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 risk.