Dir, Operational Sourcing
About The Position
The Director, Operational Sourcing will manage the enterprise execution team for sourcing and purchasing activities across the global sourcing operating model. This role owns intake, triage, buy desk support, standard sourcing execution, transactional purchasing support, tail spend execution, low-complexity renewals, and operational handoffs across the sourcing and vendor lifecycle. Operating within the category strategies, buying channels, policies, and governance frameworks established by Strategic Sourcing and Governance & Analytics, this leader ensures sourcing and purchasing requests are executed with speed, consistency, accuracy, and strong stakeholder service. The role centralizes repeatable execution work, improves throughput, reduces cycle times, supports guided buying adoption, and maintains clear escalation pathways to Strategic Sourcing, Governance, Legal, Risk, Finance, and business stakeholders. The team acts as the centralized execution group for transactional and repeatable sourcing activities.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in procurement, sourcing, vendor risk management, or related disciplines
- 5+ years of leadership experience managing global teams and operating models
- Experience designing and implementing transactional, rules driven sourcing or procurement operating models at scale
- Experience with procurement operations (vendor setup, purchase orders, supplier qualification)
- Experience with sourcing technology platforms (e.g., ServiceNow, Oracle, spend analytics tools)
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field required
- Deep expertise in sourcing & procurement operations
- Strong understanding of vendor risk management frameworks and lifecycle controls
- Experience with digital transformation, workflow automation, and AI enablement
- Strong systems thinking and ability to design scalable, enterprise solutions
- Advanced analytics and data-driven decision-making capability
- Executive communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills
- Ability to balance governance, efficiency, and business enablement
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree (MBA or related field)
- Experience leading global procurement or sourcing transformation initiatives
- Experience with AI-enabled procurement tools or workflow orchestration platforms
- Experience operating in highly regulated industries
Responsibilities
- Lead operational sourcing execution and buy desk service delivery — 25%
- Own the centralized Operational Sourcing function, including intake, triage, buy desk operations, sourcing execution support, and purchasing coordination. Establish service standards, manage prioritization and routing, provide status visibility, and guide business users on purchasing pathways, requirements, timelines, and next steps.
- Execute standard sourcing and purchasing activities — 25%
- Lead repeatable, lower-complexity sourcing and buying activities in alignment with category strategies, policies, and governance standards. This includes simple sourcing events, “three bids and buy,” quote collection, spot buys, catalog purchases, tail spend, low-complexity renewals, change orders, PO support, and contract administration handoffs. Support medium-complexity RFPs through logistics, supplier communications, documentation, and evaluation coordination.
- Manage buying channel routing and escalation — 15%
- Apply category rules, preferred supplier guidance, catalog strategies, and sourcing thresholds to route requests to the right buying channel or sourcing pathway. Escalate requests requiring Strategic Sourcing, Governance, Legal, Risk, Finance, or business leadership involvement.
- Drive SLA performance, quality, and continuous improvement — 15%
- Manage KPIs, SLAs, throughput, cycle time, backlog, rework, documentation quality, and stakeholder service metrics. Partner with Governance & Enablement on reporting, controls, and service standards while identifying bottlenecks, recurring exceptions, and opportunities to improve speed, consistency, automation, and scalability.
- Partner across the sourcing, risk, legal, finance, and business ecosystem — 10%
- Partner with Strategic Sourcing to execute category strategies, preferred supplier programs, buying rules, and supplier consolidation priorities. Coordinate with Governance, Legal, Risk, Vendor Lifecycle, Finance, Accounting, and business stakeholders to ensure clean handoffs, complete documentation, required approvals, and compliant execution.
- Build and lead a high-performing operational sourcing team — 10%
- Lead buy desk, operational sourcing, junior sourcing, and offshore support resources. Build role clarity, training, service standards, and repeatable work practices while fostering a culture of responsiveness, accuracy, ownership, disciplined execution, and continuous improvement. Accountable for operational sourcing team budget, including technology, offshore resources, and external support
- Influences enterprise spend through sourcing event
- Drives cost efficiency through sourcing events
Benefits
- Helping People Thrive in a Connected World
- Connect with us.
- Bring us your best work and your brightest ideas.
- And we’ll bring you a place where you can thrive.
- Learn more at jobs.assurant.com.
- For U.S. benefit information, visit myassurantbenefits.com.
- For benefit information outside the U.S., please speak with your recruiter.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
