Associate Director, Procurement Integration Lead

Grant Thornton•Chicago, IL

1d•$136,000 - $204,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Grant Thornton is seeking an Associate Director, Procurement Integration Lead to join the team. This role will be directly reporting to the Global Head of Procurement and will be accountable for integration and onboarding outcomes – translating the target operating model design into an entity-by-entity execution plan, resolving on-the-ground adoption issues, acting as the escalation point for urgent or business critical requests and reporting integration progress and change impact to the firm’s leadership. The role also owns the roadmap for the transition to a future ERP-enabled environment, bringing best practice across the end-to-end procurement process. The Associate Director will directly lead a team of Category Managers & Buyers/Analysts, bringing hands-on category management expertise to support negotiations and savings delivery, enabling synergies and incremental value from acquired third-party spend.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain/Procurement, Finance or related field
8+ years of experience in procurement/category Management and ideally M&A/post-merger integration, with direct experience in standing up or rolling out Procure to Pay or Source-to-Pay process across the business.
Category management experience is required, with a demonstrated record of leading strategic sourcing, negotiations, savings delivery, ideally spanning multiple categories
Track record leading and driving results across multi-entity or multi-site process rollouts, including readiness tracking, stakeholder alignment and post roll-out management.
Excellent verbal & written communication skills, with proven ability to build governance reporting, and present progress, risks and asks to senior/executive stakeholders, including one-on-one interaction with senior executives & firm partners
Ability to simultaneously and efficiently manage and communicate on multiple changing priorities with a variety of stakeholders
Must possess analytical and technical skills required to understand business practices and recommend automation opportunities
Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and relevant processing platforms

Nice To Haves

SAP Ariba and / or S4Hana experience a plus
Technology acumen a plus
Experience in professional services or a multi-entity/acquisitive organization is a plus

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end roll-out of the global Procure to Pay process and transition to ERP tools and processes across all acquired entities, sequencing onboarding waves against entity readiness, priorities, geographies & budgets, supporting the Global Head of Procurement in driving cost synergies
Translate the target operating model and current process design into entity-specific implementation plans
Track and drive resolution of the process and adoption issues surfaced by the acquired entities
Partner with Category Management, Third Party Risk Management, Legal, Independence and Technology teams to ensure the process roll-out is successful operationally as entity volume scales
Support the future roadmap towards an ERP/Ariba environment, ensuring the current state decisions are made with future-state architecture in mind
Build & maintain a repeatable onboarding playbook so each successive wave of entities ramps faster than the previous
Continuously evaluate and propose automation and AI/tool adoption opportunities within existing processes, partnering with Global teams on prioritization and delivery
Directly manage and develop the Category Managers and Buyers/Analysts, bringing hands-on category management expertise to support negotiations and deal execution where needed
Provide strategic sourcing support where required across high profile vendors, build clear yearly savings plan and be responsible for delivery of savings targets to support value creation plans
Be responsible for coaching & training the other Category Managers and supporting the team’s development needs
Lead the change management approach for process roll-out, including communications, training content & adoption of tools, tailored to each entity’s starting point
Build strong working relationships with internal function owners and business leadership to sustain adoption beyond roll-out stage
Co-ordinate with entity CEOs/CFOs and other local leadership to secure buy-in and sustained process adoption, facilitating business engagement
Lead governance reporting on integration progress, adoption metrics, and change management to the Head of Procurement, Steering Committees and other firm leadership forums
Track individual cross-functional performance against agreed process SLA’s and escalate to Head of Procurement & assigned owners when required
Maintain a live view of roll-out status, risks and blockers across all entities and drive timely escalation resolution of critical items that might disrupt onboarding plans
Serve as the primary procurement liaison to the broader integration/transformation program, ensuring procurement milestones stay aligned with the firm’s overall integration and savings timeline
Lead and develop a high-performing integration team across U.S. and offshore operations
Represent the function with strong executive presence, delivering clear, concise, and executive-ready communications and deliverables
Other duties as assigned