Information Technology Procurement in Woking

As Principal Consultant, IT Cost Optimisation, you will lead the design and delivery of multi-vendor technology cost reduction programmes for global enterprise clients, driving measurable, sustainable savings across their entire technology portfolio. This is a founding role: you will define the methodology, select enabling tools and partners, and build the practice from the ground up. You will work collaboratively alongside Licensing and FinOps specialists, bringing deep commercial and procurement expertise to complement their technical capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead technology portfolio cost reduction engagements for enterprise clients, delivering documented savings across multi-vendor software, hardware, cloud, professional & managed services, and telecom portfolios.
• Design and own the IT Cost Optimisation methodology, creating repeatable frameworks, playbooks, and delivery standards.
• Conduct vendor contract benchmarking and analysis across diverse technology categories, identifying pricing anomalies, underutilised entitlements, and renegotiation opportunities.
• Lead complex, high-value vendor negotiations to support clients, leveraging market intelligence, competitive positioning, and commercial insight to achieve optimal contract outcomes.
• Provide strategic procurement support for large-scale technology initiatives including ERP transformations, cloud migrations, and infrastructure refresh programmes.
• Build and maintain a market intelligence capability covering vendor pricing trends, contract benchmarks, and negotiation strategies across a broad range of technology categories.
• Engage and influence senior stakeholders (including CIOs, CFOs, CPOs, and Procurement Directors) presenting findings, recommendations, and business cases with clarity and commercial authority.
• Collaborate closely with SAM and FinOps specialists to deliver integrated, holistic cost optimisation outcomes, understanding how software asset data and cloud cost visibility inform negotiation strategy.
• Define the talent and partner ecosystem needed to scale the practice, including hiring recommendations, subcontractor relationships, and technology tool selection.
• Contribute to business development by supporting proposals, client presentations, and thought leadership.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in IT procurement, strategic sourcing, vendor management, or technology contract advisory (with a demonstrable focus on cost reduction outcomes).
• Proven track record of delivering measurable savings across multi-vendor technology portfolios.
• Deep expertise in vendor contract negotiation across a broad range of technology categories (not limited to a single vendor or technology domain).
• Strong commercial and financial acumen (able to build business cases, model savings scenarios, and present ROI to C-level stakeholders).
• Experience working in or with a consulting, advisory, or managed services environment (comfortable operating as a trusted external advisor to enterprise clients).
• Demonstrated ability to build new capabilities, whether a practice, a team, a methodology, or a service offering.
• Familiarity with Software Asset Management (SAM) and FinOps concepts, sufficient to collaborate effectively with specialists and understand how asset data informs commercial decisions (deep technical expertise in these disciplines is not required).
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification in procurement or sourcing: CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply) or CPSM (Certified Professional in Supply Management).
• Prior experience in a technology services company, IT consultancy, or analyst firm.
• Exposure to Oil and Gas procurement environment.

This temporary contract is outside IR35 and will be delivered on a statement-of-work basis. The supplier will determine the method, resources, and approach to deliver the agreed outcomes.