Director, Strategic Procurement

Position Summary:

The Director of Strategic Procurement at The Children's Place is responsible for leading strategic sourcing initiatives, collaboratively developing and implementing strategies to optimize the company's non-merchandise spend and supporting the company's ongoing profit improvement efforts.

The Director leads a small Strategic Procurement team that is responsible for around $400M spend, ranging from supply chain, marketing, IT, stores, and professional services.

Provides leadership to influence and strategically source of all non-merchandise spend.

Leads strategic sourcing efforts, develops talent, leverages technology, and drives new value.

Develops pipeline of projects, builds relationships with key executives/ spend owners, leads sourcing team, and runs complex strategic sourcing projects.

Is responsible for conducting spend analysis, analyzing supply markets, identifying sourcing value levers, executing competitive RFIs/RFPs and leading supplier negotiations.

Primary Responsibilities/Accountabilities:

• Designs and develops a value initiative pipeline to optimize around $400M of non-merchandise spend to yield aggressive savings.
• Prioritizes sourcing efforts, develops baseline spend, and manages sequential sourcing waves.
• Works with business teams to sponsor initiatives, and agree on business goals and key requirements.
• Builds strong relationships with business teams and key stakeholders, removes obstacles for sourcing teams, and works with Finance and business teams to ensure negotiated savings are realized.
• Collaborates with the business to ensure clarity of specifications and requirements.
• Leads strategic sourcing initiatives, following a 7-step spend management methodology. Ensures process excellence, and frames strategic issues and supply options.
• Conducts successful supplier negotiations focused on total cost and ensures all business terms are clearly outlined in supplier agreements.
• Develops implementation and transition plans and supports change management initiatives.
• Manages complex sourcing and demand management initiatives.
• Ensures teams understand supply markets and develop innovative supply solutions.
• Develops strong supplier partnership and development programs. Conducts quarterly business reviews, measures performance through scorecards, and ensures new value is created year-over-year.
• Ensures integrity of savings tracking and reporting efforts.
• Hires, develops, and coaches Strategic Procurement team.
• Establishes and creates department training and development programs.
• Works with business teams to demonstrate strategic value of Strategic Procurement team, and ensures strong sponsorship and participation from cross-functional teams.
• Develops, communicates, and actively manages Strategic Procurement goals and strategies with internal stakeholders and suppliers.
• Ensures integrity of work done, following vision, mission, and values.

Required Skills & Experience:

• Proven ability to develop and lead complex strategic sourcing strategies and initiatives.
• Proven ability to lead high-performance teams and build strong and lasting partnerships.
• Strategic and innovative thinker who can develop and implement new business models and keep pace with changing marketplace.
• Strong team player, with the innate ability to build and maintain strong cross-functional relationships.
• Proven ability to attract, lead, and develop people.
• Track record of managing complex sourcing and demand management efforts.
• Effective negotiator with strong business acumen and project management skills.
• Excellent communication (both verbal and written), and facilitation skills.
• Deep knowledge of financial accounting, strategic sourcing, and supplier management concepts.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills.
• Ability to develop relationships with key Business Partners
• Experience sourcing a variety of categories, including the following:
• Marketing (digital media, agency, production, and creative)
• IT (Hardware, Software, Software-As-Service, E-Commerce, Cloud Services)
• Supply Chain (Small Parcel, Ocean /Air/ Ground freight, Fulfillment, etc.)
• Real Estate, Facilities, and Store Operations
• Professional Services/HR/Finance
• Knowledge of Supplier Management tools (SRM, Quarterly Business Reviews, etc.).
• Proficient in MS Office Suite Excel, Power BI, Power Point, etc.
• Technology-savvy to leverage eProcurement, eSourcing, Project Management, and Spend Analytics tools, including but not limited to: SAP, Per Angusta, Market Dojo, and SpendData.
• Ability to perform in a fast-paced, goal-oriented, and time-sensitive environment
• Ability to lead and influence change in the face of complexity and ambiguity.
• Retail / CPG experience preferred.

Minimum Educational Level:

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business administration, logistics, finance, engineering, or related discipline
• MBA or Master's degree a plus
• CPM, CIRM or CPIM certification a plus

Minimum Experience:

• Ten plus years of professional experience in Strategic Sourcing, operations or general management consulting, logistics or supply chain.
• Experience in a dynamic organization with experience and exposure in advanced sourcing strategies.