Data Center Snr Procurement Manager in London

Overview

This role is responsible for establishing control and capability across operational procurement. Acting as the front door to procurement, it ensures that all spend is appropriately triaged, commercially structured, and managed through the correct sourcing route before commitments are made. The role is hands-on and expected to operate in detail, establishing structure, visibility, and control where these do not yet fully exist. The role leads sourcing activity (including RFPs), defines commercial and contractual positions, and establishes spend visibility and control, building a baseline where required. It also supports the development and embedding of procurement governance, including supplier lifecycle management and ongoing supplier oversight. The role operates in line with Verne’s buying model, where low-risk, routine purchasing may be undertaken by the business, while Procurement leads and supports higher-risk, complex, or commercially material activity. It establishes clear commercial ownership of sourcing and supplier activity, enabling the business to operate with greater control and consistency.

Responsibilities

• Procurement intake and triage
  • Own and manage procurement intake across the business
  • Assess requests based on risk, value, and complexity
  • Determine sourcing route and required level of procurement involvement
  • Ensure procurement engagement occurs before any commercial commitment
  • Act as the central point of coordination, reducing ad hoc supplier engagement and rework across the business
  • All external supplier engagement relating to new or changed scope is expected to be routed through this role
• Sourcing and RFP delivery
  • Lead end-to-end sourcing activity for the business
  • Define commercial approach, evaluation criteria, and negotiation strategy
  • Support the development and execution of the end-to-end supplier lifecycle, from pre-supplier engagement through to post-award supplier management
  • Coordinate stakeholder input across Operations, Technology, Legal, and Finance
  • Lead supplier negotiations and support final selection decisions
• Spend baseline and pipeline visibility
  • Establish and baseline spend across suppliers and categories, creating initial visibility where required
  • Identify gaps, inconsistencies, and areas of unmanaged or fragmented spend
  • Build and maintain a forward-looking view of commitments, including renewals and sourcing pipeline
  • Analyse spend across suppliers, categories, and business units
  • Identify opportunities for consolidation, re-sourcing, and commercial optimisation
• Commercial and contract shaping
  • Define the commercial position prior to Legal engagement, ensuring Legal review is focused, efficient, and based on a clear commercial framework
  • Lead commercial negotiations, including detailed contract mark-up and supplier engagement
  • Ensure clarity on scope, pricing models, and risk allocation
  • Confidently challenge and redline contractual positions to achieve commercially robust outcomes
  • Challenge supplier proposals to drive value and alignment with business objectives
• Operational supplier ownership
  • Support the establishment of supplier ownership and governance structures, including renewals and performance management
  • Drive cost control and value improvement initiatives
  • Support implementation of supplier performance management where appropriate
• Governance and process discipline
  • Enforce procurement operating principles, including: Commercial and contractual readiness before PO, Supplier onboarding, due diligence, and implementation of supplier risk tiering, Defined procurement engagement triggers
  • Support the development and embedding of procurement governance structures, including pre-supplier engagement and post-award supplier management
  • Establish and maintain supplier governance cadence (e.g. MBRs/QBRs) aligned to supplier criticality
  • Ensure processes are applied proportionately, avoiding unnecessary administrative burden
  • Prevent retrospective approvals and off-process commitments
  • Ensure procurement processes are followed consistently across the business, intervening where required to maintain control and standards
  • Implement supplier performance and relationship management for key suppliers in line with risk tier.

Experience and capability

• 10+ years’ experience in procurement, with a strong track record of delivering end-to-end sourcing
• Experience in infrastructure, construction, or asset-intensive environments (e.g. capex projects, facilities management, and maintenance services) preferred
• Experience managing or sourcing complex service and maintenance agreements
• Strong commercial acumen, including pricing models and contract structuring
• Experience reviewing and shaping contracts prior to Legal engagement
• Demonstrated experience operating within and enforcing procurement processes, including intake, governance, and sourcing disciplines
• Strong track record of delivering consistent, high-quality execution of procurement processes, not just designing them
• Experience operating effectively in fast-paced or low-maturity environments, bringing structure, consistency, and control through execution
• Confident stakeholder management with the ability to challenge and influence
• Strong analytical capability, including spend analysis and opportunity identification
• MCIPS qualified (Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply)
• Relevant degree (Business management, Strategic Procurement)

Role expectations

• Operates with a high degree of autonomy and commercial judgement
• Operate within and support the ongoing development of the procurement operating model, contributing to its build and refinement through execution
• Delivers consistent, high-quality execution of procurement processes
• Able to flex across different areas of the business and respond to changing priorities and surge requirements
• Applies sound commercial judgement within a defined operating model
• Focuses on outcomes and commercial impact, not process for its own sake
• Comfortable operating in an environment where processes are still being embedded, using judgement and consistency to establish control in day-to-day execution