Corporate Planning & Management, Global Procurement (Strategic Sourcing), Associate, Birmingham

The Corporate Planning & Management (CPM) Division unifies Finance & Planning, Spend Management, Operational Risk and Resilience, and CPM Engineering teams to deliver business planning and analytics, expense management, third party risk management, and governance strategies across the firm.

Operating Pillars:

• Finance & Planning: Supports the execution of the firm's strategic objectives through the management of the planning process, firmwide reporting and analytics and insights into the firm's business plans and budgets. They develop a consistent framework for revenue division projections creating transparency, accountability and efficiency around projections.
• Global Procurement: Strategically enables the firm's engagement with third parties, ensuring robust commercial and compliance controls while driving sustainability. It optimises value, fosters innovation, and mitigates risks across the end-to-end supply chain for services and non-compensation spend.
• Product & Reporting: Manages end-to-end product lifecycle and reporting capabilities for vendor-supplied and internally developed solutions. We empower CPM stakeholders with intuitive tools and actionable insights while ensuring solutions meet business needs and regulatory demands.
• CPM Engineering: Provides engineering solutions that enable the firm to manage third-party spend, data and automation, plan budgets, forecast financial scenarios, allocate expenses and support corporate decision making in-line with the firm's strategic objectives.
• CPM Management: Includes senior leadership and teams that provide strategic oversight and operational support across the division.

Role Overview:

Professionals in CPM have an analytical mindset, exhibit intellectual curiosity, and are from diverse academic backgrounds. This role sits within Global Procurement. The role requires collaboration with different functions across the firm on a regular basis, an ability to work independently, and frequent interaction with senior stakeholders. It also entails in-depth analysis and reporting for senior management, requiring diligence and a commercial mindset.

The role requires a highly motivated and commercially astute Strategic Sourcing buyer to join our Strategic Sourcing team. In an increasingly AI-enabled sourcing environment, this role is critical in driving strategic value, optimising spend, leading negotiations with suppliers, and fostering robust supplier relationships. The successful candidate will leverage cutting-edge AI tools and data analytics to inform sourcing strategies, manage complex categories, and influence key stakeholders across the business. This position offers an excellent opportunity for a professional to grow their career in a forward-thinking and impactful procurement function.

Job Responsibilities:

• Strategic Sourcing & Category Management: Support development and execution of category strategies aligned with organisational objectives, leveraging market insights and AI-driven analytics to identify opportunities for cost savings, value creation, and risk mitigation.
• Stakeholder Management & Influence: Serve as a primary point of contact and strategic advisor for assigned business partners, translating business goals and risk appetite into effective sourcing strategies.
• Commercial Acumen & Negotiation: Demonstrate strong commercial acumen, understanding cost structures, licensing models, contract terms, and financial levers to drive value-based procurement decisions.
• AI-Enabled Sourcing Environment: Actively leverage AI to support understanding of spend, supplier performance, risk monitoring and contract intelligence.

Competencies:

• Functional Expertise – Understanding of strategic procurement, category management approach and procurement value proposition.
• Strategic Mindset – Ability to effectively create category strategies and influence key stakeholders on sourcing decisions.
• Technical Skills – Demonstrate strong technical skills required for the role including project management, supply chain management, sourcing and procurement and financial/analytical skills.
• Drive and Motivation – Successfully handles multiple tasks, operates at pace, takes initiative to improve his/her own performance.
• Client and Business Focus – Strong stakeholder engagement skills.
• Teamwork – Is a strong team player by collaborating with others within and across teams.
• Technology Adoption – Embraces and adapts to new AI tools and technologies that streamline procurement processes.

Qualifications:

Bachelors / Post Graduation; Minimum three to five years' experience in Strategic Sourcing and Category management, particularly in the indirect spend with a preference in corporate services sourcing.