Group Head of Procurement in London

About us: We're reinventing how the world uses data centres. Think flexible, optimised colocation services tailored for your requirements – all with the very best customer support you can imagine. And because our data centres are powered by sustainable energy, it doesn't cost the Earth either. It's the perfect environment where everyone thrives – you and the planet. Verne has been recently acquired by Ardian and is currently investing massively into new data centre capacity and needs additional people to support this growth. We need self-driven, experienced, motivated and focused new team members, and offer a dynamic, growth-oriented environment for people to shine and learn.

Role Overview: The Group Head of Procurement will lead the design, implementation, and management of Verne's Group Procurement function. Reporting directly to the CFO, this role will establish procurement governance, category management, and vendor strategies across development and operational business lines. The successful candidate will build and manage a small team of dedicated buyers for Development and Operations, ensuring cohesive coverage, cross-training, and consistent application of Verne's procurement policies. The Group Head of Procurement will collaborate with the Finance Team, Group Projects Director, Head of Compliance, Legal, Operational Heads, and other functional heads to embed best practices in sourcing, compliance, and supplier engagement across the Verne group.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategy & Leadership: Define and execute the Group Procurement strategy covering all business lines, aligned to Verne's financial, operational, and sustainability objectives. Develop, publish, and maintain the Group Procurement Policy, governance framework, and supporting toolkit. Build and lead a distributed procurement team: recruiting, mentoring, and managing performance. Lead enterprise-wide category management and sourcing strategies, ensuring alignment across Development, Operations, Technology, and Corporate functions, with robust supplier frameworks and resilience measures in place. Establish procurement controls, approval matrices, and reporting standards integrated with Finance (P2P, DOA, 3-way match, and audit trail). Drive alignment between Procurement, Finance, Legal, and ESG to ensure that all sourcing decisions contribute to Verne's strategic and sustainability goals.
• Procurement Operations & Governance: Establish and oversee the enterprise-wide sourcing and tendering framework, covering PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire), RFP (Request for Proposal), supplier evaluation, contracting, onboarding, and PO creation in line with Verne's Group Procurement Policy. Ensure early procurement engagement as soon as a business need is identified, guiding internal stakeholders through requirements definition, pre-qualification, and competitive sourcing. Lead the PQQ process to assess supplier capability, financial stability, technical competence, safety, and ESG alignment before any RFP invitation. Govern the RFP process across all functions—ensuring qualified bidders, consistent documentation, and transparent evaluation criteria. Implement due-diligence and supplier tiering processes consistent with Verne's risk-based approach. Standardise and continuously improve procurement templates and tools (RFP documents, scoring matrices, NDAs, contract templates, and supplier set-up forms). Coordinate with Legal to ensure appropriate contract vehicles (FIDIC, NEC, JCT, or Verne standard forms) and compliance with Delegation of Authority (DOA) and signature mandates. Oversee supplier onboarding, contract lifecycle, and renewal tracking, maintaining visibility of 120/90/60/30-day expiry horizons and performance evaluations. Develop procurement dashboards and KPIs tracking savings, compliance, supplier performance, and cycle time.
• Supplier & Market Engagement: Build strategic partnerships with OEMs, contractors, and consultants to secure long-term supply and price stability. Develop supplier scorecards covering OTIF, NCRs, quality audits, corrective actions, and ESG metrics; issue quarterly vendor performance reviews. Establish framework and master-service agreements to support project delivery timelines. Conduct commodity and market analysis for key inputs (steel, copper, energy); manage TCO, FX, and hedging strategies in collaboration with Finance.
• Risk Management & Compliance: Maintain a Procurement Risk Register capturing supply-chain, geopolitical, and financial exposures. Coordinate with Legal and Compliance to embed anti-bribery, human-rights, sanctions, and export-control requirements into procurement processes and supplier agreements. Coordinate supplier audits and implement corrective actions. Champion sustainability and Scope 3 emission reduction across the supply chain.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Delivery Integration: Partner with Development and Project Management to align procurement milestones with project gates (design freeze, FID, mobilisation). Work with Operations to standardise service contracts and maintenance procurement. Align with Design to ensure technical specifications and vendor strategies are synchronised. Collaborate with Legal, Compliance, Finance, and EHS on risk mitigation and reporting. Coordinate with HR to ensure company-wide awareness, training, and adherence to the Group Procurement Policy, including induction and refresher training for relevant staff.

Key Requirements:

• Leadership Experience: Minimum 10 years in strategic procurement, with at least 5 years leading teams across multiple European jurisdictions and managing annual spend > £150–300 million.
• Industry Expertise: Background in data-centre, technology infrastructure, or heavy industries such as energy, oil & gas, or utilities.
• Development Expertise: Background in procurement for large scale construction projects.
• Regulatory Familiarity: Demonstrated understanding of European procurement frameworks, contract law differences, and compliance regimes across the UK, EU, and EEA.
• Functional Build: Proven experience establishing or transforming a procurement function: policy, process, technology, and reporting.
• Commercial & Contractual Fluency: Deep knowledge of FIDIC, NEC, and JCT contracting strategies, negotiation of complex CAPEX/OPEX agreements, and claims prevention.
• Strategic Category Management: Demonstrated success leading category strategies across construction, operations, technology, and corporate procurement.
• Financial Acumen: Skilled in TCO/should-cost modelling, budgeting, and management of commodity and FX exposure.
• Technology & Data Orientation: Experience implementing ERP or CLM systems, procurement analytics, and spend dashboards.
• Governance & Compliance: Built and operated procurement control frameworks with audit readiness and ESG integration.
• Stakeholder Management: Capable of influencing cross-functional and board-level stakeholders; proven executive presence.
• Mindset: Strategic, structured, and delivery-focused — able to stabilise the function quickly and deliver measurable results within the first 90 days.

What We Offer:

• Opportunity to be part of a fast-growing, private equity-backed company.
• A dynamic, innovative, and inclusive working environment.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package.
• The chance to work with a talented and ambitious international team.