Strategic Supplier Value Lead in London

At M&G, our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. With a heritage dating back more than 175 years, we have a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions. Our two distinct operating segments, Asset Management and Life, work together to provide access to balanced, long-term investment and savings solutions.

The Strategic Supplier Value Lead unlocks value from M&G’s most strategic suppliers and cross-business unit suppliers, beyond what the contract delivers. The postholder works with a named portfolio of around ten suppliers and, for each, brings business unit leadership and the supplier’s executive team together around a forward agenda of innovation, joint savings initiatives, co-investment and access to the supplier’s wider client network and expertise. Opportunities are originated and shaped by this role and handed to the Technology or Services procurement teams to negotiate and contract. Success is measured by the net value that lands for the group.

M&G Procurement is on a transformation journey, our objectives include: identifying and delivering material, recurring cost reduction on M&G third-party spend; and materially improving how the business experiences Procurement, measured through an internal NPS.

A strategic supplier reaches the group through many doors. Its delivery teams sit inside each business unit and department, and its sales team deals with the Procurement category teams on price, terms and renewals. Today there is no single executive door into the whole relationship. This role is that door.

Most organisations combine delivery oversight and relationship value in one supplier management role. M&G’s operating model deliberately separates them. Delivery oversight stays with the business units that consume the service. Negotiation stays with the Procurement category teams. Strategic Supplier Value is a horizontal role, organised by named supplier, that works across every business unit on what the whole relationship can give the group.

Role Boundaries

The role sits alongside two existing layers and does not duplicate either. These boundaries are fixed and are central to how the role operates.

What this role does not do

• Own or oversee service delivery, SLAs, supplier performance, contract management or vendor governance. These remain with in-business vendor management teams.
• Act as an escalation route for operational or delivery issues. These are directed back to the accountable business vendor management team.
• Negotiate, contract or renew. All negotiation, including the terms of co-investment and joint savings initiatives, is led by the relevant category team.
• Make commitments or give signals to suppliers on price, volume, term or renewal intent.
• Work with suppliers outside the contracted portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Supplier Portfolio

• Maintain the named portfolio of around ten strategic suppliers, typically around seven anchor suppliers selected mainly on spend and dependency, plus three rotating slots for smaller suppliers where value headroom and our importance to them are high.
• Apply the agreed eligibility criteria (top tier group spend, critical service or high strategic dependency, use by more than one business unit) and prioritisation scoring (value headroom, our importance to the supplier, network value, innovation capacity, cross business unit breadth).
• Lead the annual portfolio review and present recommendations for approval at group executive level, rotating suppliers so the role does not drift into permanent account management.

Executive Convening and Value Agenda

• Build and maintain a forward value agenda for each portfolio supplier, setting out the opportunities the group intends to pursue and the value expected.
• Convene business unit CEOs and leadership with the supplier’s executive team around that agenda, keeping the focus on forward value rather than issue escalation.
• Bring a single group view to each supplier, so that value found in one business unit is offered to all of them.
• Build an understanding of each supplier’s strategy, investment roadmap, capabilities and client base, and of where M&G sits in their priorities.

Opportunity Origination

• Identify and shape opportunities for innovation, joint savings, co-investment, capability the group does not use or has failed to exploit, and benchmarking and insight from the supplier’s wider client network.
• Build the business case for each opportunity, including net value to the group, costs, dependencies and risks, with input from Finance and the business owners affected.
• Test supplier proposals for whether they deliver net value to the group or are mainly footprint expansion, and hold the group’s commercial position when they are not.
• Hand qualified opportunities to the Technology or Services procurement teams to negotiate and contract, and support them through to close.

Working with Procurement Category Teams

• Align with the relevant category lead before any supplier executive conversation with commercial implications, so that no position is pre-sold or tested away from the people who negotiate.
• Share supplier intelligence and executive insight with category teams to strengthen their negotiation strategy and renewal planning.
• Operate the agreed joint attribution model with the category heads, crediting value jointly with the category team that closes the deal.

Working with In-Business Commercial Teams

• Maintain an informed view of supplier delivery through the business commercial teams, so that value conversations take account of current performance.
• Redirect delivery, performance and contract issues raised through executive channels to the accountable vendor management team, without taking ownership of them.

Value Measurement and Reporting

• Track and report value that lands: savings ideas converted to cost reduction, cost avoidance secured, co-investment obtained, innovation adopted and benchmark insight delivered.
• Agree baselines and value methodology with Finance, and report cost reduction and cost avoidance separately.
• Report progress against each supplier value agenda to Procurement leadership and group executive stakeholders.

Data and Insight

• Use group spend data, Power BI dashboards and AI tools to build an enterprise view of each portfolio supplier across business units, and present a clear commercial account of what the data shows.
• Question data rather than accept it at face value, and work with Procurement colleagues to keep supplier data accurate.

This role has no delivery ownership and no negotiation authority. Its influence comes from access to business unit leadership, the enterprise view of spend and the quality of its insight. The postholder succeeds through other people’s deals. Candidates whose background is in conventional supplier relationship management or vendor performance roles should note that this role does not include those responsibilities.

Essential Experience

• Substantial experience in a senior commercial, strategic sourcing, strategic partnerships or consulting role, with a track record of originating value that was subsequently realised.
• Credibility with chief executives and senior leaders, and evidence of convening senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries without formal authority.
• Commercial judgement strong enough that negotiators trust the postholder’s insight, with an understanding of supplier economics and commercial models.
• Experience of building business cases, including net value, total cost of ownership and the budget impact of options.
• Comfortable with value being credited jointly, and with succeeding through others.
• Confident using spend data and management information to form an enterprise view of a supplier relationship.
• Able to work from the London office for the majority of the working week.

Desirable Experience

• Experience in a regulated environment such as financial services or insurance.
• Experience of working with large technology, outsourcing or professional services suppliers at executive level.
• Experience with Power BI or similar analytical tools.
• CIPS or an equivalent professional qualification.

Working Pattern

This role is based in London. The postholder is expected to work from the office for the majority of the working week. Regular, in person contact with business unit leadership and supplier executives is central to the role, because convening senior stakeholders and building trust depend on it.

What we offer:

We’re dedicated to supporting your wellbeing and helping you thrive, both at work and beyond. Our benefits are designed to help you balance your professional and personal life, and financially plan for the future. Our UK benefits include:

• A valuable pension scheme of up to 18% (13% made up of employer contributions and 5% employee contributions).
• Access to our Share Save and Share Incentive Plan, alongside financial wellbeing and support services to help give you real confidence to put your money to work.
• Enjoy 38 days annual leave (including bank holidays), with the opportunity to purchase up to five extra days. Our Time Off When You Need It policy gives you the flexibility - to balance work and personal commitments.
• Our market-leading Inspiring Families policy includes comprehensive support and paid parental leave covering maternity, adoption, surrogacy, and paternity leave - because supporting families is an important part of our inclusive culture.
• Health & Protection cover includes Private Healthcare, Critical Illness cover and Life Assurance for you, with additional family options - for peace of mind.

At M&G we strive to have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture, underpinned by our policies and employee-led networks that offer networking, support and development opportunities for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds – across gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation and more – including neurodivergent individuals, career returners and those with military service experience.

M&G is proud to be Level 3: Disability Confident Leader under the UK Government Disability Confident employer scheme, and we welcome applications from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions. If you would like to participate in the initiative, you will have the opportunity to indicate this on your application.

We are committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. All candidates have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments when applying. If you need any additional support at any stage, please contact us.