Procurement Manager - Professional Services

Company overview: At Schroders, we focus on helping our clients achieve their financial goals and build future prosperity. As a global asset and wealth manager, Schroders delivers a broad range of investments designed to meet the diverse needs of institutions, intermediaries and high net worth individuals. For over 200 years we have built principled partnerships with our clients, putting them at the centre of everything we do. They trust us to deliver sustainable returns through times of economic prosperity and of uncertainty. We are a global business, managed locally. Our international presence supports us in understanding the needs of our clients and delivering them the right expertise from across the business.

As an active investment manager we believe that we have an important role to play in driving better outcomes for our clients and society as a whole. We bring together people and data to identify the trends that will shape the prosperity of individuals, businesses and future generations.

Team overview: Group Procurement is the centre of excellence for active commercial management of all of Schroders’ supply chain, enabled by great people, disciplined cost management and seamless risk and compliance. Group Procurement sits within the COO Corporate Functions, supporting the wider business on all its third-party commercial activity. The team are made up of multiple disciplines across Market Data, Technology, Corporate Services, Third Party Risk and Operations, located across London, Horsham, Singapore, and New York.

Overview of role: We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Procurement Manager to lead the Professional Services category. This role will provide procurement expertise across the Group in order to maximise the long-term value from all Schroders procurement activity. This will include the identification and implementation of global procurement opportunities in a geographically dispersed environment across the full procurement lifecycle. The role will be based in London, reporting into the Head of Corporate Service Procurement.

Key responsibilities:

• Defining and executing the category strategy for Professional Services in line with procurement objectives.
• Identifying opportunities to leverage group frameworks and optimise spend across the category.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders, advising on approach to market, optimum commercial models and supplier relationship management.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the business with the confidence to challenge and influence stakeholders where appropriate to ensure the best outcome for Schroders.
• Providing category insights and market intelligence to support stakeholder decision-making.
• Ensuring compliance with regulatory and governance requirements throughout sourcing activities.
• Leading end-to-end sourcing activities including RFx development, supplier evaluation, and contract negotiation.
• Delivering cost savings, service quality improvements and risk mitigation through strategic supplier management.
• Champion sustainability, diversity, and ethical sourcing within the Professional Services supply chain.
• Champion continual improvement and procurement best practice within the global business.
• Reporting on procurement activities, including savings and benefits achieved to management.

Skills required:

• 10+ years of experience in a similar role with demonstrable experience of successfully operating within a strategic Procurement team.
• Strong knowledge of best practice procurement processes within the Professional Services category and a deep understanding of the supplier market.
• Experience with outsourcing arrangements, implementation and management of Preferred Supplier Lists (PSLs) and/or panels.
• Demonstrable experience of managing the global intake of professional services requests and triaging via the correct sourcing route.
• Flexible approach to work with an ability to adapt to change.
• Excellent levels of communication, able to influence and persuade others, whilst building strong working relationships with both key business stakeholders and strategic suppliers.
• Track record of global / regional delivery across complex environments.
• Strong analytics experience, using data to provide insight to stakeholders and help inform strategic decision making.
• Excellent organisation, presentation and problem-solving skills.
• Advanced commercial and negotiation capabilities.
• Demonstrable experience of utilising and managing procurement systems and tools.
• Well connected, staying up-to-date with latest category and market intelligence.
• Proven track record embedding sustainability and governance frameworks in procurement.

Personal attributes:

• Personable and adaptable.
• Team player yet with the ability to work with minimal supervision in a dynamic and time critical environment.
• Continuous improvement mind-set, challenges the status quo and seeks self-improvement.
• Earn respect from colleagues and willing to complete tasks at either end of the complexity spectrum.
• Critical thinker with ability to assess situations logically and make sound judgements.
• Flexible approach to work with an ability to adapt to change.

We recognise potential, whoever you are. Our purpose is to provide excellent investment performance to clients through active management. Diversity of thought facilitated by an inclusive culture will allow us to make better decisions and better achieve our purpose. This is why inclusion and diversity are a strategic priority for us and why we are an equal opportunities employer: you are welcome here regardless of your age, disability, gender identity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, socio-economic background or any other protected characteristics.

About Us: We're a global investment manager. We help institutions, intermediaries and individuals around the world invest money to meet their goals, fulfil their ambitions, and prepare for the future. We have around 6,000 people on six continents. And we've been around for over 200 years, but keep adapting as society and technology changes. What doesn't change is our commitment to helping our clients, and society, prosper.