Procurement & Vendor - Senior Professional in London

Role Overview

We are currently seeking a Procurement & Vendor, Senior Professional to join our Global Procurement Solutions (GPS) Team in London. This role presents an excellent opportunity for an experienced procurement and vendor management professional with a strong background in global sourcing, vendor governance, contract management, and stakeholder engagement within a regulated or complex organisational environment.

The Procurement & Vendor Professional will be responsible for overseeing and continuously improving the organisation's procurement and vendor management framework. A key focus of the role will be leading the transition from legacy or decentralised procurement practices to a more structured, transparent, and scalable operating model aligned with enterprise procurement standards and risk management requirements.

In addition to operational responsibilities you will play a key role in shaping procurement strategy and supporting enterprise initiatives. Core activities include leading complex vendor negotiations, overseeing contract renewals and remediation actions and ensuring procurement activities align with internal policies, and regulatory expectations.

The role also includes responsibility for advising and supporting business stakeholders across the organisation, acting as a trusted partner on procurement strategy, vendor selection, and commercial decision-making. The Manager will drive consistency, transparency, and efficiency across procurement processes while balancing commercial outcomes, operational needs, and risk considerations.

This is a truly global role, providing procurement and vendor management leadership to Pacific Life Re offices across multiple jurisdictions, including Australia, Singapore, Bermuda, the United Kingdom, Canada, and more. The Global Procurement Solutions (GPS) function is primarily based at Pacific Life's headquarters in Newport Beach, California, ensuring alignment with enterprise-wide procurement policies, controls, and best practices.

The position offers significant exposure to global procurement operations, enterprise governance frameworks, and senior stakeholder engagement. It is an excellent opportunity for an experienced procurement professional to have a meaningful impact on the maturity and effectiveness of procurement and vendor management within a global organisation.

Role Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end procurement lifecycle, from sourcing and contracting through to invoicing and payment
• Lead the development, issuance and management of Requests for Proposal (RFPs) and related sourcing activities
• Draft, review, negotiate and manage vendor contracts in line with company policies and governance standards
• Manage contract renewals, extensions and terminations proactively to avoid commercial, operational or compliance risks
• Ensure contractual terms are aligned with business objectives while effectively identifying and mitigating commercial and operational risks
• Identify cost optimisation and value‐creation opportunities across the vendor portfolio, including benchmarking and renegotiation initiatives
• Partner closely with business stakeholders to understand requirements and define appropriate contractual terms and conditions
• Partner with business leads to shape sourcing strategies aligned to business priorities and long‐term objectives
• Collaborate with legal, TPRM and finance teams to ensure full compliance with internal policies, procedures and regulatory requirements
• Drive continuous improvement in procurement and vendor management processes, tools and controls, including automation where appropriate
• Support change and transformation initiatives by ensuring third‐party arrangements are fit for purpose and scalable
• Conduct regular vendor performance and governance reviews to ensure compliance with agreed service level agreements (SLAs), contractual obligations and company standards
• Escalate and manage vendor issues and disputes, working collaboratively to achieve timely and commercially sound resolutions
• Develop and maintain strong vendor relationships to drive service quality, cost efficiency and continuous improvement
• Provide training and awareness sessions to internal stakeholders on procurement policies, contract management and vendor best practices
• Undertake additional responsibilities as required to support the effective delivery of the role

Skills & Experience

Essential

• 8+ years of experience in contract and vendor management, preferably within the financial services sector
• Experience using Coupa to manage end-to-end procurement processes, reporting, controls and compliance
• Experience developing and using dashboards, KPIs and management information (MI) to track spend, vendor performance, risk and compliance
• Strong knowledge and experience in contract and vendor life-cycle management, contract negotiation and managing vendor relationships
• Excellent analytical, problem solving and decision-making skills
• Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities
• Exceptional attention to detail

Desirable

• Experience of specific re-insurance industry would be desirable but other industries would be considered.
• Contract related certification preferred – WorldCC and/or CIPS
• Ability to exercise confidentiality and professionalism in the performance of duties.

Competencies and Behaviours:

• Collaboration, communication, problem solving, analytical thinking, customer focus, data-driven decision making, strategic thinking, and accountability.
• Ability to model Pacific Life Re's company values and behaviours on a day-to-day basis.

Working For Pacific Life Re

Every person in our global team is valued for the unique qualities they bring to our business and we seek to build their expertise and support their individual ambitions at every step. Of course, we take our work seriously and we know our team can operate under great pressure. We work hard and thrive on achievement, but we also know how to have fun and relax too. We regularly host a range of team building days to strengthen our team's connection with each other and reflect on their successes. Providing employees with a healthy work-life balance is very important to our culture. We have a wide range of employee benefits and we host regular social activities and well being initiatives. We are also committed to supporting our employee's involvement in their communities, by actively fundraising, hosting charity events and overseeing volunteering opportunities.

Benefits (Only for Permanent and Fixed Term Employees)

• Leave: 25 days of annual leave with option to buy/sell more days, Adoption and fertility leave, Generous enhanced parental leave
• Healthcare: Comprehensive private insurance coverage for employee and dependents, Group Life Insurance coverage of 9x basic annual salary and Group Income Protection up to 75% of basic annual salary, Optical benefits
• Savings & Retirement: 15% combined employee/employer contributions
• Wellness: Subsidized gym membership, Access to Employee Assistance Program, Cycle to Work and Electric Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme, Time off for volunteering, Charitable matching of employee donations

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we will provide reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process to ensure equal access to applicants with disabilities. Please contact us about your needs so that we can discuss these with you to make sure that suitable adjustments are made, where possible.

Pacific Life Re Values

At Pacific Life Re, our vision is to bring an innovative and dynamic approach to the marketplace. Our global team is not afraid to disrupt and challenge industry thinking to provide the best life and health reinsurance services possible.