights, accountabilities, handoffs, service levels, escalation paths and governance across Procurement and partner functions.
· Establish differentiated operating pathways based on value, complexity, risk, urgency and stakeholder need.
· Identify structural friction, redundant activity, control gaps, manual work and capacity constraints, and mobilize solutions across organizational boundaries.
· Create an operating system that enables Category Management, Supplier Management, Sourcing, Contract Management and business partners to function as an integrated enterprise capability.
· Establish disciplined operating rhythms for strategic planning, portfolio prioritization, delivery reviews, performance management, risk escalation and executive decisions.
Own the Procurement Technology Portfolio
· Own the strategy, roadmap, governance, investment prioritization, adoption and value realization of the Procurement technology portfolio.
· Establish a coherent platform architecture spanning intake and orchestration, sourcing, contracting, contract lifecycle management, supplier management, spend and performance analytics, risk integration, market intelligence, workflow automation and AI-enabled capabilities.
· Serve as Procurement’s senior product and business owner with Enterprise Technology, platform owners and external technology partners.
· Translate business strategies, process requirements, user needs, controls and data requirements into scalable technology capabilities and sequenced investments.
· Maintain a transparent portfolio view of initiatives, dependencies, costs, resources, risks, milestones, adoption and realized outcomes.
· Make disciplined build, buy, configure, integrate, automate, retire and simplify recommendations.
· Rationalize overlapping tools, reduce technology and process fragmentation, improve interoperability and establish authoritative data flows.
· Ensure solutions are designed around user experience, control integrity, data quality, scalability and measurable business value rather than deployment alone.
· Establish product ownership, enhancement governance, release planning, testing, training, adoption and support models across the portfolio.
· Accelerate the responsible application of AI, automation, workflow intelligence, contract intelligence and decision support across Procurement.
· Hold internal and external technology partners accountable for delivery, performance, adoption and value.
Lead Enterprise Procurement Process Ownership
· Serve as the enterprise owner of Procurement’s core process architecture, standards, methodologies and controls, excluding Requisition-to-Pay processes owned by Accounts Payable.
· Own end-to-end process design across intake, demand shaping, category planning, sourcing, due diligence coordination, contracting workflows, supplier onboarding, segmentation, supplier governance, performance management, issue escalation, renewal planning and supplier exit.
· Own contracting technology and process design in close partnership with the Contract Management team, with clear decision rights for operational execution, commercial accountability and legal authority.
· Establish enterprise standards while allowing justified variation based on business model, category, jurisdiction, complexity and risk.
· Define process ownership, decision rights, control points, service levels, required data, documentation standards and performance measures.
· Partner with Category and Supplier Management leaders to embed practical, commercially relevant processes that improve outcomes rather than add administrative burden.
· Own supplier-management methodologies, enabling technology, data standards, governance and measurement; category and supplier leaders retain accountability for supplier strategies, relationships, interventions and outcomes.
· Simplify workflows and remove steps that do not materially improve value, risk, control or decision quality.
· Use process data, workflow analytics, stakeholder feedback, audit findings and operational insight to identify root causes and prioritize improvements.
· Maintain authoritative process maps, playbooks, methodologies, templates, guidance and knowledge assets.
· Drive adoption through communications, training, embedded guidance, change networks, leadership reinforcement and objective usage measures.
Build an Insight-Led Procurement Function
· Lead the Procurement analytics and insights organization, converting spend, contract, supplier, pipeline, performance, savings, risk, workflow and market data into decision advantage.
· Establish a Procurement data and analytics strategy aligned with enterprise data governance and Finance requirements.
· Create authoritative data products and executive views covering spend, demand, commitments, opportunities, supplier exposure, contract obligations, performance, value delivery, cycle time, risk and required decisions.
· Shift the analytics function from retrospective reporting to diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive insight.
· Develop models that identify demand-management opportunities, supplier consolidation, commercial leakage, renewal risk, process friction, concentration, compliance gaps and emerging value opportunities.
· Build decision-ready insights for the Chief Procurement Officer, Procurement Leadership Team, Finance, business executives and category leaders.
· Establish common definitions, data ownership, quality controls, reconciliation processes and authoritative sources.
· Partner with Finance to ensure savings, cost avoidance, cost containment, productivity, working capital and broader value measures are credible and consistently applied.
· Use AI, process mining, benchmarking and external intelligence where they produce demonstrable improvements in foresight or decision quality.
· Measure whether analytics change decisions and outcomes, not merely whether reports are produced.
Lead Procurement M&A Diligence and Integration Enablement
· Lead Procurement’s enterprise capability for merger, acquisition, divestiture and integration activity.
· Partner with Corporate Development, Integration Management, Finance, Legal, Technology, Risk, business leadership and acquired entities to assess third-party implications.
· Establish repeatable Procurement playbooks, data requirements, decision gates, governance and integration roadmaps for transactions.
· Lead third-party spend, supplier, contract, commitment, concentration, dependency, risk and synergy analysis during diligence.
· Identify supplier-related transaction risks, change-of-control provisions, termination exposure, duplicate commitments, integration dependencies, transitional requirements and savings opportunities.
· Develop Procurement integration and separation strategies covering systems, processes, policies, suppliers, con

Skills
Procurement, Artificial Intelligence, Negotiation, Sourcing, Onboarding, Due Diligence, Documentation

Experience
10+ yrs